LaVine eager to make Bulls debut: 'I feel like I can play right now'

If it were up to Zach LaVine, he would already be on the court.

LaVine is itching to make his season debut for the Chicago Bulls, but the organization remains cautious as he recovers from ACL surgery. They want him to make it through six practices, the first of which will take place this weekend, before allowing him to play. He could even log some time in the G League.

But LaVine swears he's ready to play now.

"I'm just doing everything I can to get back," LaVine told Joe Crowley of the Sun Times. "I feel good, but it's a lot of people making decisions in this. So I have to trust them and they have to trust me, then we have to get to a point to where I'm out here playing."

He added, "I know I feel like I can play right now."

It was shaping up to be a painful rebuilding year for the Bulls as they dropped 20 of their first 23 games. However, the return of Nikola Mirotic and the emergence of Bobby Portis and Kris Dunn sparked a run of nine wins over their last 11 contests.

Once far and away the league's worst squad, their recent ascent vaulted them into an indistinguishable pack of 10 teams with between nine and 13 wins.

Adding LaVine into the mix could further inhibit any efforts to tank. The 22-year-old averaged 18.9 points per game last season and was the centerpiece of the offseason trade that sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota.