The hype about Zach LaVine coming out of the first week of Bulls training camp was real.
Several teammates talked publicly and practice onlookers privately about how explosive LaVine has looked coming off a summer in which he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and signed a five-year, $215 million contract extension.
What it will mean for the Bulls in the standings remains to be seen. But they think they still have a devastating one-two punch in LaVine and DeMar DeRozan that few in the NBA can match.
‘‘It can be very exciting [for us] and scary for other people,’’ DeRozan said when he was asked about the second season he and LaVine will play together. ‘‘I can’t tell you how many times I talked to him this summer, just checking on him, getting that leg back together. I want to be with a healthy Zach. A full year of that is something I dream about every single night.’’
In DeRozan’s estimation, a healthy LaVine makes life easier — not just for him but for the entire Bulls offense.
There were far too many games last season in which DeRozan, who is entering his 14th season, carried the night — especially when LaVine was dealing with his knee issues and couldn’t deliver on both ends of the floor. But that was exhausting, and DeRozan looked worn down by the end of the season and in the playoff series against the Bucks.
And now that he’s a year older at 33, DeRozan would love for LaVine to take the lead this season.
‘‘A lot of my load last year was Zach being out,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘We always talked about making things easier on one another. Being so up and down and not having each other made it tough on both of us. Having a healthy Zach and healthy me makes our job — and everybody else’s job around us — a lot easier.’’
That starts with scoring. DeRozan is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 27.9 points, which was seventh in the league. LaVine finished 17th at 24.4 points, down from a career-high 27.4 the season before.
If they each play to their potential, the only other duo that could match them in scoring would be the Nets’ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. That’s good company.
The concern is whether teams actually discovered a blueprint for how to slow them down in the second half of last season, as DeRozan and LaVine indicated. A healthy LaVine could make all those double-teams and blitzes on the screen game more difficult.
Then there’s the role coach Billy Donovan and his staff will play. They have to make sure they have an adjustment in place to counter the so-called blueprint.
While the Bulls aren’t expected to show much in preseason games, their regular-season opener against the defensive-minded Heat will be a heck of a first test — one LaVine can’t wait for.
‘‘We saw how teams defended us and adjusted throughout the season with different double-teams — me in pick-and-rolls, [DeRozan] in the post — so just try and use that to our advantage and be able to help each other get better,’’ LaVine said. “Better shots, easier looks and help this team win. That’s what it’s all about. But having another year underneath our belt, I think it’s only going to get better, especially when we’re both healthy.’’
