WASHINGTON – It was quite the debut for the Bulls’ Zach LaVine.
The two-time All-Star showed off his ball-handling, the improvements he’s made in the pick-and-roll game, and his ability to be an aggressive cutter.
Unfortunately, it came against the organization’s player development staff and guys that shoot video for the team rather than actual NBA players, and it occurred at Georgetown University on Thursday rather than the Wizards’ Capital One Arena on Friday, but with a tricky left knee situation like the one LaVine is dealing with beggars can’t be choosers.
LaVine missed his second consecutive game of the road trip, as the team’s medical staff and LaVine’s camp made the decision to have his first game of the 2022-23 campaign come at the United Center on Saturday, as the Bulls host the Cavaliers.
As far as how this will be navigated moving forward, that remains the unknown for everyone involved.
Besides this current back-to-back, there are three more coming up on the schedule by Nov. 7. The way Donovan explained it, it’s very unlikely that LaVine would be off this knee management schedule by then.
“It’s hard just to go in and say, ‘OK, here’s the schedule, and here’s the games that we’re going to rest him or manage him when he’s feeling great.’ ‘’ Donovan said. “You know if he’s feeling great he’s obviously going to want to play, but I also think we need to be smart and this is more the medical and doctors, those guys looking at, ‘OK, sometimes it’s not in that moment, it’s a cumulative effect of something happening later on.’
“There may be some times where he does feel OK and the doctors, our medical group, says, ‘OK, this is the game to rest and get yourself back.’ So I can’t tell you I’ve looked at the schedule and here are the games we know [he’ll sit].’’
What no one could answer – including LaVine – was has this become the guard’s new normal at this stage in his career? He had the clean-up surgery in the spring, got his five-year, $215-million free agent contract in July, and as late as Wednesday, there was no indication of the knee being an issue.
LaVine did speak to the media about it, but was very vague on what he was actually experiencing or if this would be a long-term solution every year to make sure he’s ready for possible postseason play.
Donovan wasn’t about to deal with the bigger picture, either.
What Donovan knew was they have an upcoming back-to-back with the Spurs and 76ers, then one in Brooklyn and home against Charlotte, and then a home-and-home against Toronto.
Each one could be handled differently and warrant its own sit-down discussion.
“I think a lot of that is going to depend on what does the front-end look like and what does the back-end look like,’’ Donovan said. “There’s no minute restriction on him, but clearly the more load there is on him you’ll have to take a look at him. There’s nothing going into the game where they are saying ‘Listen, we’ve got to keep his minutes right here.’ Certainly him playing 40 minutes or 39 or 38 isn’t the best thing.’’
Eye opener
The Bulls will be as close to whole as possible when they make their home debut against the Cavs on Saturday. Cleveland, however, won’t be able to say the same.
All-Star guard Darius Garland was poked in the eye during the loss to the Raptors, and while there was no structural damage, he was ruled out for the game in Chicago.
