SAN ANTONIO — The almost-daily talks that coach Billy Donovan engages in with his front office still take place in a world in which Zach LaVine is a Bull.
Until executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas makes that call to Donovan and tells him otherwise, that’s the space he will continue to operate in.
That’s why what happened on Friday continued complicating things.
Donovan is also a “your record is your record” guy, and thanks to a 121-112 victory over the Spurs and standout rookie Victor Wembanyama, their fourth in a row, the Bulls’ record since the 2021-22 season when LaVine is out is 15-10.
But good luck getting anyone in the locker room or coach’s office to admit that life without LaVine just might produce a better product on the court.
“When there’s anything of substance or anything Arturas feels like he wants to talk to me about, he’s talked to me about it,” Donovan said. “This is the one point so far this season where we’ve had a high-minute volume guy out for an extended period of time, but I just don’t look at it that way. I look at it as, ‘Here’s the group we have, who we’re going out to play with.’ And it’s kind of like the next guy has to step up and fill in for the guy that’s missing.’’
He’ll have to look at it that way for at least another three to four weeks, with the team announcing Wednesday that LaVine’s sore right foot would need more time to heal than first expected.
Considering LaVine and his camp added some early-season drama to the equation by letting it be known that they were in favor of the Bulls (9-14) trading him, it has been a high-wire act the organization has been walking.
To their credit, with LaVine out of sight, out of mind, there have been a number of Bulls who continue to step up, specifically the younger guys. Coby White was lethal again from three-point range, making five more and setting a franchise record for the most threes over a 10-game span with 47.
Patrick Williams had one of his better games and continued picking up the scoring slack left by LaVine with 20 points. Then sprinkle in what Ayo Dosunmu has been doing, as well as reserves Torrey Craig and Jevon Carter, and it’s almost like, “Zach who?”
“Not really thinking about anything, really,” Williams said of his recent turnaround. “Just going out and playing hard. You make shots, miss shots, just get back on defense, next-shot mentality. It’s been working for me.’’
Donovan wouldn’t touch the idea that the younger players are playing with more freedom with LaVine’s high-volume shooting gone.
“I’ve never heard Coby, Patrick, Ayo, Dalen [Terry] or Julian [Phillips] say, ‘I’m always looking for [LaVine, DeMar DeRozan or Nikola Vucevic]. I feel like I have to throw them the ball,’ ’’ Donovan said. “Maybe when one of those [three] guys is out they feel like, ‘I’ve got to step up more; I’ve got to be more aggressive.’ ’’
With just under four minutes left, White and Williams scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Bulls some breathing room, and they did so with guard Alex Caruso in the locker room with a rolled ankle.
So are they better without LaVine?
“It’s hard to replace the talent that Zach has on the court with one person,” Caruso said. “We’ve done a good job of playing by committee. It’s also a different look when [LaVine’s] not out there compared to when he is, but I’ve played in plenty of games with him now, nearly 2½ years, and when he’s locked in and playing good, we’re a really good basketball team.”
