Chicago Bulls: With injuries pile up, Zach Lavine needs to lead the way

As injuries continue to pile for the Chicago Bulls, Zach LaVine needs to keep up his hot start to the season to keep the team afloat

The Chicago Bulls are 1-4, and have been decimated by injuries through the first two weeks of the NBA season. Perhaps the only sliver of good news is that Zach LaVine, through the first five games of the season, has looked every bit the part of a $20 million per year player.

And that, and only that, is the only chance the the Bulls have of staying afloat until reinforcements return.

Before we get to the good news, let’s get up to date on the injury front.

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Denzel Valentine, who injured his ankle in late September, is still expected to miss at least another week before returning. Kris Dunn, who injured his MCL, will be out at least a month. The same for Lauri Markkanen, who has been sitting out with an elbow injury.

Finally, it was announced just a few days ago that Bobby Portis would miss 4-6 weeks with an MCL sprain.

That’s four rotation players, two starters, that will likely end up missing a good chunk of the season. This team likely won’t be full strength again until at least December, possibly longer. It’s going to reflect on this team’s record, and could lead to this team having another lowly season. Perhaps even worst than last season, in which they entered the 2018 NBA Draft with the 7th pick.

But if there’s any good news for the Bulls, it’s definitely the play of Zach LaVine, who has started the season on an absolute tear.

Entering Friday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, LaVine was averaging 32 points, four rebounds and three assists on 57 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. All this on a career-high 36 minutes per contest.

After signing his huge contract extension (4-year, $78M) during the offseason, many questioned whether he could live up to the new expectations. While he had shown flashes of brilliance in spurts over the first few seasons of his career, he had not shown it over an extended period of time.

Considering that he only played a handful of games with the Bulls, after they traded for him last summer, because he was still recovering from a knee injury, it was a big risk from Chicago’s point of view.

So far, though, it has paid off. But if the Chicago Bulls are going to stay competitive in a weak Eastern Conference, they’re going to need a steady LaVine for the next few weeks. And if the first five games are any indications, it should be no problem for their new frontman.