Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine is ready to be a quality defender

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine has every tool needed to be special. Is this the season he’ll finally put it all together?

For Zach LaVine, offensive skill has never been a question. He’s a professional bucket getter. But if the two-guard wants to take the Chicago Bulls to the next level, his defense must improve.

The Bulls are entering the 2019-20 season in a position to lobby for a playoff spot in the shallow Eastern Conference. They have young talent, veteran leadership and a guy who can create buckets out of thin air in LaVine.

Defense will likely never be Zach’s calling card, but it doesn’t have to be. The Bulls don’t need him to be the best perimeter defender in the league, they just need him to be a positive contributor on that end of the floor.

Obviously, athleticism hasn’t been the problem for LaVine on the defensive end. It’s been more of a mental thing. He never seemed to fully lock in on the defensive end.

Until now.

Per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic (subscription required), Zach LaVine had some strong words about his defense. It’s safe to say he thinks he’ll a career year on D.

Zach basically said what every Bulls fan has been wanting him to say since the day he arrived in Chicago. His ceiling is far too high to let his lack of focus on the defensive end hold him back.

If you’ve watched the three preseason games LaVine’s played in, you’ve probably noticed that he hasn’t just been talking about getting better on defense. He’s walking the talk.

It’s only preseason, but Zach has already shown progress in the effort and focus departments. He’s jumping passing lanes, making good rotations and staying in front of his man. He’s not doing any of this on a Paul George or Kawhi Leonard level, but again, he doesn’t need to.

Part of why I think it’s been so difficult for LaVine to lock in on defense is because he’s always played for losing teams. That’s not an excuse, but it’s definitely harder to lock in when your team isn’t fighting for anything of real significance.

Think of the last time you played pick up basketball. If your team was getting destroyed, were you laser-focused on the defensive end of the floor or were you playing flush-the-toilet defense?

Again – a lack of team success isn’t an excuse for LaVine. It’s his job to play hard on both ends of the floor. But it’s understandable why he’s had a hard time committing to improving on defense.

Now that the Bulls are going to be competitive and fighting for a playoff spot, it should be immeasurably easier for LaVine to lock in on every possession.

For a guy with as lofty of career goals as Zach LaVine, defense has to be a part of his game. He won’t get to the level he wants to be at if he’s only producing on offense.

Thankfully, it sounds like he’s finally figured that out.