As bad as it’s looked from the outside over this All-Star Weekend, Zach LaVine is still all in on being a Bull.
According to several sources, LaVine was doing his recruiting due diligence the last few days – a rite of passage for any player considered the face of his franchise, was staying upbeat about his current roster, and was still talking postseason for a team sitting at 19-36 and five games back of the No. 8 seed.
“I mean, if you’re not confident in yourself or your team, you already lost the battle,’’ LaVine said of starting a playoff push with 27 games left. “Obviously, I’m going out there to win.’’
He may finally have some help this season, as starting center Wendell Carter Jr. (right ankle) was expected to start practicing again this week, with the hope of being ready for Thursday’s game with Charlotte.
Then Lauri Markkanen (right pelvis) and Otto Porter Jr. (left foot) will be re-scanned, and if there are no setbacks from the testing, could be back by the first week of March.
Will that be enough?
Likely not, especially because the Bulls started the season healthy and jumped out to a less than auspicious 3-7 record. Add to the fact that the March and early April schedule could be a death march to the end of the season, and LaVine’s hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time in his six-year career could be a pipedream.
LaVine’s trust is that his teammates show up to practice Tuesday night – undermanned or not – and get ready to tackle what’s in front of them first, starting with a four-game home stand that’s more than winnable. Besides the Hornets coming to town, the Bulls will welcome in Phoenix, Washington and Oklahoma City. Only the Thunder have a winning record.
“For me personally, just to keep the foot on the gas pedal,’’ LaVine said. “You never know what’s going to happen. We can’t be on vacation mode yet. Sometimes you come out the break, teams go up or down. Hopefully we’ll be one of the teams that go up.’’
If they are, LaVine will need some help.
Going into the break, LaVine was averaging 28.3 points over his last four games, while shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from three-point range. And oh by the way, also averaging 5.5 assists and five rebounds per game.
The problem is the Bulls also went into the All-Star Weekend losers of six straight.
“I’ve been able to deal with ups and downs really well this year, like a roller coaster,’’ LaVine said. “I feel I’ve been able to be pretty even keeled and not get too high on the highs or too low on the lows, and just lock in and be prepared for each game.’’
If LaVine can carry this team to the postseason, however, he knows it will carry weight into next season. In his eyes, the reason he was on the outside looking in of falling short of being an All-Star was because he’s not been seen in the playoffs.
Winning matters, and not just for All-Star recognition. LaVine also found out he was not put on the list of players potentially representing Team USA in the upcoming Olympics.
“I think I made my case for a lot of things to be on it,’’ LaVine said. “But I’m not the one picking. Am I frustrated or disappointed? I wouldn’t say frustrated. I think it’s just a little more fuel to the fire. They had their reasons for picking their guys. It is what it is. It’s not going to stop what I represent.’’
