The Bulls received good news in relation to Zach LaVine on Wednesday night. The two-time All-Star will be back with the team soon.
Whew! Zach's coming back.
And not tending to his back so much; and, of course, his left knee.
"When the season after tonight resumes," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before Wednesday's game with the Sacramento Kings, "we expect to have him (LaVine) back."
That's a relief for the Bulls and the team's chances of continuing the Bulls run to the top of the Eastern Conference after LaVine detoured to Los Angeles this week for a second opinion/confirmation/reassurance about the latent issues with his surgically repaired knee.
Donovan's pregame explanation seemed comforting, though he said LaVine's participation, like in back to back games, will be determined. Donovan said LaVine is medically cleared to participate in All-Star weekend events Friday through Sunday in Cleveland, but Donovan said he was unaware of LaVine's plans or preferences.
"It went very well," Donovan said of the visit to renowned surgeon Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic.
"He did have some swelling that was taken out of the knee (drained). Gave him a lubricant to help him. I think right now the doctors feel totally fine with him resuming playing. I think Zach felt very, very good about the meeting; it went really well just based on some of the interventions and things they did during his visit. He's probably going to be about 48 hours before he can do any activity. But he should be able to resume activity after that.
"He would be eligible to (participate in the All Star game and three-point contest) physically," Donovan said. "I think probably (there will be) some consultation with our doctors, his doctor he went to see in LA (about All-Star weekend). There maybe something like, ‘Hey, this is a wise choice on number of minutes.' Or something like that. I don't think Zach has any expectation to try to go to an All-Star game and play 30 minutes. Certainly, it's a great honor for him to be able to do that a second year; he is healthy to play. There'll probably, definitely, be some managing (minutes upon his return), back to back and those kinds off things. The doctors don't feel he's in any harm's way of continuing to play. The All-Star game, I don't have all the details of what that would look like, but he would be cleared to participate."
The report is perhaps the best case scenario for LaVine, who five years ago this month tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. After that season, he was traded to the Bulls in the Jimmy Butler transaction. Subsequently, LaVine made perhaps the most remarkable and impressive return from the most serious of knee surgeries.
The two-time All-Star slam dunk competition winner resumed, at least in-game, spectacular dunking that belied the severity of his surgery. No NBA player but LaVine has returned from that surgery to attack the air above the rim like LaVine has.
And in the process, despite carrying the Bulls through several years of rebuilding, LaVine became an All-Star and last summer a member of the USA Basketball Olympic gold medal winning team. LaVine this season was named an All-Star reserve to join teammate DeMar DeRozan, who was selected as a starter for Sunday's game in Cleveland that also celebrates the NBA's 75th anniversary.
Zach LaVine made his second career All-Star game this season.
LaVine appeared to be breezing through another superb season when he landed awkwardly early in the Jan. 14 loss to Golden State. He left the game after playing about three minutes. At the time, LaVine was averaging 25.6 points and in the top 10 in the league in scoring along with DeRozan. He was shooting 49 percent overall and 41 percent on 3-pointers with 4.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
LaVine then sat out five games with the knee issue, returned for six games, but then sat out two more with what was described as back spasms. Though that seemed connected to the knee issues. LaVine then played three games, moving uneasily in the third against his former Minnesota team and scoring just 12 points.
In the nine games since leaving against Golden State, LaVine has averaged 23.1 points on 44 percent shooting and about 35 percent on threes. His rebounding and assists were up, suggesting he was looking to help the team in other ways.
Following the Timberwolves game Feb. 11, LaVine with the team's support decided to consult his surgeon in Los Angeles about the swelling in his left knee. Donovan said it has been extant this season.
The diagnosis in Los Angeles seemed encouraging to everyone.
"It wasn't anything they feel they need to do anything else," Donovan related. "Adding lubricant and just trying to get him comfortable was the main thing I had heard. I spoke to him. He was in really good spirits. He felt it was a really, really good visit. Feels, I think, at a good place mentally; he'll be ready to go.
"They probably did do that (drain fluid) when they removed some of the swelling," Donovan confirmed. "That was part of the problem. There were certain times after games he'd get some swelling. It wasn't anything substantial. It was a little bit of swelling, fluid I guess, that was drained. And they put lubricant in there to try to help him manage that swelling that occurs to maybe give him some extra support there. I think everybody felt really, really good with the way the meeting went."
LaVine's presence, certainly, remains vital for the Bulls. Even with the recent setbacks, he is close to a 50/40/90 shooting pace for the season, averaging 24.6 points, which is 13th in the league, and shooting 48.2 percent overall, 39.9 percent on 3-pointers and 86.9 percent on free throws. Wednesday's game is the 12th he's missing this season.