Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine has highest expectations of career for 2019-20

Two players will have the bulk of the expectations for this Chicago Bulls team falling on their shoulders this season, including SG Zach LaVine.

The Chicago Bulls have a much more loaded roster than the past two seasons under first-year official head coach Jim Boylen. But the Bulls need to rely on their biggest stars to work past a host of teams that will be vying for some of the mid-tier spots in the Eastern Conference standings. Working into the playoff picture is the next logical step for this Bulls team, though.

Two of the most important pieces for the Bulls this coming season are third-year power forward Lauri Markkanen and rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine. They have the most star power at the moment and could be the closest to becoming All-Stars and All-NBA Team contenders before too long.

With the Bulls coming off a season where they finished with a myriad of injuries and just 22 wins, LaVine and Markkanen are going to have a much brighter spotlight on them to help this young team respond in strong fashion this season. LaVine is going to be the more natural scorer of the two as he’s coming off a 2018-19 campaign where he averaged around 24 points per game.

With LaVine knocking on the door of his first ever NBA All-Star selection, he’ll need to take his game to a new level. In a sitdown with FanSided, LaVine opened up on how he reflected this offseason on what he did “good and bad” in recent years. That could include improving his two-way ability and shake that label he has of just being a volume scorer and nothing else.

Moreover, another key difference between the expectations LaVine shoulders this coming season compared to year’s past with the Bulls is the fact that this roster actually has playoff potential. John Paxson and Gar Forman made actual logical moves to upgrade the roster around LaVine and Markkanen including the 6-foot-7 combo guard Tomas Satoransky and veteran forward Thaddeus Young.

Taking another step forward on the defensive end of the floor while continuing to improve his offensive arsenal and the amount he gets to the free-throw line are keys for him to reach that All-Star status. An improved Bulls team around him will also help him just get more national recognition that could push him toward an All-Star appearance. It also helps that the 2020 All-Star Weekend is at the United Center in Chicago.

The next logical step for LaVine should be getting around 25 points per game and 5 assists while still shooting better than 37 percent from three-point range and staying efficient from the field in general. His 2.8 win shares from last season mostly came from his offensive production, but he did improve over the past two years on defense. Rounding out his game will take this entire Chicago Bulls squad to new heights in the East in 2019-20.