The Chicago Bulls believe in Zach LaVine and proved this by signing him up to a four-year, $78 million deal.The Bulls gave up Jimmy Butler in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year to acquire the shooting guard and were always determined to build around him.LaVine played just 24 games after recovering from an ACL injury last season and is still working his way back to full fitness.That's one of the reasons why that huge deal came as a surprise to some people.But the 23-year-old has hit back at his critics and says he's done enough to earn this contract."I know what I'm worth, man," LaVine said, per ESPN's Nick Friedell. "I put a lot of hard work into this."People [are going] to put their own opinions on things, or everybody on social media, they try to judge you, but I came back last year. I played in 24 games. We had an understanding."I'm just getting back on the court. I'm able to get my rhythm down and things like that. I knew what my market was even in a dry market."I knew what I was going to be around, so I'm glad that we finally got to come to a conclusion and both sides are happy with that."

Proving people wrong

The athletic swingman will be going into the new campaign with a chip on his shoulder after the doubts over his new contract.

He says he's prepared to "wake up" his critics and prove that Chicago didn't make a mistake.

"I'm my hardest critic," LaVine said. "There's nothing that any of you guys can say to me that I [don't] take harder upon myself.

"I go back and critique my game every year. I'm used to people sleeping on me, and I'm also used to waking them up as well.

"I'm happy that I have this contract, and I'm happy that I have a little extra motivation to go out there and prove it to some people that don't believe in me.

"At the end of the day, I believe in myself, I believe in my work, and I'm going to show the city of Chicago it's a good choice and I'm here to stay."

With his future in the Windy City secured, LaVine is confident that he can make the team competitive again and bring the good days back.

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