LaVine on Bulls trades: 'We got a lot better'
Zach LaVine knows it's a little awkward to say goodbye to five teammates and ultimately feel good about it.
But he has a right to be happy, now that the Bulls finally jumped off the rebuilding track and added another all-star in Orlando center Nikola Vucevic.
"I reached out to each one of those guys and let them know I appreciate them, wished them nothing but the best of luck, but we got a lot better," LaVine said Friday. "Not just with Vuc, but the entire group of players that we got.
"I'm extremely excited, I'm happy, and ready to get these next 29 games underway to see where we finish out at."
LaVine and Vucevic have the same representation. LaVine said they've been pretty good friends for a while and were texting back and forth Thursday when the trade was being finalized.
"I was excited; gave a little bit of a yell in my house," LaVine said. "I was texting with him throughout the day. And it came through."
Asked what message he took from the Bulls' new front office, LaVine said, "That they're not here to mess around. They're ready to win and they'll do anything it takes to make this organization better.''
Besides Vucevic, the Bulls added center Daniel Theis and guard Javonte Green from Boston, forward Al-Farouq Aminu from Orlando and forward Troy Brown Jr. from Washington. They gave up Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, Daniel Gafford, Chandler Hutchison and Luke Kornet.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said all five newcomers arrived in Chicago Thursday night and he met with each of them. They couldn't practice Friday because they had to complete physicals, as mandated by the league, but the Bulls plan to get them on the court together at Saturday's shootaround.
Donovan said Theis will not make the trip to San Antonio due to a family issue, but the four other newcomers are expected to be available to play against the Spurs. The plan is for Theis to meet the team in San Francisco, the second stop on a four-game road trip.
"We have to try to work through some things,": Donovan said. "You obviously try to probably shrink a lot of things playbook-wise, try to create some clarity defensively for those guys."
Vucevic, a two-time all-star, is having maybe his best professional season, averaging a career-high 24.5 points, to go with 11.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 41-percent shooting from 3-point range.
"We got a chance to see it firsthand the first time we played Orlando," Donovan said. "He had 43 points against us and he did it in a lot of different ways. He got it from the low post. He got it on jump hooks. He got it from the 3-point line. He can do a lot of different things.
"The one thing that has been really encouraging in our conversations that I've had with Vuc is he's a big believer and big proponent of ball movement and player movement."
Theis figures to be a significant rotation player. The 6-foot-8 German native was averaging 9.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and started 37 games for Boston.
"Daniel Theis is a difference maker," LaVine said. "He did a lot of dirty work, took charges, extremely physical and tough. You had to scout for him. He's going to help."
Aminu might be an underrated addition. He was a successful defensive-minded role player in Portland, but missed a lot of games with injuries in two seasons with Orlando. At the moment, though, he's on a streak of 13 straight games playing at least 21 minutes. Earlier this week, he knocked out 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists against Denver.
Coming out of high school in the Atlanta area, Aminu was heavily recruited by none other than Donovan to go to Florida, but he chose Wake Forest instead.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls