De’Aaron Fox is about that life.
The Kings point guard reminded everyone of that once again on Wednesday, hitting dagger after dagger in the fourth quarter, including the kill-shot three pointer with 0.7 left in the game to eventually send the Bulls back to the home locker room with the ill-timed loss.
Not a real surprise considering Fox came into the game leading the Association in the clutch scoring category – defined as the last five minutes of a game when a team leads or trails by five points or less – and doing so with a 54.8 field-goal percentage, including a plus-minus of plus-32.
A nice badge to wear, but a lot can happen in the last five minutes of an NBA game.
The last minute in which an NBA game is within three points either way? That’s onions time, and that’s again where Fox has flourished this season, scoring a league-best 47 points on 51.6% shooting. More importantly, the Kings are 17-9 in those situations.
Fox is the highest-paid player on Sacramento.
Second to Fox in scoring with a minute or less is Dallas’ Luka Doncic, shooting 54.5% from the field in those situations, and before Kyrie Irving was rented out for the remainder of the season, Doncic was the highest-paid Maverick.
Third in that category? Jimmy Butler. All he’s done for the Heat is shoot 57.1% from the field, lifting Miami to an 18-12 record in those situations. And yes, the highest-paid player on the roster.
All max players doing max things in winning time.
And another reason why this Bulls roster is so flawed.
DeMar DeRozan has been a late-game assassin for two seasons in a Bulls uniform. There’s no denying that. He is the reason the Bulls were a playoff team last season, and a big reason they are even competing for a play-in spot this year.
In three-point games with a minute or less left, he’s been as consistent as the Bulls have, shooting 40.9% from the field. Three major issues? He’s 0-for-3 from three in those instances, the Bulls are 6-16 with DeRozan playing in those situations, and he’s not the max player on this Bulls roster.
That distinction falls on one Zach LaVine.
Yet, DeRozan has double the number of shots with the game on the line in the final minute – 22 to 11.
It’s time for coach Billy Donovan to take LaVine’s training wheels off and let him prove he’s worth the investment moving forward.
It’s easy to see why he hasn’t, because LaVine’s track record is more empty-calorie 30-point games, but shrinkage come winning time.
Besides his two ridiculous three-point shots in the final 25 seconds to beat Charlotte back in 2019, name a vintage LaVine moment with the Bulls.
It definitely wasn’t last season, with LaVine going 2-for-7 (28.6%) from the field in three-point games and a minute or less left. DeRozan was 10-for-18 (55.6%).
What about pre-DeRozan? Not really, as LaVine was the unquestionable face of the franchise in the 2020-21 season, but shot 31.6% in winning time, as the Bulls went 8-13 in those games.
The 2019-20 season? LaVine was 5-for-23 (21.7%) come hero time. The year before that it was 28.6% with seven turnovers.
Even with the lower volume, LaVine is currently shooting 45.5% from the field in that one-minute scenario this season. Maybe he’s learning on the fly. After all, Fox shot 37.5% in those situations in the 2020-21 season.
Some guys are just natural cold-blooded killers when the game is on the line, but others figure it out through failure.
Maybe LaVine has arrived. There’s only one way to figure out if the $215-million investment was worth it.
Time for LaVine to be allowed to show if he’s about that life.
