Chicago Bulls: LaVine ‘extremely happy’ with hire of Billy Donovan

A very good hire arrived for the Chicago Bulls earlier in the week with new head coach Billy Donovan. Zach LaVine is high on the hire already.

We have officially reached the point of the 2020 offseason where the Chicago Bulls, and the other seven teams that are a part of the “Delete Eight”, get to get back into group workouts. Voluntary group workouts began for these bottom eight teams around the NBA, including the Bulls, earlier this month.

It’s nice to see most of the current Bulls players getting back into some form of practice and hoops action at the Advocate Center. This is the first time since mid-March that the Bulls have taken to basketball activities as a team. It is much needed practice for this team, with most of the players taking part in the voluntary group workouts.

One player that a lot of eyes will be falling on during this offseason, particulary in group workouts, is the 25-year-old 6-foot-6 shooting guard Zach LaVine. Just getting off his best season to date in his NBA career, LaVine is still looking to take the next step forward under newly hired former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.

LaVine seems to be thrilled with what Donovan could bring to the table in place of now former head coach Jim Boylen with the Bulls heading into next season. And he was apparently “extremely happy” with the way that this team looked in the first two days of group workouts.

According to a piece from K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago earlier this week, he mentioned that LaVine was pleased with the way that workouts looked so far and with the hire of Donovan as the next head coach. Here’s more on what that piece from Johnson on NBC Sports Chicago had to say on the matter.

"“I was extremely happy,” LaVine said following the Bulls’ second group workout since March on Thursday. “Somebody with his track record not just in the NBA but in college as well, a whole ton of players who are proven saying how great of a guy he is and how good of a coach he is."

Donovan was brought aboard to be the Bulls next head coach back on Sep. 22. He was one of the Coach of the Year award finalists just a few weeks before the Thunder let him go. The honors wound up going to Toronto Raptors head coach and defending NBA Champion Nick Nurse, but it is still impressive that Donovan was a finalist.

The coach-player dynamic between LaVine and Donovan could be special. Donovan did help veteran star point guard Chris Paul reignite his career during the 2019-20 season.

Could he do the same for LaVine?

In the season that was for the Bulls, LaVine played in 60 games (starting in all of them). He averaged 25.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks. LaVine shot 45.0 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line.

The Bulls finished up the shortened 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43. LaVine has to be hoping for better in the near future, and Donovan might be able to deliver much better results in the immediate future in place of the departed Boylen.