Zach LaVine, Bulls have a turnover problem: 'We're shooting ourselves in the foot'

As he left the Chicago Bulls locker room on Saturday, frustrated and confused after another night of inexplicable sloppiness, Zach LaVine looked at his hands.

“I just couldn’t hold onto the ball,” he said. “It was bad.”

In the Bulls' home opener against a strong Oklahoma City Thunder team, favorites to exit the Western Conference, LaVine seemed lost. For the second time in three games, the two-time All-Star recorded seven turnovers. On the night, he had more turnovers than field goals (six).

“I have to take responsibility for that,” LaVine said. “That's two games I've had, seven, and (against the Thunder) was just unforced. It’s not like they did anything.”

Turnover, and especially unforced errors, have become Chicago's main culprits. In their season opener in New Orleans, the Bulls committed 21 turnovers, which led to 30 Pelicans points. Against the Thunder, the Bulls had 21 giveaways early in the fourth quarter when their regular rotation players were still in the game. Chicago finished with 26.

Everything starts on defense 👊

The Thunder finished the night with 26 forced turnovers and 15 steals pic.twitter.com/ykUaUSuVDF

— OKC THUNDER (@okctunder) October 27, 2024

“We have to get them really low,” Bulls guard Josh Giddey said. “The boys’ hearts are in the right place. We try to play the right way, the way we want to play. … The way we want to play, up and down, there will be turnovers. But there just can’t be as many as (we had).”

It would be easy to excuse Chicago's misses as early-season mistakes if they weren't so egregious. Combined with the staggering record — 57 in three games, a 19-turnover average that ranks 28th in the league — the errors scream “trend.”

What's even more worrying is that this was a foreseeable problem. The Bulls announced at the beginning of this season that they wanted to play faster, distribute the ball better and shoot more threes. The obvious disadvantage from the start, however, was the ball losses. Bulls coach Billy Donovan acknowledged that reality on the second day of training camp.

“In general, the faster you play, the quicker you have to make decisions, the more likely you are to make mistakes,” Donovan said. “But we will get through this.”

Unlike previous seasons, when the Bulls tried to play faster despite notoriously methodical midfielder DeMar DeRozan and poor scorer Nikola Vučević, it didn't work. When the Bulls tried to increase the tempo, turnovers occurred. It didn't take long for the Bulls to recalibrate and slow down the pace.

“As much as you want to get up and down,” Donovan said, “you have to play with your personnel.”

With the arrival of Giddey and the return of Lonzo Ball after a 33-month absence, the Bulls believe they have leading guards who can effectively orchestrate a high-octane offense. The team's goal is to catch the defense napping through transition opportunities – on misses and misses. Giddey and Ball should be the precise passers. LaVine, Vučević and Coby White, among others, should be the lights-out shooters.

Instead, the Bulls have struggled for three games to hold onto the ball long enough to block a shot. When they emphasize possession, as they did in Milwaukee on Friday when they committed just 10 turnovers, the Bulls' offense looks like a functioning modern offense. Chicago scored 133 points, conceded 21 3-pointers and spoiled the Bucks' home opener.

“Good defensive teams usually make you go deeper into the shot clock,” Donovan said. “You have to be ready for that. It may require two or three shots, or the ball may need to be moved from side to side multiple times, but many games come down to decision making. You’ll never be able to escape this.”

LaVine's decision-making with the ball in his hands has long been an area where he can improve his game. But that only partially explains his 15 total turnovers, which ranks him third in the NBA. As he left the Bulls' locker room on Saturday, LaVine wondered whether the NBA's insistence on using a new game ball instead of a worn-out ball had something to do with his turnover rate. Many of his mistakes simply caused the ball to slip out of his hands. But he didn't use it as an excuse.

“We all just need to take better care of the ball,” LaVine said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The Bulls' opponents lost a total of 20 fewer turnovers and attempted 23 more shots. This trend alone could lead to a rocky season for the Bulls. But if their daily routine becomes a comedy of mistakes, sideways shots and subpar defense, speed will only be part of the problem.

However, unlike previous seasons, the Bulls have no plans to stop running and shooting.

“There’s a balance,” Donovan said. “I think we probably need to process that and understand that we may have some growing pains at the start of the year because of sales. We need to see some progress in the right direction to be able to handle the ball better.”

(Photo by Zach LaVine: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)