Injuries have been the go-to asterisk for the Chicago Bulls this season. But with Alex Caruso back from his wrist fracture and Zach LaVine in and out of the lineup with left knee discomfort, this is likely the new norm for the final phase of the season.
It’s not anything like the team pictured at the start of the season, coach Billy Donovan admitted. The Bulls are relying on a rookie point guard and a 6-foot-5 backup power forward to man their starting lineup. LaVine’s unpredictability means the lineup changes nearly every night.
But Donovan said the Bulls need to plan around this current reality for the final month of the regular season.
“It could end up being a situation where we have to potentially go almost game by game on lineups and rotations, just based on what’s happened,” Donovan said. “A lot is based on injury.”
Although injuries create uncertainty, Donovan was clear on this point before Monday’s 112-103 loss to the Sacramento Kings: Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams won’t be swooping in to save the day in the 11th hour.
Donovan said he values both players and believes they are on track to return in time to make an impact, but neither is likely to play starter’s minutes in the regular season. Although team doctors upgraded Williams to minimal contact last week, he won’t be allowed into full contact for at least five more days.
The main barrier for Williams is the gradual rebuilding of strength and flexibility in his wrist after surgery in late October. Donovan said team doctors are targeting “a specific point in a specific date in March” for Williams to return. Although he didn’t specify the date, Donovan said the goal is around the five-month mark from Williams’ injury, which would be the last week of March.
Whenever Williams is cleared to play, Donovan said the second-year power forward won’t be an immediate starter as he works to regain fitness and team chemistry after five months off the court.
“If we were whole, I think the best thing to do with him would be to bring him off the bench,” Donovan said. “Just because he’s missed so much. I don’t think it would be fair to him just to throw him in — with the number of games he’s missed and the amount of months he’s missed — to say his first game back he’s starting. But I do think he will play a pretty important role for us.”
Ball’s return is even less concrete. Although Donovan said Ball hasn’t experienced any setbacks in his recovery from meniscus surgery, the fifth-year point guard is stuck in a standstill as he recovers from a deep bone bruise suffered in his knee before the meniscus tear.
Ball has been lightly jogging and working on lateral movements the last three weeks, but he hasn’t been upgraded to full-speed drills. That’s not only keeping Ball from being cleared for contact, but also preventing him from regaining any form of game fitness.
“He’s not a guy that I have any idea of when he’d be back,” Donovan said. “Until he can get to a point that he can sprint, I couldn’t say that. I would have a better feeling once he’s in a position to start (sprinting).”
Even with Ball and Williams waiting in the wings, the Bulls would be in a different position if it weren’t for the injury toll on LaVine. The All-Star shooting guard has often been a tone-setter for the Bulls, even while DeMar DeRozan leads the team scoring.
The Bulls are getting two versions of LaVine as he nurses his left knee — at times aggressive and productive, at others hesitant to make his typical slashes to the rim.
Monday’s game showcased both sides. LaVine was tentative throughout the first half, only to explode in the second to finish with 27 points. After the game, LaVine said the shift was the result of a change in his mindset after feeling frustrated by the first half.
“I’ve got to do a better job with my mentality,” he said. “I’m playing through some pain with my knee injury, but I’ve got to have the right mindset. I can’t be tiptoeing through the game. I made a mental decision in the second half to go out there and play like me. I’ve got to start out that way.”
The fourth-place Bulls (41-27) will need plenty of that edge from LaVine to remain in contention at the top of the Eastern Conference. Only 4½ games separated second place from seventh entering Tuesday’s schedule.
Donovan praised his team for its adaptability. Rookie Ayo Dosunmu’s growth has been meteoric as the starting point guard, and third-year pro Javonte Green is having his best season as Williams’ replacement at power forward.
As it becomes clear that “getting whole” is no longer attainable, this adaptability will be the key to the rest of the regular season.
“It’s kind of been the hand we’ve dealt with,” Donovan said. “It more speaks to those guys’ commitment to saying, ‘OK, what do you need me to do role-wise? I’ll try to do the best job I can.’”
