There were a few seasons on the resume in which Zach LaVine had a legitimate argument on being an All-Star Team snub.
This time around, however, wasn’t one of those for the Bulls guard.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday for the first time since the NBA announced the All-Star reserves on Thursday, LaVine knew early on this season that he wasn’t running a good enough campaign to be mentioned.
After all, he was coming off a left knee clean-up surgery and was dealing with a load management schedule right out of the gate.
“I didn’t feel like I played at an All-Star level at the beginning of the season,” LaVine said. “That’s coming back off of injury. I started slow and then started picking it up. I am where I’m supposed to be at. I know who I am as a player. I think the league knows that too.”
They likely do, but they also see where LaVine’s team was in the standings.
Considering DeMar DeRozan’s numbers as well as his reputation, LaVine knew that 10th-place in the Eastern Conference wasn’t going to scream to the rest of the league that the Bulls deserved two players selected.
“I think we need to be in a better position for us to have two or three guys in the All-Star game,” LaVine said. “I think we’re sitting 10th right now. That’s not good. I think bigger picture you’re not worried about All-Star, you’re trying to get your team back in the playoff picture.
“[DeRozan] deserves it. He’s been one of the best players in the league. Obviously, our record hasn’t been great this year. But he’s a big reason why we win a lot of our games, especially late game. And I think everything that comes his way, he deserves. He works for it. He’s a great guy and a great teammate.”
Now don’t go feeling bad for LaVine.
He plans to use the time off to get somewhere warm for a quick family vacation, reset his body, and prepare for some sort of turnaround over the final two months.
As for DeRozan, he now is a six-time All-Star, and his second time as a Bull.
Carus-no
The Bulls were once again without Alex Caruso on Saturday, as the defensive-minded guard missed the game with a sprained left foot.
The good news was it didn’t seem like a long-term injury.
“He’s had that happen before,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He really felt substantially better the next morning, but there really hasn’t been a lot of change from [Friday] to [Saturday]. Just a matter of treating it and see how he responds day-to-day. But I’m not quite sure when we’d have him available again.”
It was the seventh game Caruso has missed this season with different injuries.
Drum beat
While Donovan appreciated veteran Andre Drummond staying ready off the bench and putting in a 15-point, 11-rebound performance against Charlotte on Thursday, it didn’t change the fact that his playing time remained match-up based.
“As you go through the analytics and you look at that stuff, there’s been a lot of merit with Derrick [Jones Jr.] at the five spot,” Donovan said. “But there’s also been some real significant rebounding problems with that too. So it kind of comes with a cost a little bit.
“There’s going to be some games where they’re small and we can switch and there’s not that threat of size and physicality at the rim, and Derrick might be the better option. And there’s going to be times we played, like Charlotte, where Drum’s going to be the better option.”