An Olympic Gold Medal marked Zach LaVine’s ascendency three years ago, but his NBA career is stalling as Paris 2024 arrives
Zach LaVine is at a crossroads in his NBA career. The two-time all star and his franchise, the Chicago Bulls, are determined to part ways this summer but no suitors have emerged for the 29-year-old, who has three years and $138 million remaining on his contract. Once regarded as one of the NBA’s next stars, LaVine is now facing a reluctant reconciliation with a franchise whose aims have shifted from competing to rebuilding. He remains an electric scorer, but well-worn doubts about his overall play are staining his reputation once more.
The picture was considerably different just three years ago.
In July and August of 2021, LaVine played his part as Team USA won gold in Tokyo’s Summer Olympics. As the medal dangled from his neck, and briefly that of coach Greg Popovich in a show of gratitude, it marked the shooting guard out as one of the NBA’s most promising talents. He had earned his first All Star appearance that season, averaging 27.4 Points Per Game (PPG) while shooting over 50 percent from the field and over 40 percent from three-point range.
The question of his contribution to winning basketball lingered then as it does now, with the Bulls settling for 11th place in the Eastern Conference. But an Olympic medal, paired with the praise heaped upon the then 26-year-old by Team USA’s all-star cast, left a prevailing sense that those questions would be resolved in due course.
“He was really one of the favourites of a lot of people, not just coaches but other players who hadn’t played with him,” said Popovich, adding “we were just stunned by some of the things he could do with the basketball and his speed. He always had a smile on his face. He was always ready to go. I enjoyed him very much. He was wonderful.”
LaVine lends his Gold to Coach Popovich
While LaVine’s talent was turning heads, the relationships he built off the court also began paving the way for his entry into the NBA’s star class. He struck up a friendship with Draymond Green as the veteran gave him a crash-course in the world of fine wine. ”He had no idea about anything when it came to wine, And it was good just to see him start trying wine,” the Golden State Warriors forward recalled. “Before you knew it, Zach was coming up to the lounge, like ‘Hey, man, we drinking some wine tonight?’”
Green’s influence went beyond refining LaVine’s palette, though, as Chicago’s No.8 soaked up advice on dealing with his growing status in the league. “He’s one of those guys that’s extremely talented, extremely confident, but doesn’t really know how good he truly is, what he brings to the table,” Green said. “So it’s just trying to teach him that. You are the face of a franchise, bro. How do you be that? He’s never been on a team where anyone can really, truly teach him that. Or else he would’ve been that.”
Taking a further step into Green’s world in August, LaVine joined the four-time NBA Champion under the representation of Klutch Sports Group, headed by LeBron James’ lifelong friend Rich Paul.
LaVine also drew inspiration from Green’s former teammate Kevin Durant, who led the USA in scoring that summer. Durant, a pure scorer like LaVine, had voiced his admiration for the Bulls guard in March when he selected him as part of Team Durant for the All Star game. “I’m very excited about this one,” the former MVP said. After a summer watching Durant up close, LaVine was quick to repay the compliment. “I tried to shoot with him every day. But he didn’t miss one workout, one routine. Every day he got in the gym, he had the same workout after practice. He shot after every day. He came early to the gym. His work ethic is second to none. I just tried to attach to that.”
LaVine and Durant enjoying their Olympic triumph
Things were on the up in Chicago too. Much as LaVine was gearing up to reach new heights, the Bulls added star talent to their roster that summer. DeMar Derozan, already a four-time all-star, was acquired from the San Antonio Spurs in a sign-and-trade after General Manager Marc Eversley had flown to Los Angeles and convinced the mid-range master to spurn interest from his hometown Lakers and Clippers and move to the Windy City instead. Alex Caruso, who would go on to earn two all-defensive team selections in Chicago red, was prised from the Lakers in free agency and point guard Lonzo Ball arrived from New Orleans to add some much needed playmaking.
