Zach LaVine has surgery on his left knee as Bulls guard prepares to enter free agency

CHICAGO — Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday after playing through discomfort and swelling for most of the 2021-22 season.

LaVine’s surgery took place at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, where he lives during the offseason, and he’s expected to make a full recovery, the Bulls said in a statement.

The left knee was already a concern for LaVine, who tore his ACL in 2017. He spent the week before this season’s All-Star break in Los Angeles to receive cortisone and platelet-rich plasma injections, missing two games.

LaVine continued to miss games throughout the final third of the regular season, struggling with pain and discomfort during games and on the bench.

Despite injuries to his knee and thumb and his second and third bouts with COVID-19, LaVine averaged 24.4 points and 4.5 assists this season and earned a second straight All-Star selection.

He enters his first summer as an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this season. LaVine invited speculation about his next step when he declined to commit to re-signing with the Bulls during his exit interview in April.

More recently he told TMZ Sports he has “always been a big fan of the Lakers” after eating dinner in Los Angeles on Monday night.

“I’ve been here for the past five years. I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, just to not be viewing it one way,” LaVine said during his exit interview. “It’s unrestricted free agency. For my family, for me, I have to go and look at this as a decision where I have to be open-eyed. I have to make my list and talk to everybody.”