The Zach Lavine Problem

[AirP.]

Well Paxson did say they made the trade to jumpstart the rebuild. So rather than hold onto Jimmy until he left in FA in two years, they decided to trade him for this years #7 and last years #5 and Lavine. So if it was only 2-3 years it was because the trade was in fact successful. I think they are okay with bottoming out for three straight drafts if it occurs. You don't blow it up without looking at the worst case scenario

They did jumpstart their rebuild and I don't think they'll bottom out, I think this is mid to late top 10 lottery pick team. Dunn(who they would have taken #5 last year and probably at #3 had they had the pick), LaVine(who is like a top 3 pick)/Wade, Zipser, Mirotic and Lopez is not a worse in the league lineup. Mirotic and LaVine have the ability on this team to average 20 or more next year. Lopez is a good center, Dunn will be atleast good defensively at PG and Zipser will be a decent roleplayer at SF. This franchise is way too worried about filling the seats then go all in on a full rebuild(be nearly the worse team in the league) to possibly get a superstar at the top of the draft.

I guess I just don't get this FO. They took Markkenan when they already had Portis and probably Mirotic on the roster long term. I'm not exactly sure you can put 2 of those 3 on the court at the same time and actually win games against good teams because of the lack of protection in the paint. Toss in signing Felicio and currently R.Lopez and now you have 5 bigs who need time on the court. The pick should have been the player that could have superstar potential in him... which was probably Dennis Smith Jr. The FO should have just admitted Payne was a flop, Grant's ceiling is being a solid backup/rotation player and Dunn is still up in the air. Good lord Spencer Dinwiddie looked way better then Payne and they just released him last year.

I sure hope Dallas doesn't become a better young team then Chicago in the couple years. Chicago could have signed Barnes instead of Wade, they could have traded for Noels(really anyone could have), they passed on drafting Dennis Smith Jr... and also having Dunn and LaVine with them. Dennis Smith Jr, LaVine, Barnes, Mirotic and Noels is a good young starting 5 with a lot of potential. You have your rim attacker in DSJ and LaVine, your outside shooting with LaVine, Barnes and Mirotic and your rim protector with Noels.

Just a tidbit on LaVine, it's odd we hear all this talk in the NBA about Devin Booker and not a whole lot about Lavine and yet he's just 1 year younger then LaVine, LaVine nearly scored 20 a night being the 3rd option behind Wiggins and Towns while Booker was the #1 option on a much worse team but was able to score around 22 a night. I'm not quite sure they're all that far apart in talent and LaVine if he comes back near 100% may potentially be the better of the 2.

[Rerisen]

I don't mean to pick on this post, it is just a brief mention but I am seeing it in a lot of other posts also. If people are going to compare a 22 year old Lavine in his first season with the Bulls to a prime 27 year old Jimmy Butler playing on "Butler's team" we are destined to all be talking past each other every time Lavine's name is brought up. We are also destined to continue to view the trade that was made in all the wrong light.

No worries, I didn't mean it that way as in he needs to be as good as Jimmy now, or ever. Just mentioned the stylistic difference in scoring as a point for 'why' his efficiency might not be as good here. Heck, the reason some people wanted Jimmy gone was that they thought he didn't get assisted enough in terms of building a great offense. Though I think score on demand as a skill tends to be underrated in some circles, and is a key component of almost every championship team.

[Rerisen]

Just a tidbit on LaVine, it's odd we hear all this talk in the NBA about Devin Booker and not a whole lot about Lavine and yet he's just 1 year younger then LaVine, LaVine nearly scored 20 a night being the 3rd option behind Wiggins and Towns while Booker was the #1 option on a much worse team but was able to score around 22 a night. I'm not quite sure they're all that far apart in talent and LaVine if he comes back near 100% may potentially be the better of the 2.

Worth noting Devin Booker also has a negative RPM, and for mostly the same reason, defense. Though he is at least positive offensively. This is actually a common trait for young players even talented ones. Kevin Durant also rated as a negative his first couple years in on/off type stats.

But as far as your point why Zach isn't as heralded, well one year makes a big difference in young players because Zach has played 33% longer in the league. If Devin goes the whole of next year and mostly puts up the similar numbers (PER, etc) his stock will also slip some. I also think his massive scoring outbursts tends to create hype, which Zach maybe didn't have the chance to do as much on a more talented team.

Booker's scoring though is a lot more volatile and he hasn't been nearly as efficient as LaVine. Though again he's a year behind and Zach just upped his efficiency this last year by a moderate amount.

[MC3]

Zach will be damn good, he just need to recover from ACL. It's still a scary thought that we were dealing with 22 year old uber athletic guard recovering from same injury not too long ago. 2nd time luck charm I guess