Zach LaVine made his much-anticipated debut with the Chicago Bulls last month, and since then the guard has impressed substantially.
On Monday night, the 22-year-old former first-round pick made a key steal and scored a major basket in the dying seconds of his team’s 105-101 home victory over the Orlando Magic. With 15 seconds remaining in the contest, LaVine knocked away Jonathon Simmons’ inbounds pass and took it the other way to thrown down a dunk and give the Bulls a 103-101 lead.
LaVine tore his ACL in February 2017 but since returning in January, he has proved to be a major asset for the Bulls. He was averaging 17.3 points per game entering Monday night. He scored in double figures in 10 of the 13 games that he has played this season that includes setting a career-high streak of four consecutive games with at least 20 points topped by a season-high 35 points in the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, his former team.
The Bulls could thus build their team around LaVine, promising rookie forward Lauri Markkanen and second-year guard Kris Dunn if they really wanted to.
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LaVine played his first three NBA seasons with the Timberwolves after being drafted 13th overall out of UCLA in 2014. His rookie year, he won the league’s Slam Dunk Contest, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
The point guard won the Dunk Contest again in 2016, thus becoming the fourth NBA player to win the competition in consecutive years. LaVine was also the NBA Rising Stars Challenge MVP in 2016.
Caption:NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine #8 of the Minnesota Timberwolves competes during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest as part of the 2015 NBA Allstar Weekend at Barclays Center on February 14, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
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