Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, more

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and NBC Sports Chicago’s KC Johnson preview what’s next for the Chicago Bulls heading into the trade deadline, including the futures of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, and much more on the latest HoopsHype podcast episode.

For more interviews with players, coaches, and media members, be sure to like and subscribe to the HoopsHype podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below.

1:20 Zach LaVine’s relationship with Billy Donovan and trade talk

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Scotto: Ever since Billy Donovan benched him that game in Orlando earlier this year, I heard they spoke, and then things were better after that. It seemed like that situation was resolved. They’ve been using him more. He looks healthier, and he’s playing better. What’s the dynamic right now between Zach LaVine and Donovan?

Johnson: I’d answer that in a couple of ways. LaVine is a prideful person and a very confident competitor. That episode (getting benched in Orlando) stung him deeply. As you mentioned, he and Donovan did meet to talk about it. It was respectful in the sense that Zach made his feelings known very clearly to Donovan how much that stung him. He felt that, in his words, a player of his stature has earned the right to play through a bad shooting night. Billy explained it went beyond the shots and him not playing to the standard Donovan and his coaches were desiring. They both were privately and publicly strong-willed about it. They both explained themselves ad nauseam to us.

Zach doesn’t forget things like that. It doesn’t mean he shows up every day angry at Donovan or anything like that, but he had a high-profile incident with the previous head coach, Jim Boylen, where he was also pulled from a game in the first quarter of a home loss to Miami way back when. Those things sting Zach. He feels…