The Chicago Bulls have a hit a wall in terms of injuries. Torrey Craig has missed a ton of time, Patrick Williams has been out, and Nikola Vucevic was absent for some games, too. But nobody has dealt with more injury issues this season than Zach LaVine.
LaVine missed over a month with a foot injury but returned at the beginning of January. However, he then hurt his ankle after just seven games back. And now, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, LaVine has elected to have season-ending surgery on his foot, so he won’t be back on the court for the Bulls this year.
After the news was put out, DeMar DeRozan reacted to LaVine’s injury.
“When you go through a situation like that, I’m pretty sure it’s frustrating, it’s tough on him,” DeRozan said via ESPN. “It’s a whole different type of mental hurdle he’s got to go through with that. So hoping for the best for him.”
LaVine has been thrown around in trade rumors this season, as the Bulls have reportedly been focused on finding a deal for him, but it now seems certain that he’ll remain in Chicago until the offseason, at the very least.
Before going down, LaVine had been having a solid season. He was averaging 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 34.9% from behind the three-point line.
Getting LaVine healthy will undoubtedly be the main priority for the Bulls, but rather than welcoming him back to the floor next season, they could look to ship him out to another squad ahead of next year.
