As the Chicago Bulls stretched and sliced through the Lakers defense , it felt like a player on the bench in street clothes was having the biggest impact.
It’s been impossible to ignore that the Bulls’ recent turnaround has happened with Zach LaVine on the bench because of a foot injury. It’s also impossible to ignore what LaVine could do for a team like, say the Lakers, who clunked and clanged their way to a 124-108 loss to LaVine’s (for now) Bulls.
But it’s only been speculation, the easy matching of a star player who shares representation with LeBron James and Anthony Davis to a team that traditionally has been on the lookout for big names.
LaVine’s contract, which has four years and approximately $176 million left, and concerns about his injury history have cooled his market — along with one of the least-efficient seasons of his career.
But with him and the Lakers in the same building Wednesday, “what if” was a fair-enough question, especially with the team stuck in a post-Vegas hangover for the ages.
No LaVine deal seems particularly close, but with the way the Lakers are playing, should any option be off the table?
“It’s the emotional fatigue, it’s the physical fatigue, it’s the grind-of-the-season fatigue,” James said. “And when you’re not winning, obviously, that’s the frustration fatigue.”
Since winning the in-season tournament, the Lakers have lost four of five, including three straight. A hellacious stretch continues Thursday in Minnesota.
“We competed as hard as we could,” coach Darvin Ham said. “…Our competitive spirit is there. We just can’t get down or discouraged.”
Against the Bulls, the Lakers got good offense from James (25 points), Austin Reaves (21) and Taurean Prince (16) and so-so nights from Davis (19 and 14 rebounds) and Cam Reddish (13 points).
In a game in which it quickly became clear that they would need to win with offense, not defense, the Lakers could only briefly threaten. The Bulls made six more threes on three fewer attempts, eight players scoring in double figures led by DeMar DeRozan. Alex Caruso, one of biggest prizes should the Bulls decide to trade him, had 15 points and six rebounds.
And the Lakers’ supporting players like D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura couldn’t do enough on either end to help, the pair combining to make just three shots on 15 attempts. For Russell, it was the first time since 2017 that he scored two or fewer points while playing at least 20 minutes.
The problems weren’t limited to offense. The Lakers (15-13) once again failed to capture the intensity or energy they thrived with during the tournament, a cost they seem to be paying as they trudge through a stretch of schedule that has them on the road for four of the final six games this month.
They’ll see Minnesota twice, Oklahoma City, Boston and New Orleans, in addition to home games against Boston and Charlotte, before the calendar flips.
“It’s going to make us play. We’re going to have to or they’re going to beat us pretty badly,” Davis said. “Some good games coming up, some good competition for us to get back into the swing of things so it’s going to be three huge tests for us on the defensive end, where it starts for us, to kinda get our offense going. It starts tomorrow night.”
Wednesday, they added a body with guard Gabe Vincent, who has missed most of the season with swelling in his knee. He played 14 minutes off the bench, one of the key pieces to the offseason and one of the factors the team wants to consider before doing anything drastic.
But change is certainly a possibility — whether it’s acquiring LaVine, Caruso, DeRozan or someone else. Patience is a path too, the team well aware of the schedule and travel challenges it’s felt over the last month.
But it’s hard to think big picture when the losses start to pile on top of a group mentally and physically fried.
“There’s no break coming. No help coming. There’s no cavalry. We’ve got to do it within this locker room,” Davis said. “We’ve got everyone back now. We just got to find a way to get in the win column. Obviously, when you lose a couple, especially in a row, it starts to linger. Everybody wants to win. You just got to get that one and get the spirits back up and go from there.”
