Zach LaVine had no idea what the number was.
The first sign that this isn’t the same old No. 8 for the Bulls.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve shot over 20 (shots in a game), but it’s not a lot,” LaVine said when describing his role with the 2024-25 Bulls.
He was right, it’s actually not.
Of the 22 games he’s played this season, only five times has he put up 20 shots or more, and two of those came in the last two games against Indiana and Philadelphia when the Bulls were searching for offense.
To put that in perspective of how LaVine-reliant the Bulls used to be, back in February of the 2020-21 season, the Bulls played 14 games that month and LaVine chucked up 20 or more shots in 11 of those games.
“Obviously when you take less shots you’re not going to score as much,” LaVine said. “If your user percentage isn’t high enough, you’re not going to score as much. But how can you still go out there and be effective in the same way? And I think I’ve done a good job of picking my spots, being effective, being efficient. I still think I can do better.”
The Bulls would love that because as far as efficiency so far this season, there have been few players more elite.
LaVine will enter Friday’s game with the Hornets shooting 50.6% from the field, a career-best 43.2% from three-point range and 80% from the free throw line. If he were to clean up the free throw shooting and put together a 50-40-90 season, well, that would be one for the ages.
And what’s nice is LaVine still feels like he can go out and put a 40-burger up if the game calls for it. He scored a season-high 32 points in last week’s loss to the Pacers but knows both he and the offense have more.
“There might be a game where I may need to go out there and try and lead the team offensively, but this year has been more about spurts,” LaVine said, when discussing putting 40 points up. “I don’t think that’s the style of play that we’re playing right now.”
It’s definitely not. Coach Billy Donovan wanted a high-paced, spread-it-around offense with this season’s roster, focused on changing the shot profile to generating more three-point attempts. There’s a certain amount of buy-in that his players had to make, however, and LaVine did so without hesitation.
They don’t need 40-point LaVine games anymore.
Case in point: In the five games that he has put up 20 or more shots this season, the Bulls are 1-4.
The good news on Tuesday was LaVine & Co. are getting more help.
Patrick Williams (left foot) was back to practice after missing the last 10 games, Lonzo Ball has played in five of the last six games (the game he sat was a back-to-back), and Coby White missed two games with a sore left ankle before returning to play over the weekend, but now he’s closer to fully recovered.
That means that while it’s nice to know that LaVine can throw on the red cape if need be, Donovan is more than content with him playing like he has and doing so on both ends of the floor.
“We’ve put a huge emphasis on the pace piece of it and he’s really gotten up the floor and helped us with (that),” Donovan added. “We’ve put him on really all the other teams’ best players (defensively). The load that he’s had to endure on both ends of the floor … everything he’s done he’s impacted the team in a positive way.”