(670 The Score) Bulls star guard Zach LaVine's upcoming visit to a specialist in Los Angeles to get a second opinion on his lingering left knee soreness will take place Tuesday, coach Billy Donovan said.
The goal for LaVine and the Bulls is simple – get him feeling better more consistently. That hasn't been the case lately, as LaVine missed five games in January with knee trouble and then sat out Chicago's win against Oklahoma City on Saturday with soreness.
LaVine has "mild swelling" after some games, as Donovan termed it. An MRI after LaVine's initial knee scare in mid-January revealed no significant structural damage, a point Donovan reiterated Monday as a positive sign while explaining the approach.
"There's some games where he doesn't feel really good after it, he doesn't really feel good after the next day," Donovan said. "And then it kind of subsides and it goes away and then he's kind of back, but I think he'd like to be able to feel better more consistently than he has for a stretch of time. I think with the way he was feeling after the Minnesota game (on Friday), I think that's where it kind of started, where he maybe wanted to take it a step further just to really have someone look at him and maybe take a deeper dive on what he can do. When they all get together, they'll decisions and come up with a plan for what's best."
Donovan also confirmed that LaVine will miss Chicago's game against Sacramento on Wednesday, which was expected. It's the final game before the All-Star break for the Bulls. LaVine recently earned All-Star honors for the second straight season and is slated to participate in the 3-point contest, but Donovan on Monday was unsure of LaVine's plans for the festivities and about playing in the exhibition game.
Bulls doctors will be a part of the conversations with the specialist in Los Angeles, Donovan said. LaVine suffered a torn left ACL in early 2017 while playing for Minnesota and is having trouble in the same knee now.
LaVine is averaging 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 34.6 minutes across 47 games while shooting 48.2% overall and 39.9% on 3-pointers.
The Bulls (36-21) will get forward Javonte Green back against the Spurs (22-35) on Monday evening at the United Center after he missed the game Saturday due to a foot ailment.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
