Slow market leaves Bulls, Zach in limbo
PHILADELPHIA — It has been just more than a month since Bulls guard Zach LaVine and his representatives let it be known that he wanted to be traded.
Rather than it resulting in a change of scenery, however, the script to the soap opera continues to be rewritten.
The Athletic spoke with LaVine’s agent, Rich Paul, who said the talk of Lakers-or-bust isn’t the only ball in play.
‘‘It’s not one team,’’ Paul said in the article. ‘‘I don’t have a specific destination for Zach. I want what’s best for Zach and his family.
‘‘When you have a guy playing the game, you want him to be able to play the game happy, whether that’s in Chicago or somewhere else.’’
The Kings also were mentioned as a possibility in the article. But is that real, or is it Paul doing his job by trying to create a market that doesn’t exist right now?
The Sun-Times has reported several times that the Bulls’ front office has found little demand for LaVine and is hoping the climate will change as the trade deadline Feb. 8 approaches. There’s also a possibility that LaVine might remain with the Bulls, which would not be what either side wants.
LaVine (right foot) missed his ninth consecutive game Monday, and coach Billy Donovan said he still is working in the three- to four-week timetable that was laid out about two weeks ago.
‘‘He’s doing some shooting and some straight-ahead jogging,’’ Donovan said of LaVine. ‘‘And I think he has passed all that. He’s been good. The issue for him going back to the last time was when he started the cutting. He has not done any cutting yet.
‘‘The other part is that when you get to the end of the three or four weeks or whatever it may be, he’s going to have to have some kind of ramp-up of physical activity in a practice or against player-development guys where he can get himself going. But there have been no setbacks.’’
That means a return in early to mid-January.
More important, however, is what kind of player the Bulls will get when LaVine returns. Will LaVine want to play his style of ball or one that falls in line with how the team has been playing without him? Will he be all-in or simply in the way?
‘‘I haven’t talked to him about that,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘But in my conversations with him — and we speak every day — I think he really misses the game. The other thing is he has really been great on the bench [and] in the locker room, pulling for those guys.
‘‘It’s like DeMar [DeRozan ]or Vooch [Nikola Vucevic] or any player: They all have to figure there’s going to be sacrifices they have to make . . . . I think he’s been a good voice in the locker room and on the bench, trying to help and support those guys.
‘‘I do think whenever he comes back and there’s a period of time where a player has been out, everybody kind of readjusts to playing together again. That’s just normal.’’
Playing the heel
Forward Torrey Craig missed the game against the 76ers with a sore right heel.
The injury forced him out of the game Saturday against the Heat, and it might be a bit before he can return.
The Bulls want to get Craig back to Chicago so he can be scanned and fully evaluated.
‘‘He just has, like, a lot of discomfort in his heel, and they just wanted to make sure that they get the prognosis correct before they did any imaging or anything like that,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Have him back there with our people.’’