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1 Troubling Zach LaVine stat is putting a serious damper on his hot start

Yes, he's scoring in bunches. But at what cost?

By Andrew Hanlon

Oct 23, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (2) fight for position during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (2) fight for position during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
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Zach LaVine did not have an ideal season last year for the Chicago Bulls.

The 6-foot-5 guard only played 25 games, and coupled with the $138 million still owed to him over the next three years, he quickly became an untradeable asset for a franchise looking to start over.

So LaVine and the Bulls entered 2024-25 hoping for the same thing: A return to form for a player who averaged 25.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 49/39/85 shooting splits from 2020 to 2023 and made back-to-back All-Star teams in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

So far, so good, as the 29-year-old is averaging 26.0 points through the first four games of this season while shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and 45.7 percent from three.

If he stays healthy and maintains something close to this level of production, Chicago may have an actually decent chance of finding a trade partner for LaVine, creating a clearer runway for players like Coby White and a large chunk of money off the books.

But there's a significantly troubling stat that's plagued LaVine early this season, and it's costing the Bulls games.

Zach LaVine's assist and turnover numbers are laughably bad

Unsurprisingly, the 11-year pro leads the Bulls with a 25.5 percent usage rate. He has always been one of the most talented scorers in the NBA, but that comes at the cost of giving him the ball and letting him cook.

For five straight seasons from 2018-19 to '22-23, that wasn't always an awful proposition. LaVine averaged 4.5 assists compared to 3.0 turnovers - not great, but not bad for someone who handled the ball as often as he did.

This year, however, things have been alarmingly different.

Small sample size alert, but LaVine has 11 total assists and 16 turnovers through four games. Those 16 turnovers are sixth-worst in the NBA, while LaVine is tied for 77th in assists.

He ranks 263rd in assist-to-turnover ratio and 326th in turnover percentage.

Somehow, even with LaVine's scary turnover numbers, the Bulls are middle-of-the-pack in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (13th) and turnover percentage (15th). They're also third in assist percentage.

Imagine where Chicago would be if its best player could hold onto the ball.

It's not shocking that LaVine had seven turnovers in each of the Bulls' losses and just one in both wins. The team gave the ball away too many times in defeats to New Orleans and Oklahoma City but cut back on giveaways in upset road wins over the Bucks and Grizzlies.

When your highest-usage player is one of the most turnover-prone in the NBA and doesn't create shots for his teammates, your offense will struggle when he struggles. That's born out over the first quartet of games this year.

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