With more than a week left in this year's NBA trade deadline, we've seen two teams push for reinforcements — Siakam for the Pacers and Rozier for the Heat. One of the things I was more surprised about was that the Heat made an early move, clearing Lowry, who was most likely to trade other stars for the team's salary match, and then posted a first-round pick to the Hornets in exchange for Rozier. It's not that Rozier is bad, but with the Heat's past practice, they should wait until the deadline is approaching to review the various possibilities of trading stars on the table before making a decision. Now that the Heat oil head has made an early move, in exchange for a Rozier who has started more than one and has less than a star, people can't help but wonder if this year's trading market will not be as hot as in previous years.
Hearing trade rumors of the biggest names on the table, such as Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine (LaVine), it may end up being thundering and raining, and everyone will return to their respective teams when the time comes.
LaVine is probably the most regrettable one. The two-time Slam Dunk contest champion and two-time All-Star Bulls billboard star, this year because of the continuous injuries since the start of the season, coupled with the signing of a five-year top-level contract last summer, the average annual salary of more than 40 million, has made many teams who were originally interested in snare intimidation. Coupled with the poor integration of the Bulls' lineup with Koby White as the starting handler at the start of this season, a five-game losing streak at the end of November left the team in a deep pit of five wins and 14 losses.
At this time, LaVine was injured again, and when the future of the Bulls seemed bleak, the team rebounded from the trough to win 10 wins and 7 losses. One of the most impressive is of course Kobe White. Like LaVine, the only "former remnant" on the team, he has been up and down on the Bulls' bench in the past few years, especially after the team signed DeRozan, Ball and Caruso, lost most of his playing time and almost became a fringe man guarding Heater. However, White was very competitive, did not exile himself because of this, and worked the dribble cut and defense. In the last two months of last season, when LaVine and DeRozan missed a series of minor injuries, White took advantage of the playing time and played well, which was one of the main reasons for the Bulls to enter the Eastern Conference play-offs.
Because of this, the Bulls decided to renew White's contract for three years and 36 million last summer. And despite signing Jevon Carter in free agency, the season began with a resolute decision to let White take on the role of starting the ball. While LaVine was injured, White led the Bulls to a completely different style of play than they had been in the past two years. Whether it is Nikola Vucevic who cuts in and puts it on the inside line to score easily, or passes back to the outside circle to shooters DeRozan, Patrick Williams, etc., causing the opponent's defense to be out of tune, or showing a high degree of pressure resistance, and frequently releasing cold arrows on the three-point line to continue the offensive momentum, White's selfless ball path makes the Bulls' offense suddenly three-dimensional, as if returning to the wonderful but short-lived Bulls team before Ball's injury, rather than LaVine and DeRozan repeatedly playing a boring game of you and me, and other teammates only watch the ball. Whether it's playing on the court or practicing privately, I think White's transformation and the gradual weight of the team must be seen in LaVine's eyes. And the Bulls are playing better and better in his absence.
Perhaps because of this, when LaVine returned to the team, he suddenly changed his previous style of play. On the offensive side, it is no longer only the basket in the eyes of heaven and earth, but often only in the single digits after the first half, and most of the time only wandering around the outside waiting for response. Then in the second half, if the team is stuck in a scoring situation, they jump out and take over without hesitation. One of the masterpieces is definitely the January 10th vs. Rockets game. This game can be called LaVine's masterpiece in the past two years, not only was he very active defensively, won three steals and one hot pot to create multiple fast-break opportunities, and even helped protect the restricted area and grabbed thirteen rebounds. On the offensive side, he constantly broke through with the ball and passed to his teammates, and in addition to passing seven assists, it also created a big gap after countless other setters or triples. Then in the second half, the Rockets jumped out to take over the game when they counterattacked, and the long-range shot and close cut combined with the creation of free throw opportunities extinguished the momentum of the Rockets' comeback. And this kind of performance seems to be so comfortable for him, it doesn't feel like it takes much effort. This is really a bit mixed in the eyes of Bulls fans, because, isn't this the spicy man that the Bulls wanted to see after trading Jimmy Butler? If LaVine couldn't hand over this kind of performance in the game in the past, was it the kind of can't "coerce Tarzan to surpass the North Sea", or the kind of can't massage the arms of the elderly?
Either way, the bulls must be happy to see this change. At least, compared to the embarrassment of the Pistons who scored 51 points and zero assists at the beginning of the season, but the team lost by 16 points to the Pistons (yes, the Pistons that later broke a record-breaking 28-game losing streak), this version of LaVine is definitely the one that the Bulls need the most.
It's a pity that in the eighth game of LaVine's return, the Bulls also played a beautiful six-win and two-loss during this period, and LaVine sprained his ankle again and is expected to miss another two weeks. This means that before the trade deadline on February 8, LaVine may not have many opportunities to play. The injury doubts, coupled with the top-tier contracts, also mean that LaVine's trade value this year has reached a new record low. Looking at the entire trade market, there are very few teams that are interested in LaVine and can afford him.
I don't think the best teams for LaVine, like the 76ers and Lakers, don't seem to be too willing. I don't think the Bulls brass would want to sell LaVine at this juncture. So if there are no surprises, LaVine will almost certainly keep the Bulls after the trade deadline.
This year marks LaVine's seventh year with the Bulls. So despite the reluctance of thousands of people, I think the only thing the Bulls can do with LaVine right now is to wait and see. LaVine has been through many periods during his seven years with the Bulls, from a physical monster to a three-point shooter to a two-time All-Star and now to now. During this time, LaVine has been playing a player who is constantly chasing his own value.
Don't forget that before LaVine's rookie contract was about to end, he signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Kings as a restricted free agent. At that time, the whole world thought that the king was crazy, but he didn't expect the bull to follow up even more crazy and fall below a bunch of expert glasses. However, it is also because of this that LaVine has the opportunity to develop into an All-Star player in Chicago. After many years, LaVine must once again prove his worth at the top of the league. After returning from injury this time, he continued to maintain this seamless skill that can match the team on both offensive and defensive ends. Perhaps, then we will see the Bulls return to the playoffs and challenge the Eastern powers.
What about DeRozan, you say? Didn't the Bulls trade him away before the trade deadline? Could they just watch him become a free agent at the end of the season, wave his sleeve and not take away a jersey? Ah, that's another story.