MILWAUKEE — Bulls veteran DeMar DeRozan insisted he trusts the stats on the back of basketball cards.
He was more than 43.4% certain of that.
‘‘I’m not concerned about it at all,’’ DeRozan said, referring to his shooting percentage this season after the Bulls’ loss Monday to the Bucks. ‘‘Of course you want to be shooting well, and right now we’re not. But we’re getting a lot of great looks. We can’t get frustrated with that.
‘‘I know it’s going to turn for me and [guard] Zach [LaVine], for everybody.’’
DeRozan is a career 46.7% shooter from the field and shot 50.4% in each of his first two seasons with the Bulls. But he is sitting at 43.4% entering the team’s game Wednesday against the Magic.
As for LaVine, he is a 46.3% shooter from the field in his career but is sitting at a career-low 40.9% this season. He’s also a career 38.2% shooter from three-point range but is hitting only 30.9% from long range this season.
‘‘It’s not like we’re not getting good [shots],’’ LaVine said. ‘‘We’ve got to stick with it, trust our work. It’s frustrating because you expect yourself to do better.’’
So that’s the key to turning things around? Trust the history and shoot better?
Maybe it’s that simple, but there also are growing indications that something bigger is building as the front office continues to watch its plan of continuity sputter.
According to a source Tuesday, while neither LaVine nor his camp has hinted about him wanting to go elsewhere, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas again has started kicking the tires on trading him.
This isn’t the first time Karnisovas has been open to trading LaVine — the Sun-Times, as well as other outlets, reported that he talked with teams about LaVine before the trade deadline last season and during the summer — but he now seems to be open to a more realistic asking price.
What does that mean right now? Very little in a market in which teams still are finding their way three weeks into the regular season. A big-name player getting traded now likely falls into the category of a problem child. (See James Harden or Kyrie Irving.)
LaVine is far from that and thinks the Bulls (4-7) still can turn the season around, the source said.
The unknown, however, remains: Does the front office share that feeling? If not and the Bulls are willing to take a big swing, all eyes should be on New Orleans and the brewing volcano between the Pelicans and forward Zion Williamson. The often-injured Williamson told the media he’s ‘‘trying my best to buy in right now,’’ questioning the game plan and how he’s being used.
It’s just the latest head-shaker in a growing list of questionable decisions Williamson has made. What isn’t a question is that when Williamson plays, his production is All-Star-caliber.
How about trading LaVine and forward Patrick Williams for Williamson, forward Larry Nance Jr. and guard Kira Lewis Jr.?
Former Bulls general manager Gar Forman is a special adviser for the Pelicans and fell in love with LaVine once, acquiring him from the Timberwolves in the Jimmy Butler trade in June 2017.
Such a trade would be one way to try to fix what’s ailing the Bulls and shake up a stale product.
Or they could wait, hope DeRozan and LaVine are right and shoot better.
