Chicago Bulls: One key stat compared LaVine to Dennis Schroder

A lot of hopes are being pinned on what star shooting guard Zach LaVine can do for the Chicago Bulls heading into next season. The Bulls will try and build out a starting five this summer revolving around a core trio of star center Nikola Vucevic, LaVine, and rookie forward Patrick Williams. But LaVine could be at the very center of these plans for the Bulls’ front office this summer.

A full season where head coach Billy Donovan gets a healthy Vooch and LaVine could mean breaking the four-year-long postseason drought in the Windy City. Vooch and LaVine didn’t get all that much time playing together down the stretch last season after the two-time All-Star center was brought over from the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline back on March 25.

LaVine can be a catalyst to the Bulls’ rise to postseason contender status in the Eastern Conference next season. He’s continuing to take his game to a new level year in and year out. And after he got his first-career All-Star nod this year, he’ll look to take his game to even greater heights in 2021-22.

During the 2020-21 regular season, LaVine averaged 27.4 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks. And he shot 50.7 percent from the field, 41.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 84.9 percent from the free-throw line.

A good portion of the advanced metrics produced by LaVine this season were also good for career bests. That includes total win shares, where LaVine posted a career-best 5.9, despite missing some time down the stretch during a shortened regular season slate.

Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine used to share one key statistical trend with Dennis Schroder

LaVine has gone from posting a career-low -0.7 win shares during his rookie campaign to posting nearly six win shares on a team that only won 31 games and missed the playoffs. His value to the Bulls is paramount, and that became crystal clear this season.

One key stat that is worth comparing for LaVine at this point of his career is his similarity score for win shares. Until the start of the current season, LaVine had a similarity score in terms of yearly win shares that lined up closely with the Los Angeles Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder.

The career-best in win shares for Schroder was also set this season, at 3.8. But that was more than two total win shares shy of where LaVine capped the regular season. This season is where LaVine really showed he was elevating his game.

The fact that there was a point in time where LaVine and Schroder had similarity scores this close is hard to believe looking back on it. But LaVine truly separated himself in the past two seasons. Despite Schroder playing on teams that won a lot more games than LaVine in the past two seasons, the former UCLA Bruin put up nearly twice as many win shares this year.

That’s what earned LaVine that elusive first career All-Star nod. And it looks like there could be more on the way soon as LaVine is about to enter the final year of his current contract.

The Bulls finished up last season with a record of 31-41 under the direction of the first-year head coach Donovan. LaVine is set to take his talents to join the United States later this month to represent his country in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, ahead of the start of next season.