Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways if Zach LaVine is done for the season

3. Bulls are going to be cautious

To be honest, Bulls fans have seen this movie before. When Derrick Rose sustained an ACL injury nearly six years ago, he sat out the 2012-13 campaign, even though he was medically cleared to play during the second half of that season.

As was the case with Rose, the Bulls have followed the same protocol with their marquee players this season. When Dunn sustained a concussion back in late January, the team made sure all the boxes were checked before allowing him to return to the rotation.

The same can be said about Markkanen. Although Markkanen is close to returning to the lineup, Hoiberg has already ruled him out of playing in both of the Bulls’ back-to-back games for the upcoming weekend.

Being the competitor that he is, LaVine isn’t quite ready to call it a day just yet.

"“Still just getting my feet wet, man,’’ LaVine told the Chicago Sun-Times when asked about the possibility of not playing for the rest of the season. “I mean, [24] games [played], so there’s still some games to go out there to get in a rhythm before getting into the offseason and working out.’’"

Keeping in mind how the Bulls have erred on the side of caution up to this point, it makes sense that they would want to take a similar approach with LaVine being that he was considered a crucial piece in last year’s draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and if that means shutting him down for the rest of the season, then so be it.