PHILADELPHIA — All the reports have been positive.
Injured guard Zach LaVine (right foot) had a hard practice day with the Bulls’ G League team Monday, a light day Tuesday and was planning to put in another intense workout Wednesday.
Coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday that as long as there are no setbacks, LaVine might return when the Bulls host the Hornets on Friday.
What remains a question is, what kind of LaVine will they get back?
‘‘Obviously, I talk to him in the building pretty regularly, and I think whatever he can do to help the team has kind of been his mentality; it’s always been,’’ Donovan said before the Bulls’ game 110-97 loss to the 76ers. ‘‘I think he sees how we’re playing, what we’re doing, and the thing he would want to do is to come in and contribute and make it better.
‘‘From my talks with him and the way he is in terms of what he’s seeing, what he’s viewing, that’s all I’ve gotten back from him. To me, it’s been really positive, all of our conversations. To me, he wants to help the group as much as he can.’’
It’s not as though the Bulls have needed LaVine’s help lately. They entered their game against the 76ers 10-5 in the 15 games he had missed with the foot injury and were playing some of their best basketball on both ends of the court since the start of the 2021-22 season.
The hope for LaVine and the Bulls is that he only adds to the chemistry and doesn’t disrupt it.
‘‘It’s not so much that he has to change his game,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘It’s what he does really, really well, can he bring that to the table for us? Him shooting the basketball for us, especially us generating more three-point shots, is important. We’ve been a team that hasn’t generated a lot of threes. He’s a guy that can do that.
‘‘I think he can see some of that stuff. Being quick and decisive with his decision-making, the ball continuing to move and everybody playing off each other, all of those things are important.’’
Wanting to play the right way never has been an issue for LaVine. Where it gets tricky is when he gets lost between wanting to play the right way and actually playing the right way.
LaVine is a bad-shot maker, which also means he’s a bad-shot taker. Then there’s also the hero-ball mentality he falls into, often ignoring open teammates who have better shots.
‘‘I also think that when you’re an offensive player, like DeMar [DeRozan] or Zach, a lot of times when the game gets in the balance or things aren’t going well, they feel the responsibility to take it upon themselves: ‘I’ve got to save this five-minute stretch that’s been really bad. We’re losing momentum,’ ’’ Donovan said.
‘‘We’ve got to trust each other and how we’re playing. Anytime we get to that place that it’s, ‘That’s my responsibility. I’m an All-Star, I’ve got to go do something,’ there are ways to do it where we can maintain stylistically how we’re trying to play.’’
If LaVine isn’t ready to play by Friday, the Bulls’ next game is Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. That would give his foot another two days to heal.
Slow going
Center Nikola Vucevic stayed back in Chicago to continue his rehab from a strained groin with the medical team.
He did some light jogging and stationary shooting, but there remains no clear timetable for his return.
