The resilience of this Bulls roster has been on full display the last month.
No Zach LaVine? No problem.
A 9-4 record since the two-time All-Star was sidelined with a right foot injury has been glaring evidence of that.
Nikola Vucevic in street clothes? Let’s reintroduce Andre Drummond to the rest of the NBA. All Drummond did in Tuesday’s win over Atlanta was put up 24 points and 25 rebounds in his first career start as a Bull.
LaVine continued his running program on Wednesday, and could start seeing contact practices sooner than later, while Vucevic (groin) might need another week before his return.
Help will be coming.
But what’s also become very obvious the last few seasons is the one player the Bulls can’t do without is veteran DeMar DeRozan.
If executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is serious about reloading rather than rebuilding, getting a contract extension done with DeRozan has to be a priority as long as the money and years fit.
Why invest in a 34-year-old at this point? Because as DeRozan continues showing, it’s not just the numbers, it’s DeRozan’s presence.
Coby White’s dependance on DeRozan is somewhat eye opening.
Since last season, in the 96 games White has played with DeRozan he’s averaged 11.7 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. In the 88 games he’s played with LaVine since last season, 10.1 points, 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
Over that same timeframe, the 18 games without LaVine has put White at 21.7 points, 5.8 assist and 5.3 rebounds per game, and the 10 games without DeRozan 15.5 points, 4.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Fine, White didn’t really emerge until this season.
While the sample size is much smaller, White without LaVine for 14 games this season was averaging 23.4 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. In the 18 games with LaVine, White was 13.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game.
In the two games without DeRozan this season, White was 14 points, 4 assists and 2.5 assists per game, and the 30 games with the veteran White was 17.9 points, 5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Still not convinced that DeRozan makes this younger wave of talent better?
Patrick Williams this season was averaging 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game without LaVine, and 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds with LaVine. That makes sense because LaVine’s talent warrants scoring to go down for others. The same with DeRozan, but at a much smaller rate.
Williams was 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds without DeRozan this season, and 9.9 points and 4 rebounds with him.
Statistics are often in the eye of the beholder, however. Wins and losses? Far tougher to dispute.
Since the “Big Three” of DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic came together for the 2021-22 campaign. the Bulls were 7-9 (.437 winning%) without DeRozan and 20-14 (.588) without LaVine.
The knock some have on DeRozan seems to be the isolation ball the Bulls turn to in clutch moments – measured as the final five minutes of a game within five points – and the fact it’s usually in DeRozan’s hands.
There’s a reason coach Billy Donovan leans on his forward, however. It’s called a proven track record.
LaVine was 7-of-16 (43.8% from the field) in those situations this season, while White was 11-of-24 (45.8%) and Williams was 6-of-11 (54.5%). DeRozan led the team going 20-of-33 (60.6%) in clutch moments.
How about the last 30 seconds when the game is on the line? DeRozan was now 6-for-8 (75%), while LaVine was 2-for-6 (33.3%). Only Alex Caruso was better going 3-for-3 in that scenario.
As of now, the talks between DeRozan and the Bulls are all quiet, but if Karnisovas is serious about only looking to trade LaVine, at some point this season it might be best to get back to the table.
