MILWAUKEE – Zach LaVine is still not shy about showing yet another card.
The whole hand?
Not happening for the Bulls guard. At least not yet.
The latest reveal came on Monday, when LaVine was again pressed about the upcoming NBA Dunk Contest over the All-Star Weekend in Chicago, and what – if any – his participation level would be.
Like he told the Sun-Times last week, LaVine sounds more and more like his stance is if he’s voted an Eastern Conference reserve and makes the big-boy game, both the Dunk Contest and Three-Point Contest would be in play.
If he’s not, well, it could very well be a take-his-ball-and-go-home situation, with the Three-Point Contest still a slight possibility.
“Like I said, I’d rather be in the game than be in the dunk contest,’’ LaVine said. “I think I’ve shown everything I can dunking. I think I’ve shown I can win that pretty easily, but if I’m in the game, yeah, I’ll think about doing it.
“I’d like to do the three-point contest, but obviously where I’m at now I think my sights are something bigger than just doing contests. I want to be in that group where you’re playing in the game, and obviously once you start winning you can be considered for All-NBA and things like that.’’
LaVine is definitely proud of his two dunk titles, but his point remained that it was long ago, and he doesn’t want to be known for just dunking.
In his estimation, he won’t need long to prepare for it, and has admitted on several occasions that he’s secretly found a few moments to seemingly defy the laws of gravity and work on some new material. So it’s still very possible even if he joins it late.
“Obviously, I know I’ll be in town,’’ LaVine said laughing. “I want to be a part of the festivities, especially in Chicago so we’ll see what happens.’’
Ideally, what LaVine would like to see play out is being selected to the All-Star Game, and doing whatever he can to steal the show for the hometown crowd.
The sixth-year player, however, is also a realist. What he wants and feels he deserves is very different from the reality of the situation. He knows how the game is played, and All-Star reserves are often selected if they are coming from a winning situation.
LaVine is obviously not.
“I understand it,’’ LaVine said. “It’s been like that for a while, like I said I think everything comes with winning. Everybody on the team succeeds with winning and I think that’s where it’s got to come from first. I’m going out here just trying to do my part.’’
‘Death lineup’ sequel
Coach Jim Boylen went back to his “Death Lineup’’ late in the first half against Milwaukee, rolling LaVine, Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen, Tomas Satoransky and Chandler Hutchison out on the floor.
The Bulls were up one with 5:40 left in the half, and by the time both teams went into the locker room they were only down one, so call it a wash.
Boylen used that small lineup in the fourth-quarter comeback against Cleveland, and obviously wants to see it more often. It gives him a defensive presence with Dunn and Hutchison, and also forces Markkanen to play the five, which he struggled doing early on this season when given the opportunity.
According to Boylen, they will continue using it, but only in certain spots.
“Depending on time, score, situation, that’s a lineup that we’ve talked about,’’ Boylen said.
