A standout shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls Zach LaVine could be modeling his game after the OKC guard Russell Westbrook to become more well-rounded.
The Chicago Bulls are at a point in the regular season where it is worth giving a ton of attention to young pieces like shooting guard Zach LaVine and point guard Kris Dunn to build toward the future. The back court for the Chicago Bulls is a big piece of figuring out where this franchise is headed, and whether acquiring another guard is important this summer.
LaVine is surely making his case to be a prominent part of the future picture of the Chicago Bulls back court with his play of late. He posted a career-high in points in an individual game with 42 points in the Feb. 23 win over the Boston Celtics. That topped the previous career-high in points he posted earlier this season, with 41, in the win over the New York Knicks.
According to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, LaVine likened himself to the Oklahoma City Thunder star point guard Russell Westbrook in the sense that he wants to be similar to him if he is going after triple-doubles.
LaVine stated in particular that: “If I’m going to go after a triple-double, I’m going to try to be like (Russell) Westbrook,” LaVine said. “You’ll see me snatching rebounds away from people and stuff like that.”
“If I’m going to go after a triple-double, I’m going to try to be like Westbrook. You’ll see me snatching rebounds away from people and stuff like that.” -- Zach LaVine on whether his two-point, two-shot second half had anything to do with an attempt at his first triple-double.
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 26, 2019
LaVine does hold a similar athletic profile to Westbrook in the sense that each guard is among the most physically gifted in the NBA. Both are high-flying guards that have the capability of living above the rim and posting up some highlight reel dunks each passing season.
Obviously LaVine doesn’t have the two-way prowess of pulling in triple-doubles like Westbrook. That could be said for pretty much every other player in the history of the NBA, though. Westbrook is breaking records with the pure amount of triple-doubles he’s posting of late.
It would be nice to see LaVine show up more on both ends of the floor. One sign that is promising for his defensive efforts is that LaVine is posting 1.1 defensive win shares this season. If that number holds at the end of the 2018-19 regular season, that will be a career mark for him.
LaVine also has a career high in defensive box plus minus. The issue is that LaVine never had a defensive box plus minus anywhere close to surfacing above zero. He just keeps getting closer to getting to zero in the first place.
Posting more triple-doubles doesn’t necessarily mean that LaVine stands out more on the defensive end of the floor either. He would have to massively improve his offensive rebounding percentage, slightly below two, for something like that to happen.