McGraw: Bulls should use depth to their advantage
The most important message coming off the opening week of the Bulls' season is don't panic every time Derrick Rose comes up limping.
The sprained ankle, or ankles, suffered Friday against Cleveland is normal, minor stuff that happens in the course of any basketball season. The replays seemed pretty clear that Rose's left foot came down on Kyrie Irving, causing the initial injury.
There were reports of a mysterious second sprained ankle suffered in the third quarter. Either way, it's not worth worrying about.
The more pressing concern for the Bulls is making sure Rose recovers from these little injuries before returning to the court. The last thing they need is a repeat of the 2011-12 lockout season, which ended with Rose suffering a torn ACL in the playoffs.
Remember, that season began with a series of nagging injuries for Rose, and each one seemed to lead to another. Also, late in the year, Rose logged heavy minutes a couple of times in his first game back from one of those injuries.
That's what the Bulls must avoid this season. One very obvious trait during the first three games is the Bulls probably have the deepest roster in the league. Use it.
Aaron Brooks has been terrific as the backup point guard. Kirk Hinrich is shooting the ball better than he has in years. The ghost of Halloween future must have visited Tom Thibodeau and convinced him its OK to show confidence in Tony Snell.
Nikola Mirotic playing 28 minutes in place of Taj Gibson during Saturday's win over Minnesota is only going to help in the long run. Doug McDermott looks like someone who will improve quickly with playing time.
So the point is this: Be smart with Rose and Joakim Noah in their return from knee surgeries. If someone is hurt, give him a break.
Being healthy for the playoffs is far more important than homecourt advantage, and the Bulls should be able to win plenty of games without their full lineup, anyway.
Don't sweat the whistles:
Friday's overtime loss to Cleveland, in some ways, was a warning sign of what may be in store. The Bulls were in good shape, up by 5 points with 47 seconds left, then tweet, tweet - a couple of quick whistles began a march to the foul line by the Cavaliers.
Overall, though, the referees let the Bulls play physical defense against LeBron James and the Cavs. They got away with plenty of bumps that were called fouls in the Miami days. Also, the Bulls got their share of veteran calls in Saturday's narrow win at Minnesota. So the whistles are going to blow both ways.
The key for the Bulls is to take care of business so playoff games don't come down to a call here or there.
Keeping Cleveland off the offensive boards is one issue that needs to be solved. Getting Derrick Rose on the floor will help, too. He was brilliant in the first half Friday, scoring 18 points in 16 minutes.
Butler's future looks green:
There's a good chance the Bulls will regret their inability to come to extension terms with Jimmy Butler.
He played very well in his first game back from the sprained left thumb, scoring 24 points against the Timberwolves, including the game-winning free throws with 0.2 seconds on the clock.
Butler was the same confident scorer we saw in the preseason. If he keeps this up, there's a good chance he will earn an offer sheet worth close to $15 million per year as a restricted free agent next summer.
The Bulls may have been able to lock him up at $12 million-$13 million per year Friday.
This much is clear: There's no way the Bulls can afford to let Butler walk. After passing on Luol Deng, Butler is a vital piece to the team's future, and he figures to be paid accordingly.
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