Zach LaVine is headed to Tokyo, committing to Team USA for the Summer Olympics.
His agent Nima Namakian confirmed that on Wednesday.
Good news for the expanding LaVine brand, months after the Bulls guard was named to his first NBA All-Star Game.
Potentially great news for the Bulls, however.
Let the recruiting begin.
Past Olympic gatherings have seen super teams formed in the aftermath, whether it was the Big Three in Miami with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade or the attempted teaming up Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving tried three seasons ago.
Now LaVine gets to join the likes of committed talent such as Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal Jrue Holiday, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Khris Middleton and Bam Adebayo, and do his best to sell the new Bulls culture, as well as chase a gold medal.
Quite the bow to wrap up LaVine’s season, after he averaged a career-best 27.4 points, five rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 50.7 percent shooting from the field and 41.9 percent from 3-point range.
Of course this could always go the other way for the Bulls. All-Star Nikola Vucevic is signed for the next two seasons, but LaVine could become an unrestricted free agent after next season. The recruiter could easily become the recruitee.
Either way, this will be LaVine’s first Olympics, but not his first Olympic experience. He was a member of the Select Team back in 2016, helping prepare Team USA for the ’16 Rio de Janeiro Games.
