NEW YORK – It was Christmas in March for Zach LaVine.
And the present he had just ripped open was a 6-foot-10 Montenegrin built to post double-doubles on a nightly basis and spread the floor with an ability to shoot long range.
He hugged it, he praised it. LaVine had finally gotten his very own “Vooch.’’
“I’ve always wanted to play with a dominant big, and you know we’re obviously going to have to figure out our chemistry,’’ LaVine said of the Nikola Vucevic trade back in March of 2021. “But a guy like Vucevic is so talented offensively, he’s dominant in the post, in the midrange, he facilitates, he can pop for the three, so I think a combination of us in pick-and-roll, pick-and-pops, is going to be deadly.’’
“Deadly?’’
Well, Lavine was close. Less than two seasons later just drop the L and the Y because this core is dead.
LaVine, Vucevic, and then the later addition of DeMar DeRozan, were expected to change the fortunes of a Bulls organization that went from legacy franchise of the 90s to a rebirth in the Tom Thibodeau years to then laughingstock.
It had legs that first year, making the playoffs before losing to Milwaukee in the first round.
By last season, however, the writing was on the wall that it was broken. Unfortunately, the Bulls front office didn’t read it.
And now the Bulls’ “Big Three’’ knows that their time together is winding down. They’ve actually known it for quite some time.
‘‘This is probably our last shot to make something happen, and we’re aware of that,’’ Vucevic said back in October. ‘‘It’s on us to deliver.’’
What they’ve delivered is a 5-13 record, sitting only ahead of Detroit and Washington in the Eastern Conference, and the small flames around one or more of them being shipped out are only getting hotter.
“Rumors come with the territory,’’ Vucevic said. “If you’re playing well, everything is great. Everybody is talking positive about you. If you’re losing, you get criticized and rumors start. We have to deal with that.
“The only way to deal with it is for us to play better. That’s the only way for that to stop.’’
It’s more than that, however.
While DeRozan is still very close with LaVine and Vucevic on and off the court, the LaVine-Vucevic relationship seems to be disintegrating. Maybe not in the locker room, but definitely on the floor. The cameras have caught Vucevic visibly upset with missed defensive assignments from LaVine, with several happening in the Toronto game on Saturday.
That’s why it seemed like Vucevic went out of his way to bring up communication issues after Monday’s loss to the Nets, and then said, “honoring the (defensive) call that someone calls. Even if it’s wrong we’ve got to honor whoever if that person feels it’s the right call.’’
Without Alex Caruso out there, the center should be yelling out a lot of the calls. That’s Vucevic. Someone is not honoring his call.
Maybe it’s not LaVine, but he’s definitely the one that’s popped on film this season when it comes to blown defensive assignments.
So can winning turn this all around? It’s a nice thought, but this group might be too deep in the quicksand. Since LaVine made it clear that he and his representation are all for being somewhere else, the Bulls are 1-6. If the max player wants to let go of the rope what are the rest pulling for?
What’s definite in all of this is the trade rumors are only going to intensify as the losing continues.
“It doesn’t bother me,’’ LaVine said of those rumors. “It hasn’t in the past. I go out there and try to do my job and try to help us win. If (winning) doesn’t happen, you understand what comes with it.’’
