New machine belongs to LaVine
As revamped Bulls grind out win in Detroit in opener, it’s clear this is still Zach’s team
DETROIT — After all of the hype about the Bulls’ roster overhaul, the new era finally began Wednesday night with the season opener against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.
But was this really the beginning of a new era for the Bulls or just a continuation of the evolution that began with last spring’s acquisition of Orlando Magic star Nikola Vučević by executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas?
Before the Bulls’ 94-88 win over the Pistons, coach Billy Donovan didn’t care to put any labels on this 2021-22 journey.
“I don’t know, this is my second year here,” Donovan said. “I mean, our team has totally changed, and Artūras and (general manager) Marc (Eversley) have been pretty open about the fact they wanted to look at ways, after evaluating last year, (that) we could get better. Starting with Vooch last year at the trade deadline and then free agency, there were moves we made to try to make the team better.
“I don’t know if I would classify it as a new era or a new age. For me, it’s just a new season and your personnel has changed.”
Whatever you call it, the changes have been welcomed by Bulls fans, who have waited patiently for something to cling to after years of paying exorbitant ticket prices to watch an inferior product.
The only constant outside of the losing has been the upwardly mobile path of Bulls star Zach LaVine, who finally has some help in his quest to make his first postseason appearance.
LaVine took over in the second half Wednesday, leading the Bulls with 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting and going 11-for-11 at the line. Vučević added 15 points and 15 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan finished with 17 points and three steals.
With the Bulls trailing by two with just under a minute left in the third quarter, rookie Ayo Dosunmu scored inside for his first NBA points before Alex
Caruso made a steal on the other end and fed Dosunmu for another layup, giving the Bulls a 71-69 lead. They pulled away in the final minutes, and LaVine went 6-for-6 from the line down the stretch to clinch it.
LaVine said they were just finding their rhythm and grinded their way through.
“This ain’t last year,” he said. “We’re looking forward now. It’s a whole new team and a whole new mindset, so I’m excited we grinded that one out. A win is a win.”
Though Vučević, DeRozan and Lonzo Ball are expected to put up significant numbers themselves, rest assured this is still LaVine’s team and will be unless he decides to leave as a free agent next summer.
“He’s been here the longest for sure, so it is his team,” Vučević said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s our go-to guy and we know what we expect from him, but we’re all here to help him. We all have our qualities and we can all help this team grow and be a very good team.
“Each of us individually, we don’t look at it that way as much. But he has been here the longest, and we know he’s definitely earned that title by that and also by his play.”
This will be a work in progress in spite of the added experience on the roster.
After showing off their new up-tempo offense in the preseason, the Bulls got off to a sluggish start in the opener, shooting 28% (7-for-25) in the first quarter and trailing 20-14 with only four fast-break points. They began to jell in the second after Caruso replaced Ball, who waited until 8
½ minutes were left in the half to hit his first shot as a Bull.
LaVine began to heat up in the second quarter, and the Bulls kept things close with their defense to go to the locker room down 44-40.
“You’ve got to understand, it’s a brand-new team,” DeRozan said. “It’s going to be a lot of learning curves that we’ve got to get through, and we showed a lot of heart by digging down, figuring out, playing hard. We didn’t let anything affect us . ... We kept digging in the right direction, and that says a lot right there to do that on the road the first game of the season.”
Donovan said the hardest part of the new normal is that LaVine, Vučević and DeRozan are all used to offenses running through them, and now they’re trying to be unselfish. But when push came to shove, it was LaVine who took control.
“We have a bunch of dogs now on the team, guys that’ll step up for each other,” LaVine said.
“I think he’s looking at things through a different lens,” Donovan said of LaVine. “His voice is there. There’s a different messaging coming from him in a really, really good way. I think he sees things in a different way now, based on his experiences.”
He’s only 26, but it seems as though LaVine has been around much longer. He’s coming off a career-best season, averaging 27.4 points, earning his first All-Star berth and winning a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. And his brand is rising with a co-starring role with Zion Williamson in a new Mountain Dew commercial.
Still, LaVine knows he has to improve on defense and cut down his turnovers. Until he proves otherwise, there always will be those who doubt he can be the centerpiece of a championship-caliber team.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about LaVine, it’s that he doesn’t care what others believe.
“I really don’t go off what other people say,” he said Monday. “I go off what my own expectations are and my own goals. I don’t want to have any regrets, and I want to go out there and be the best Zach LaVine I can be. That’s why I come in the gym late, why I get up early and get my shots up and try to help my team.
“I want to win this year and be able to have the correct pieces to go out there and do that. I don’t put any expectations on myself. I just want this team to be very successful, and I’ll do whatever I can for that.”
With all the new talent, the Bulls at the very least should compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, which is still top-loaded. Anything less would be a disappointment.
“You’ve just got to steamroll it over,” DeRozan said. “It’s a long season. We’ve got 81 more games. ... There’s going to be a new obstacle the next game and the game after that. We’ve just got to keep building and learning.”