LaVine’s knee is better, but may not be 100% this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago CLEVELAND — The 2021-22 NBA season is an important one for Zach LaVine. Yes, he’s due for a pay raise — of the max contract variety — in the summer. But the Chicago Bulls, who are tied atop the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat as of All-Star weekend, are also poised for the postseason, which would mark the first such action of LaVine’s eight-year NBA career. It’s why he made it a priority to address soreness that has been lingering in his surgically-repaired left knee by visiting a specialist in Los Angeles with whom he has a relationship dating back to his 2017 ACL tear. He missed the Bulls’ last three games before the break in the process. “I just wanted to go out there and make sure everything was good,” LaVine said from the All-Star podium Saturday morning. “I’ve been obviously battling the knee soreness for a little bit, not playing at 100 percent (health). I just want to continue to go out there and help us win, so the last three games I just really had to take it upon myself to make sure I was OK for the second half of the season. I feel way better.” That’s a point LaVine stressed as he addressed the doctor’s visit for the first time since hitting the Bulls’ inactive list. “It’s very manageable,” he added. “I’m here now. I’m healthy. I feel great. I feel better than I did before, and I’m ready to get going.’’ That neither an MRI in January, nor the Los Angeles appointment, revealed structural damage in the knee is positive. But LaVine also acknowledged that he might not be at capital ‘f’ full strength for the rest of the season. “I was able to go out there and get some PRP (platelet-rich plasma), some cortisone (injected), had it drained a little bit,” LaVine said of the knee. “It will get me through the end of the season, and then in the offseason I’ll be able to take care of it, try and get myself to 100 percent. “But this season is important enough for me personally, I’ll be able to go out there and play, do what I’m able to do still.” If LaVine makes a 2022 All-NBA team, the Bulls would become eligible to sign him to a “supermax” contract, which boasts a starting salary at 35 percent of the salary cap. Using the $121 million projection for the 2022-23 cap reported by The Athletic in February, a “supermax” contract for LaVine would carry a starting salary of $42.4 million and, with annual eight-percent escalators, earn him in the neighborhood of $248 million over five years. A standard max, meanwhile, would start at 30 percent of the salary cap, and add up to a shade under $213 million over five years. “I take it each day at a time,” LaVine said when asked about the personal importance of this offseason. “This season has been incredible for me, obviously for many reasons. I hate missing games. Personally, I don’t like it. I try and play through as much as I can. But if I’m able to go out there and still be myself, contribute at the high level that I expect myself to, I’m going to do that. I just take it day by day.’’ Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said before the break that LaVine is physically cleared to play, and the team is expecting him to return when the regular season resumes. LaVine and Donovan both also said the team will develop a plan to manage any symptoms in the knee if they arise — though what that precisely means as it relates to rest days or minute restrictions remains to be seen. DeMar DeRozan’s take? If LaVine and the assorted medical professionals consulted believe he can play, he should. And the team is both looking forward to getting him back, and will do whatever it can to support him. “That’s another sacrifice. That’s when we go back, talking about making sacrifices. Just Zach alone on the court changes the dynamic of our team. Whatever form or fashion he’s out there,” DeRozan said. “He knows himself better than anybody. And one thing I would stress to him: If he can play, play. “But when it comes to being 100 percent, I haven’t been 100 percent in 13 years. We just gotta figure out a way, and we’re gonna help him through it. He don’t gotta be the Zach of the last few years. We just gotta figure out a way to make sure we don’t put too much load so it can be affecting him in any type of way down the line.” Those are, indeed, the stakes. High ones, for both LaVine and the Bulls. Click here to follow the Bulls Talk Podcast. DownloadDownload MyTeams Today!
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