Former one-and-done UCLA Bruins shooting guard Zach LaVine, now a two-time All-Star swingman for the Chicago Bulls, paid a visit to his old stomping grounds this past weekend, with his family in tow, to take in his alma mater's Spring Showcase football game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, as UCLA basketball's official X account revealed:
It's refreshing to see LaVine appear to be in good spirits.
For a guy earning who just finished the second season of a five-year, $215.2 million maximum contract, the 6-foot-5 wing has looked like a serious malcontent on the floor during much of his recent tenure with the Bulls.
LaVine played just 25 contests with Chicago amidst a foot injury and a possible trade request. His chemistry with the Bulls was on shaky ground, as he prioritized himself with a lot of iso ball play. As soon as LaVine went out, starting point guard Coby White started to thrive, and his team started to win, recovering from a brutal 5-14 season start to ultimately hover around a .500 record at the season's close (they finished at 39-43 and in the East's No. 9 seed, but were ultimately knocked out during the play-in tournament).
His season ended after he underwent a right foot injury in February, which at the time was set to sideline him for four-to-six months, meaning he's expected to return by August at the latest.
Across his 25 healthy games, he averaged 19.5 points on .452/.349/.854 shooting splits (his worst output since 2017-18), 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 0.8 steals a night. Per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls still hope to flip LaVine in a trade this offseason, and are making that their primary focus. His accumulating injury history and his chemistry issues may make that difficult to pull off.
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