Big man Nikola Vucevic, another former all-star, had joined the Bulls midway through the previous season and so they entered 2021/22 with a ‘big three’ – DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic – and the accompanying belief that they could challenge for the top spots in the Eastern Conference. From October until March, that belief was vindicated. Chicago enjoyed spells at the top of the Eastern Conference in every month except December. LaVine earned another all-star berth, selected once again for Team Durant, while DeRozan lined up as a starter for Team LeBron.
Zach, DeMar, Vooch power the @chicagobulls on opening night!@ZachLaVine: 34 PTS (11-17 FGM)@DeMar_DeRozan: 17 PTS, 3 STL@NikolaVucevic: 15 PTS, 15 REB pic.twitter.com/HYKpt1Erg8
— NBA (@NBA) October 21, 2021
The ascendent Bulls had suffered a major blow in January, though, when Lonzo Ball tore his meniscus. Ball, who had contributed 13 points and 5.1 assists per game as well as excellent defence, was integral to the balance the Bulls had enjoyed in the first half of the season. With Ball absent for the remainder of the season and Caruso and LaVine missing time too, the Bulls tumbled down the Eastern Conference standings, finishing the season in 6th position.
This still marked progress, giving LaVine his first playoff appearance, albeit in a 4-1 series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. But Chicago has failed to build on that momentum in the two seasons since. They have neither returned to the playoffs, nor rediscovered the form shown in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign. Ball has not returned to the court since January 2022, suffering unexpected setbacks in his rehabilitation from that injury to his left knee. The point guard has undergone three surgeries and a cartilage transplant as he strives to return to action, with Coach Billy Donovan recently saying “Hopefully we can get Lonzo back. He’s getting closer.”
Ball, like LaVine, played his college basketball at UCLA
Ball’s absence left the team without its primary playmaker, while the underperformance of Vucevic has also been damaging. The centre, who arrived in Chicago after earning an All Star selection with the Orlando Magic, has been targeted on defence and his efficiency from three-point range has declined too. Donovan’s rotations are another source of frustration amongst Bulls fans and the mood around LaVine, who played just 25 games last season after opting to have surgery on his right foot in February, is increasingly glum, with questions resurfacing about his ability to lead a winning team.
It is Caruso and DeRozan, and more recently Coby White, who have been annointed the saving grace of these disappointing Bulls teams, slumping to 10th and 9th placed finishes in the Eastern Conference during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns respectively.
Now, in a bid to break this cycle of mediocrity, the Bulls are entering a rebuild – one that leaves LaVine even further adrift. In both their decisions around the current roster and their activity in the market, Chicago has signalled that youth is the clear priority this summer. DeRozan, 34, has been dealt to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade agreement while Caruso, 30, has been traded to the Oklohoma City Thunder in exchange for 21-year-old guard Josh Giddey, who will be representing Australia at Paris 2024. Patrick Williams, the 22-year-old forward whom the Bulls selected with the fourth pick in the 2020 draft, has been retained on a five-year $90 million contract.
Caruso was beloved by the Bulls fanbase, as was DeRozan
With the Bulls hoping to move LaVine on, it seems they are ready to hand the reins to 24-year-old guard White, who was the runner-up for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award after averaging 19.1 PPG last season. The addition of Giddey and the possible return of Ball may offer the necessary playmaking to allow LaVine and White, who are scorers first and foremost, to work in tandem.
White had a breakout season with the Bulls in LaVine’s absence
Even so, the Bulls will be reluctant to reinstate LaVine as the clear number one option if that comes at the cost of White’s development. Chicago’s new direction may be a bitter pill to swallow for their No.8 too. After a career including just one trip to the playoffs and plagued by doubts about his winning acumen, LaVine is once again on a team concerned with growth rather than contention.
He had taken a decisive step toward dissuading those doubters three summers ago, but his NBA career has reached a standstill as Team USA prepare to defend their title without him at Paris 2024. Now, he watches on from limbo, left to puzzle at how his once clear path to undisputed stardom has gotten so muddied; how he now finds himself adrift in a franchise that, for a fleeting moment, looked ready to take that journey with him.
Three summers ago, Zach LaVine won the respect of the game’s leading lights. From October, he has to prove himself all over again.
