Guard Zach LaVine knows the Bulls’ roster is flawed.
Considering it has been made up of nearly the same players for two seasons and has won one playoff game in that time, ‘‘flawed’’ is being kind.
LaVine addressed the media one last time Saturday before returning to the West Coast to begin his offseason training as he heads into his 10th NBA season.
‘‘The front office has been very transparent with me,’’ LaVine said. ‘‘Obviously. I think we understand the type of team we have, the talent that we have. But it hasn’t been enough the last couple of years to get us over that hump.
‘‘I have confidence in the group and everything that everybody put into it, top to bottom. But there are certain things that we do need to get over that hump. I think you guys know that. [Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas] knows that. The players know it. But we are close.’’
LaVine was asked specifically what he wanted the front office to add for the Bulls to be a threat in the East.
‘‘More consistency,’’ LaVine replied. ‘‘Obviously, we didn’t shoot the three-ball very well. We turned out to be a pretty damn good defensive team. But I think coming into the season with me being a little bit banged up coming off the [left knee] injury slowed a lot of things down. And then picking up steam after All-Star break really helped us out. But just having that full consistency throughout the whole season would have helped out.’’
What LaVine didn’t see as an issue is the thinking that he and forward DeMar DeRozan don’t work well together.
He’s not alone in that, either. While Karnisovas covered a lot of topics with the media before LaVine spoke, the idea of moving one of his ‘‘Big Three’’ — LaVine, DeRozan or center Nikola Vucevic — didn’t sound as though it was even on the table.
Vucevic is an unrestricted free agent and might have a say in that, but it seems the LaVine-DeRozan tandem will get a third season together. It’s something both think would be worthwhile, based on the last two seasons.
‘‘Be honest, what fits?’’ DeRozan said when he was asked about the criticism of their games conflicting at times. ‘‘That would be my question. I honestly don’t pay no mind to it because the conversations me and him have on a daily basis about how we can be better, how we can make the team better, are genuine. So . . . no one on the outside can question what our fit is because it’s all about us, how we can be better.
‘‘I honestly don’t get caught up in the fit. They said Shaq and Kobe didn’t fit, [and] they went on to win. So you can question anything about everybody. I think it’s just a matter of us finding the right sequence of dynamics that brings out the best in us and the other three guys on the floor with us, and we showed spurts of that plenty of times.’’
The other point LaVine made was that he and DeRozan haven’t had a long run together when both are healthy. LaVine was dealing with knee issues two months into their first season together, and by the time he felt completely confident with the joint this past December, DeRozan was having hip issues until the Heat eliminated the Bulls in the play-in finale Friday.
With the right pieces and some luck on the health side, DeRozan and LaVine remain confident the results can be special.
‘‘Man, what’s crazy is even talking to [LaVine] on the plane [late Friday], we haven’t even scratched the surface,’’ DeRozan said. ‘‘We haven’t been fully ourselves, and that’s the scary part about it.’’
