Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Zach LaVine knows what you're thinking. You're thinking, Sure, he's cool, with his two Slam Dunk Contest titles and his fat new Adidas contract, but he's not the real deal, not a go-to guy, not worthy of headlining the return package for a superstar.

He knows this because it's all anybody in Chicago talked about or wrote about all summer, or even spent their money on, in the case of a certain charity-funded billboard that went up along central Lake Street in July. It demanded the firing of Bulls executive duo Gar Forman and John Paxson, a direct protest to their acquisition of LaVine. The project raised nearly $7,000 in just three days; the sign's punchline, #FireGarPax, sometimes trends on Twitter in the Windy City.

Zach LaVine heardthe chatter and drove past that billboard. He knows what you think of him. And he plans to change your mind.

"The fans and community might not be there yet, but give it time," he says of the trade that brought him to Chicago and of the Bulls' direction at large. On draft night, Chicago shipped away its franchise player, Jimmy Butler, plus a first-rounder, for LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick that it used on Lauri Markkanen. It signaled a total teardown of what had been a fine but stagnant team—Butler's Bulls made the playoffs in five out of six seasons, but they never won more than 50 games.

The decision to rebuild was no issue. These days, 10 or 20 percent of the league dives headfirst