Chicago Bulls: 3 players who could heat up during final stretch
1. Whenever he comes back, Zach LaVine could (re)heat up for the Chicago Bulls
All-Star guard Zach LaVine has missed the last eight games since entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols on April 15. When he’s expected to return seems a bit cloudy, but it’s clear that said return will be a welcome one.
Surprisingly, the Bulls have gone 4-3 with LaVine out of the lineup, with three of those victories coming against teams that are either positioned to make the play-in tournament or the traditional playoff field outright. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have a guy who averages 27.5 points per game on the floor, especially when that production makes your offense 6.7 points per 100 possessions better.
With only a few games left, the idea of LaVine returning, going on a tear, and helping the Bulls make the play-in tourney seems like a precarious one, particularly considering the arduous path the team has to go through to make that happen.
Having an upper-tier three-level scorer who regularly draws contact would make that pursuit easier. Sure, it would probably take LaVine a couple of games to get going again, but once he gets back into rhythm, fans will likely see the scoring outputs that have made him one of the best offensive players in the league this year (96th percentile in offensive EPM).
Of course, this all hinges on when LaVine returns to action.