The potential of an impending trade has dominated this week for Zach LaVine.

But before Wednesday’s 96-94 loss to the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan wasn’t concerned about his star guard’s ability to balance his focus between the off-court drama and his on-court duties.

“He’s always been coachable,” Donovan said. “He’s always been a guy that you can go to and talk to.”

Another haphazard game from LaVine, however, offered more questions than answers about the two-time All-Star’s future with the Bulls. This week has added tumult to the latest chapter of the LaVine era in Chicago — a chapter bookended by two games against the Magic.

When the Bulls faced the Magic on Nov. 18, 2022, LaVine suffered the worst shooting night of his life. He shot 1-for-14 from the field, missing all five of his 3-point attempts, before Donovan finally yanked him off the court for the final four minutes, forcing LaVine to watch from the sideline as the Bulls lost 108-107 on a late 3-pointer by Jalen Suggs.

LaVine was irate. He rarely complains about coaching decisions, preferring terse answers over frank criticisms when speaking to the media. But after the loss, LaVine couldn’t let it go.

“It’s a tough decision,” he said. “Obviously I want to be out there. That’s the reason I’m here is to go out there and be Zach LaVine. But it’s the coach’s decision. I can’t just go out there and jump on the court even if I want to.

“Obviously I’ve got to do a better job in the beginning of the game, but you play a guy like me down the stretch. That’s what I do.”

LaVine never backed down from his dissent. He spoke with Donovan several times after the game and continued to criticize the decision to the media the next day. And according to a report by K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, LaVine has “never, never” gotten over the incident.

A year later, Wednesday’s game posed a familiar scene. LaVine was once again stuck in the mud of a poor shooting night — 2-for-11 from the field through three quarters. But this time Donovan stuck with him and put the ball in his hands for the tying shot with seven seconds remaining.

LaVine made the shot. The Bulls still lost the game. And that dichotomy — a different choice garnering the same fruitless result — illustrates the situation in which LaVine and the Bulls find themselves ensnared.

For Donovan, at least, any lingering resentment from that disagreement last year is a foreign concept.

“I haven’t heard that from Zach at all,” Donovan said before Wednesday’s game. “I think at the moment he was upset. He’s a competitive guy. He wants to be out there for 48 minutes. But I haven’t heard that at all from him.”

Donovan said he feels comfortable in his relationship with LaVine, which both sides have had to work on throughout a turbulent three-year tenure together.

Last summer Donovan went out to Los Angeles twice to spend time with LaVine. Amid injuries and trade speculation, the coach always felt LaVine had bought into the project in Chicago.

“We’ve always had really, really good conversations,” Donovan said. “He’s always responsive to text messages and phone calls and things like that. So I’ve not seen anything where it’s like, ‘OK, this guy has really pushed himself all the way over here. He’s just totally disconnected from everybody.’ I have not seen that at all.”

Even this week, LaVine assigned one source to his frustration: losing.

He emphasized that he always has felt supported by the Bulls and the coaching staff. But a 4-8 start is untenable for a player who has appeared in only four playoff games in his 10th season in the league.

“I’m frustrated we’re not winning,” LaVine said. “If you’re not frustrated, that’s a problem. It’s an upsetting thing when we’ve been trying to do the right thing for the past two years and it feels like we’re in the same place.”

This week’s reports are notable because they reflect a willingness from LaVine’s side to begin considering a move from Chicago, a previously unthinkable prospect according to LaVine and his camp.

But if he is ready to call it quits in Chicago, Donovan said LaVine has yet to inform him.

“He’s never, ever once said that to me at any point in time,” Donovan said. “I’ve never gotten that from him. And I’m not saying he would say that. I’m not privy to those conversations that go on. But that’s never been said to me.”

Regardless, trade talk will become status quo for the Bulls this season if they keep struggling — a reality that could create unrest in the locker room.

It’s not exactly new for LaVine, whose name has been tossed into trade rumors frequently throughout the last three years. But as the Bulls near a breaking point where change will become necessary, maintaining locker-room cohesion will present a heightened challenge.

Donovan always has preferred to deal with conflict directly — even if it means stepping aside to let players hash out issues themselves, such as after the season-opening loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“What you do is you come together and you have a conversation and you deal with it head on,” Donovan said. “I’ve always been a big believer of that. I think the conflict part, the confrontation part, people think it’s yelling and screaming and it’s not necessarily that. It’s just confronting whatever the issue is.

“I think you have to lean into that stuff. I’m going to always be honest in terms of how I feel. … And when you have those conversations, you’re at least moving toward solving things.”

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