Chicago Bulls: 3 goals for Zach LaVine in 2018-19

2. Improve effort level defensively

As much as Zach LaVine likes to shoot the ball, it seems the opposite is true about his desire to play defense. There’s no way around it, he’s simply bad at it. His defensive effort is extremely low, especially considering his athleticism.

The defensive combo of LaVine and Parker is frightening, considering the lack of interest from both.

LaVine’s net rating last season was -13.2, worse than poor defenders such as Jeremy Lin, Devin Booker and Greg Monroe. As a group, the Bulls are just a bad defensive team.

Lauri Markkanen’s net rating was at -9.8, Kris Dunn finished at -9.1 and Denzel Valentine posted a -7.7. In short, the Chicago Bulls are bad at defense.

For LaVine to be better defensively, he really just has to start by caring. It’s that simple. Transition defense is about effort and little about ability. Not fighting through screens and taking poor angles is about aptitude and alertness on defense.

Losing the opposition  off the ball is about not caring or paying attention.

LaVine has to improve at all of this. If he wants to, he will. Considering his high flying offensive ability and his desire to be a team leader, his defense must improve.