This season, belongs to Zach Lavin?
In this age of kings and losers, only the winner deserves attention and honor, and the loser, who is not even qualified to accept criticism, so over the past few years, although Lavin's personal performance is good enough, his sense of existence is still pitifully low.
For example, in the 19-20 season, at this time, LaVine has grown into a scorer averaging 25+ per game, with a shooting rate of more than 45% and 38% respectively, among all the players in the league who average 20+ per game, only Lillard's 2 shooting rates are above him, but even so, LaVine still lost the All-Star in Chicago;
There is also a 20-21 season, the continued evolution of LaVine, the average personal score per game to 27.4 points, shooting a high of 50.7%, three-point shooting rate of 41.9%, is the only 7 in the league, can play 60% of the real shooting rate of more than 30% of the players, the other 6 are Embiid, Curry, Alphabet Brother, James, Lillard and Durant, this time, the All-Star is selected, but in the best team selection, Lavin was ignored;
Everything, all blame bulls record is too poor, counting the 3 years of playing in the Timberwolves, the past 7 seasons, LaVine has never stepped into the playoff stage, he is like a student who has not yet experienced the exam, although the class performance is good, but the real strength, no one dares to pat the chest to guarantee, after all, everyone has not seen it, until this season, people are gradually convinced that Lavine's offense is really efficient, and this efficiency can also help the team to win.
As of now, LaVine has averaged 26.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, shooting more than 60% of the real shooting rate for 2 consecutive seasons, and among the players with more than 28% usage, only Jokic, Durant and James are above him.
Specific to the offensive means, let everyone more intuitively understand Lavine's scoring ability.
Blocking attack: This is LaVine's most commonly used weapon, accounting for 33.2%, can score 1.02 points per game, ahead of the league's 87.6% players, in the total number of players who have at least 200 demolition attacks, his efficiency is second only to Mitchell, ranking second in the league;
1v1 singles: The Bulls' best singles player is DeRozan, with an efficiency of 1.22 points per game, ahead of 93.3% of the league's players, but LaVine's singles are not bad, 1.08 points per round, which can also lead the 82.9% of players in the league;
Not only can he hold the ball, But Lavine's offensive efficiency on the ballless end is also terrifying.
Switching offense: He not only ranks 11th in the league in the number of rounds, but also can achieve 1.42 points per round, ahead of 92.5% of the players in the league, in the total number of players at least 100 times, Lavin is high in the league, for comparison, alphabet brother only 1.10 points, James is only 1.21 points;
The only thing that almost meant was the fixed-point shot, which was 0.98 points per round, only 48.8% of the players in the league;
Led by Lavin and DeRozan, today's Bulls have long since been reborn and are currently in second place in the East with a record of 22 wins and 10 losses, just one win behind the Nets.
Finally, so many years, LaVine finally got the "team record" this plus, with the opening of the 2022 All-Star vote, LaVine's call to start the starter is getting higher and higher, but this is not the most exciting thing for him, being selected for the best team is LaVine's final goal this season, because according to the rules, only by getting this honor, he is eligible to leverage the 5-year 235 million US dollar super salary next summer, a few months ago, LaVine refused the Bulls' request for early renewal, in order to do this.
At present, as long as it continues to maintain such a state, LaVine will have a great probability of being selected for the best team, even if it is three teams, but then again, 235 million is only the theoretical maximum possibility, and whether it can be finally obtained depends on the Bulls management's evaluation of Lavin, after all, this contract is more than the first high salary in NBA history of Alphabet Brother a year ago, 228 million US dollars, whether it is dominance or honor, Lavine is inferior to the latter.
But if in the playoffs, LaVine can also play a super level, and lead the Bulls to the division finals, or even the finals, he may also impress the Management of the Bulls, of course, even if it can't go that far, with Lavin's ability, with an ordinary top salary contract, it is more than enough.