Bulls' 2022-23 season review: Zach LaVine delivers durability, scoring
Bulls' 2022-23 season review: LaVine delivers scoring originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls experienced an underwhelming and inconsistent 2022-23 season, one in which they finished at 40-42 and failed to exit the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
Though the season-long absence of Lonzo Ball delivered a major blow, the Bulls still possessed plenty of their core players to perform better. But a team that never posted a four-game win streak never fully achieved consistency. For every step forward, the Bulls took a step backwards.
Over the coming days, NBC Sports Chicago will review the seasons from each of the main rotational players, with a look ahead to next season as well.
First up: Zach LaVine
2022-23 statistics
77 games, 35.9 minutes per game, 24.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, 4.2 assists per game, 48.5 FG%, 37.5 3PT%
Contract status
LaVine finished the first season of his five-year, $215,159,700 maximum contract. He is due to make $40,064,220 in 2023-24
Season high point
In the first of two elimination games in the play-in tournament, LaVine scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half of a road victory at Toronto on April 12.
Perhaps even more impressive was the way LaVine did his damage. He shot 8-for-14 from the field in the second half and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line. Six of his field-goal attempts and four of his makes came within the restricted area. LaVine was in attack mode.
Season low point
Just two nights later, LaVine failed to answer in a road loss to the Miami Heat. He shot 6-for-21 with five turnovers, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
LaVine missed three of the Bulls' final seven shots, a stretch in which they failed to score a field goal for the final 3 minutes, 46 seconds. He missed shots he typically makes, including three in the restricted area. And he played loose with the ball, often dribbling into trouble and either forcing a shot or turning it over.
Summary
LaVine sat out four of the first eight games, including, in a surprise, the regular-season opener in Miami, as part of a knee injury management plan that followed offseason arthroscopic surgery. When LaVine did play, he lacked his typical athleticism, explosion and finishing ability, a nod to the fact he didn't scrimmage or do much of anything basketball-related as he rehabilitated from his procedure.
But LaVine, who didn't miss a game from Nov. 6 until a rest night in the penultimate game in Dallas, turned the corner in December. a month in which he averaged 24.5 points on 52.1 percent shooting, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
Ultimately, LaVine logged a career-high in minutes at 2,768, which marked the third-most in the NBA.
Overall, LaVine posted the second-best true shooting percentage of his nine-year career at 60.7, .2 better than the second of his two straight All-Star seasons in 2021-22. He also shot over 65 percent in the restricted area for the third straight season.
At multiple times throughout the season, coach Billy Donovan emphasized LaVine's elite catch-and-shoot ability, even once opining he'd like to see LaVine average 10 3-point attempts per game. As it stands, LaVine's 7.1 attempts per game tied for the third-most of his career and ranked tied for 30th in the league.
His 5.6 free-throw attempts tied for the second-most in his career, a number he has posted three times. But with his driving ability and athleticism, that number needs to climb.
LaVine averaged 2.5 turnovers with a usage rate of 27.8. For comparison, Bradley Beal averaged 2.9 turnovers with a usage rate of 28.8. Still, there are too many times where LaVine becomes loose with the ball. Though his decision-making has improved, cleaning up sloppy turnovers will make him even more lethal at the offensive end.
Defensively, LaVine consistently stated confidence in his on-ball habits, and there were multiple games where LaVine looked engaged in high-profile matchups. While his off-the-ball defense improved, it's still not where it needs to be for LaVine to more fully impact winning.
That's LaVine's next step---impacting winning. He still has only one playoff series---a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks---on his resume. And while all of that blame doesn't fall on him because he was drafted by a perennial losing team in Minnesota and then became the face of the Bulls' rebuild, he now has talent around him and a contract calling for more.
At his season-ending media session, LaVine emphatically stated that he and DeMar DeRozan haven't reached their full potential yet. If both players are back, they'll have to do their part to improve upon the league's 24-ranked offense to back up that comment.
LaVine remains supremely confident in his ability.
"I told you (reporters) at the beginning of the season, coming in off a knee scope I was going to work my way into the season. And then from December on, I played the way I was supposed to," LaVine said. "The beginning month, that was tough getting your rhythm back. We weren’t playing well at that time either. But since then, I had no complaints about my knee. I’m always going to be on top of my rehab and my strength and conditioning. Nobody has to worry about that."
