Zach LaVine is on the Verge of Superstardom

Zach LaVine just put up one of the most efficient scoring seasons by a guard of all time. His season went under the radar due to the Chicago Bulls’ inability to win, but his season should be talked about and acknowledged way more. Only one guard ever has matched LaVine’s points per game and true shooting percentage in a season. That person is Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter to ever touch a basketball, who has done it twice. Until the Vucevic trade, LaVine was doing all this with little offensive help around him. Teams were specifically game-planning for him and he still went out and shot at historic rates. He is a rising superstar and it should be known to the league by now.

Scores with the best of them

As mentioned earlier, LaVine just had one of the most efficient seasons of all time while teams really only had to gameplan for him. LaVine has gotten better every year. His scoring repertoire is super advanced and rivals some of the best in the league. When he was a younger player, he used to love the midrange jumper. He has not completely gone away from it, but he has directed his attention to more effective shots. He takes advantage of his crazy athleticism to get to the rim and finish at absurd angles. His great jumping ability also benefits his jump shot. He gets so much lift when shooting that can be hard for defenders to contest.

LaVine efficiently socred from all three levels. He would have been a member of the highly exclusive 50-40-90 club, but he fell a little short at the foul stripe. On 19.4 shot attempts a game he was still able to shoot 50.7% from the field and on 8.2 three-point attempts a game he shot 41.9%. A lot of those threes are of great difficulty as well. He is not afraid of stepbacks, leaners, and fadeaways. He also likes to step a few feet behind the arc and fire from there, he is a fearless scorer who is going to get his buckets no matter what.

LaVine’s All-Around Development

Not only did LaVine have one of the most efficient scoring seasons of all time this past season, but he also finished with career highs in other categories. He put up his best rebounding and passing seasons as well. The Bulls do not have a true point guard or someone that can make plays for others. LaVine has shown improvements that signal that maybe he could potentially take up that role one day. That is unlikely to happen and probably would not even be for the best because the team should let him focus more on scoring. Regardless, LaVine is a great primary scorer and secondary playmaker.

When arriving in Chicago, there was a lot of talk about his lackluster effort on the defensive end. He has all of the athletic tools to become a solid defender, but that has just never come to fruition. It is abundantly clear that he has improved on defense though. He seems a lot more engaged. His big issue was his off-ball defense, a lot of times he was caught ball watching and losing sight of his man. While this will still happen on occasion, it is nowhere near as abundant as it once was.

Conclusion

It should be known that what Zach LaVine just did this past season scoring-wise is not normal. He is truly elite in this department. With his other skills also improving and a Chicago Bulls team that could compete within the next few years, Zach LaVine may be rising up into the category of superstar sooner rather than later.