After reports over the weekend indicated that the Bulls weren’t thrilled by Zach LaVine blowing off a post-game media interview on Saturday, head coach Billy Donovan addressed the issue on Monday, telling reporters that it has been handled internally, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. According to Johnson, LaVine apologized to and spoke at length to the PR employee he ignored after Saturday’s win.
“Me being here for the time that I’ve been here, I really think we have good quality people,” Donovan said. “That goes from players to medical to PR people. They’re really great people to work with. My thing is I want everybody to treat everybody with class and respect and help each other do their job. We all have jobs to do. And they’re difficult and demanding and there are emotions in that. My wish would be that everybody helps each other in doing their job to the best of their ability.”
As Johnson writes, LaVine has been accommodating to the media and represented the franchise professionally during his six-plus years in Chicago, so Saturday’s incident was an anomaly and drew greater scrutiny because the guard has been the subject of trade rumors as of late. However, Donovan said he likes what he’s seen from LaVine on the court recently and hasn’t noticed any changes in the 28-year-old’s demeanor behind the scenes.
“I did not see anything different from him in that locker room when I walked in (on Saturday),” Donovan said. “I didn’t get a guy who wasn’t in the locker room or in a different room or upset or pouting or turned around. I talked to him after the game. He talked to players after the game. I saw a normal Zach in there.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- For a second straight season, Andre Drummond is playing a limited role off the bench in Chicago. The two-time All-Star is averaging just 13.8 minutes per night, but has been productive in those minutes, putting up 6.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per night. As Johnson writes for NBC Sports Chicago, Drummond still believes he’s a starting-caliber center, but he has no complaints about coming off the bench for the Bulls. “I got a lot left in the tank, man. Still very healthy. Still very young,” he said on Monday. “I still have a lot left to give. I know my role for this team and what I have to give. So I try to do it to the best of my ability.”
- Coming into this season, the Bulls had vowed to play faster, but that plan hasn’t panned out, notes Jamal Collier of ESPN.com. The club currently ranks 29th in the NBA in pace and 27th in offensive rating, and Donovan has acknowledged that Chicago isn’t going to be a “racehorse” team. “That’s fine, you can still be effective and productive,” Donovan said. “You have to play to your personnel and what you have.”
- President of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas bears the brunt of the responsibility for the Bulls’ struggles this season, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, who writes that the front office’s bet on continuity looks like a failed one, with little reason to believe things will turn around anytime soon. The only question is how much longer Karnisovas will give the current group, says Mayberry.
- In case you missed it, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams are said to be the Bulls players generating the most intrigue among potential trade partners, as we relayed on Monday.
NBA is the only sport of the big 4 that a team can rebuild quickly if they decide to rebuild and trade all of their stars.
Um…no. Average rebuild takes like 4 years to go from bottom to playoff team.
The NFL is the only league that a team can go from worst to a playoff team in a 1 year span.
I have not seen a NFL team do a complete rebuild and bounce back the next year. Can you tell me what team was the worst and next year won their division?
A quick google search will tell you it happens frequently in the NFL. In 18 of the past 20 seasons, at least one club has gone from worst to first, winning its division the season after finishing in last place. The Jacksonville Jaguars became the latest team to do so in 2022. The browns, Texans, and falcons all have a chance to do it this year.
last in the division to rebuild are 2 different things. So did jacksonville trade away all their stars? NONE of those team strip down to nothing to rebuild. Falcons were 7 – 10 and brown 7-10 last year. So what stars did the Texans trade away from last year’s squad?
Well, the answer is never because no nfl team has ever traded away “all of their stars”. But a rebuild is a rebuild, regardless of how many “stars” you have. The Texans had one of the worst rosters in the sport, they traded a franchise QB, which is about as big of a sell move as there is in the NFL.
The salary cap structure in the nfl does not incentivize teams for spending less like in other sports, probably because they have a true salary cap. Where as the nba you are incentivized by being below a certain tax threshold. Competitive balance in the NFL is stronger than any other sport and that is probably due to the hard cap. It brings parity to the league
Okay…you’ve seen NBA teams do this? When and where? And I’m not talking merely about a jump in record since that can be misleading due to injuries, maturation of talent, etc. For instance, the Pistons may come out much better next season with improved health and more chemistry, but it’s taken them years to stockpile and grow the talent necessary to have that opportunity.
The only NBA example that makes sense is the 2015 Cavs. Aside from Kyrie and Tristan Thompson (who were both young), they traded basically all their assets to get Kevin Love, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov, as well as to make cap room to sign LeBron. The 08 Celtics kind of did this, but they kept the veteran Paul Pierce, plus Rondo and Perkins. It wasn’t so much a rebuild as a massive addition, in both cases. I don’t see either as a rebuild, really.
NFL …..
Texas Rangers might argue
Even the Rangers took several years to get all of DeGrom, Eovaldi, Gray, Montgomery, Scherzer, Seager, Semien, Garcia, Heim, Garver, Lowe, and for Josh Jung to develop. They started that process in 2020.
GSW should go @ Andre
Look at the Bengals history. 4-11 in 2008 to 10-6 in 2009. 4-12 in 2011 and 9-7 in 2012.
4-11 in 2020 and 10-7 in 2021.
You can go from a bad record to a good record in one year in the NFL.
NBA is more of a slow build unless you get like two stars in free agency like the 2011 Heat and 2020 Clippers.
The 2020 Clippers squad only won one more game in the regular season then they did the previous.
Bring back Phil Jackson now.
DeM DeR >>>> to Knickerbockers …..
I like Drummond in Golden State if he is happy with the same role he has in Chicago
I’m at the point where I’m just ready to say ef it, and let the Bulls go full on rebuild.
At least there will be some excitement with younger players and qatching them develop. Or try to be developed…lol