The Chicago Bulls are a team in transition. Having been title contenders at the turn of the decade under the tutelage of Tom Thibodeau and the rising star of Derrick Rose, the franchise has not had the type of sustained success it would have anticipated.
That is due to a number of different factors. Derrick Rose's injury troubles were a major stumbling block, as was Thibodeau's old school coaching style. Jimmy Butler ensured they remained somewhat competitive in the Eastern Conference, but his departure set the wheels in motion for a major rebuild.
Lauri Markkanen and Wendall Carter are the two young players they are set to build around, but another piece acquired in the Butler trade is also making an impact.
Zach Lavine is a player who splits opinion with many doubting his value to a team. He is a high volume shooter, which often leads to some less than ideal shooting percentages. He is also probably more well-known for his exploits in the slam dunk contest than anything he has done in an NBA game.
The Bulls' decision to hand him a four year, $78million contract raised eyebrows in the league, but he will justify that price tag if he continues to produce performances like last night.
Lavine went off for 49 points in the win over the Charlotte Hornets, but that was not the most notable aspect of the game. With his team trailing by five points and less than ten seconds on the clock, the shooting guard would somehow manage to pull of a miraculous victory.
After Tomáš Satoranský reduced the deficit to two points, Lavine would overturn the resulting inbounds pass and jack up a three of his own.
Zach LaVine stole the ball and the game from the Hornets 🤯
LaVine had 49 to help Bulls come back from down 5 with 14 sec left pic.twitter.com/oAqEXdtcF8— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 24, 2019
Outrageous.
He also became only the third NBA player to sink 13 three pointers in a game, joining Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on that list. Decent company.
