News

Zach LaVine Set To Have Season-Ending Foot Surgery

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - MARCH 21: Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball during the third quarter of the game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on March 21, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine will have surgery on his right foot and be out for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

LaVine missed a total of 17 games with the foot injury and hadn’t played since a January 18 game against the Toronto Raptors, in which he sprained his right ankle. In the 25 games he did appear for Chicago this season, LaVine averaged 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.

“He made a decision that I think he thought was best for his health,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said. “I really feel like he did everything he could to try to get himself back to playing. I think the discomfort in his foot was at a place where I think he just didn’t feel like he had any chance of being himself and really contributing, and I think that was really frustrating and hard for him.”

LaVine’s long-term injury is just another for the Bulls, as the team recently announced that they will be without forward Patrick Williams for multiple weeks due to an acute bone edema. Chicago has also been without point guard Lonzo Ball for multiple years with a knee injury, with the ex-Laker and Pelican last suiting up in a Bulls uniform in January of 2022.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Before the news of his surgery, LaVine, along with other Bulls Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan, were mentioned in trade talks before the upcoming deadline. Now with LaVine out, the Bulls have an even tougher decision to make in terms of the team’s future and whether to build a contender or trade the valuable players they have left. Despite LaVine now being out and the trade rumors, Chicago continues their season, currently ninth in the Eastern Conference at 23-27 and battling for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

“Whatever they decide to do is kind of their decision,” Caruso said. “My job as an employee of this team is to show up and do my duty, and that’s to go out and play basketball every night.”

LaVine has spent the past seven seasons with Chicago and has made two All-Star games in that time. In his decade-long career, he has averaged 20.5 points on 46.4% shooting, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. LaVine is currently in the second year of a five-year, $216 million contract he signed with the Bulls in 2022.