There has been a lot of focus on Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine since their season ended. The majority of coverage has been surrounding his free agency status and whether or not he will be returning to Chicago. That has some people forgetting that LaVine played a good portion of this past season with an injured knee. The knee injury kept LaVine out of some games but became something he played through as the season went on. Now that the team has moved into the offseason LaVine finally has the answer to fix this knee issue.
LaVine is going to have an arthroscopic procedure done on his left knee this summer. The recovery time for something like that is typically six weeks and won't impact him being ready for the start of next season. The good news here is that this injury will only require a minor surgery to fix. LaVine definitely dodged a bullet with this diagnosis.
This shouldn't have any lasting impacts
This isn't a reconstructive surgery that will require months and months of healing and rehab. Something like this shouldn't have any major impacts after the healing period is complete. LaVine should be good as new when next season rolls around and hopefully playing in a Bulls uniform. Like I said LaVine played through this injury during the season and likely knew he needed surgery a while ago. That shows how tough this man is and how badly he wanted to win in Chicago. This surgery should get LaVine back to 100% and when he's at 100% he's tough to play against.
LaVine's stats tell the story
When LaVine isn't playing on an injured knee he's a pretty great player. Take a look at his stats this season before the knee injury popped up in January. LaVine had 26.2 PPG, 49.9%FG, 5.1 RPG, and 4.6 APG. When not nursing a hurt knee he puts up numbers that any team would be lucky to have. Getting him back to full health means a lot for this Bulls team's future success. While it's unfortunate for LaVine that he has to have surgery I'm sure he's grateful that it's something this minor that won't impact free agency.
LaVine is going to be highly sought after regardless of surgery
I firmly believe the Bulls are going to offer Zach a max contract. I also firmly believe LaVine will take that max and stay in Chicago. However, anything can happen in this league and we've seen it before. That being said this surgery news won't impact LaVine in free agency whatsoever. If teams want him they are going to go all-in even knowing he's having this procedure. That just means the Bulls will need to push even harder and make sure LaVine knows he is wanted in Chicago. Nothing says that more than a max offer. Hopefully, LaVine can get back to good health with his knee after this surgery. There shouldn't be any complications but you never know. LaVine is going to be wined and dined by multiple teams I'm sure but none of that matters as long as he returns to Chicago.
