At this time last season, the Chicago Bulls sat as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 19-10 record as the Bulls were the surprise team in the league with DeMar DeRozan was an MVP candidate.
This season, the Bulls have lost that momentum, owning an 11-18 record as the No. 11 seed as they’ve lost four-straight games.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Bulls and All-Star Zach LaVine are ‘not seeing eye-to-eye’ amid the team’s struggles.
Multiple league sources and sources close to the organization say LaVine and the Bulls are not seeing eye-to-eye. Over the past few weeks, there’s been a palpable feeling across various parts of the franchise of a disconnect over LaVine’s situation in Chicago.
LaVine, who signed a five-year, $215 million max deal in the summer, spoke to The Athletic regarding the report and the frustration surrounding the team.
“I think everybody goes through ups and downs, just like every team does. Obviously if we’re not winning games, not everybody’s going to be happy. It’s not going to look as good as it was before. It’s all glitter and show when you’re winning games,” LaVine said. “But when you’re losing games and you’re trying to do the same things it’s turmoil. Everybody has their right to their own opinion. For me, I keep my head down. I work on my game and try to help my team. I help try to lead the team. That’s where I stand. I just try to take it day by day and evaluate how we’re doing.”
LaVine has struggled to find his All-Star form so far this season, averaging 21.8 points, his lowest since his first season in Chicago in 2017-18, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game on 44.3% from the field and 36.5% from 3-point range — both LaVine’s lowest since the 2017-18 season, as well.
“There’s a certain level of frustration in people trying to figure out what we can do to help right the ship,” LaVine told The Athletic. “I think with the players that we have, we try to put it on each other to right the ship. We have those type of guys, those type of mentalities where each of us have been number one options on a team before and then we all come together collectively. It’s not going to take one person. It’s going to take all of us as a unit. I think that’s what guys are trying to figure out how to help the group.”
Charania added that the Bulls have had ‘multiple team meetings’ in lieu of the team’s recent struggles, but LaVine and DeMar DeRozan have had separate one-on-one meetings to attempt to fix their on-court chemistry.
“The Bulls have held multiple team meetings to try to work out their issues, and that has included one-on-one, face-to-face sitdowns between DeRozan and LaVine…They maintain a good personal relationship. But their meetings have not led to in-game results so far, with a level of on-court, stylistic tension simply festering throughout the season and being magnified due to the win-loss record.”
The team begins and ends with DeRozan and LaVine and if they’re not on the same page and clicking on the court, then this team is going no where and no where fast.
And at this rate, even if the two All-Star’s are clicking, this roster might not have what it takes as a whole to climb out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves to start the season.
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