They were counting on Alex Caruso to return from a wrist fracture courtesy of a Grayson Allen flagrant-2, they were hoping the serious wrist surgery for Patrick Williams would allow him to make it back before the end of the regular season, and the feeling was Lonzo Ball’s left knee injury/surgery would have him back by the end of March.
All things considering, two out of three isn’t that bad.
Caruso has been back for more than a week and Williams made his return on Monday against Toronto. The Ball saga, however, not only took a serious pause, but now the point guard is running out of time on the calendar.
According to Billy Donovan, Ball and the medical staff got together and decided the best course of action was to now cease all running and cutting for 10 days, with the hope that rest will ease up the discomfort. The original prognosis on the knee was a bone bruise, while the surgery was to fix the meniscus. It’s the bone bruise that’s still the issue.
“He’s actively doing things to strengthen [the knee], but in terms of the running and what we were trying to do where he kept kind of hitting that plateau, they’re just going to pull him back now,’’ Donovan said. “So there’s not going to be anything for 10 days just to see how he responds to that, if that helps take away some of the discomfort he does feel when he does [the running].
“It’s not necessarily he’s had any setbacks. It’s just we haven’t been able to take that next step.’’
This was week seven for Ball, with the original timetable for the injury six-to-eight weeks. He’ll obviously blow past that.
What Donovan still won’t do, however, was rule his starting point guard out for the remainder of the season.
“I think we’ll have a better feel of that once they get through this next 10 days,’’ Donovan said. “Obviously it’s coming to the end of the season. The last game is what, April 10, and we’re at the end of March right now, so I haven’t really asked that question to the medical of where they’re at. I think they feel like OK, if he can get over this 10-day period get back to the ramp up period – because he has been out for quite some time – that would enable him to get back into contact relatively soon.’’
Minuteman
The last time DeMar DeRozan averaged 36 minutes per game for a season was back in the 2013-14 campaign for the Toronto Raptors, when he clocked in 38.2 minutes per contest. He was 24 years old then.
The veteran entered this week with the Bulls right at that 36-minute per game mark, but since Feb. 1, has carried a much bigger workload.
He averaged 38.5 minutes per game in February, and 38.3 per game through March so far. That included eight games of 40-plus over that span.
Just don’t ask DeRozan if he’s worn down.
“No, not all,’’ DeRozan said, when asked if he was physically or mentally tired. “You want to have a smooth, free road on whatever destination you’re on, but sometimes it just doesn’t go that way. You hit bumpy roads.’’
Donovan said that he speaks with DeRozan almost daily, and communication has been the key.
“The one thing about DeMar, at least from my perspective, is he’s physically and mentally a tough guy, he really is,’’ Donovan said. “He’s trying to help our team get that.’’
