Chicago Bulls rookie Valentine expected to miss two weeks to injury
This has become the new rule of Bulls training camp: The player who needs the camp experience the most is the first one injured.
Last year, Derrick Rose didn't get a chance to learn coach Fred Hoiberg's offense when his eye socket was cracked by a stray elbow on the first day.
This time, Bulls rookie Denzel Valentine is expected to miss two weeks with a sprained left ankle. He suffered the injury while guarding Milwaukee's Michael Carter-Williams on a drive in the third quarter of Monday's 93-91 preseason loss.
On a night when many second-string players struggled, Valentine may have been the most pleasant surprise. He seemed to play with confidence and tossed a couple nice passes, finishing with 4 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes.
Hoiberg said he wanted to give Valentine a chance to play point guard in preseason, but the No. 14 overall draft pick may not be back until the preseason finale on Oct. 20.
"He's probably going to miss, I'd say conservative, two weeks," Hoiberg said Tuesday. "It's pretty swollen, swelled up right away on him. It's just about getting him right, keeping him engaged in what we're trying to do, and trying to get him better."
After the game, Valentine suggested he'd need only a few days off, but it's typical for a sprained ankle to need a couple weeks recovery.
"If I have to play catch-up, then I'll just have to play catch-up," Valentine said Tuesday. "No point in stressing. Just need to take the steps I need to take to get healthy."
Valentine said he wasn't surprised by his play against the Bucks, brief as it was. He had a good summer, hitting the game-winning jumper at the buzzer to give the Bulls the Las Vegas summer league championship in July.
"I just came in confident," Valentine said. "There's no reason to put an enormous amount of pressure on myself because it's not really my team. I just come in here and play my role."
While Valentine rehabs, the Bulls will continue to assess backup point guards Jerian Grant and Spencer Dinwiddie. Grant hit 3 of 4 shots against the Bucks for 7 points and added a pair of assists. Hoiberg praised Dinwiddie's performance, which entailed playing the final 9:14 when the Bulls erased a 15-point deficit and briefly took the lead.
"Spencer got us into our offense and made a couple nice plays," Hoiberg said. "He also threw one (pass) into the fifth row. We'd like to get that one back, but it's tough going in there late in the game like that and making a positive impact and Spencer did that."
The 6-6 Dinwiddie is a third-year pro. The Bulls got him in a trade from Detroit this summer for Cameron Bairstow.
One question with Grant, who arrived from New York in the Derrick Rose deal, is whether he can be a facilitator or if he's mostly a scorer.
"He can do both," Hoiberg said. "He's done a nice job in camp of getting into the paint and making the right play. He's not a risk-taker. He had 1 turnover last night trying to sneak it into a small space, but that's rare for him. He generally makes the right play. But he is an aggressive scorer. That's what he did in college (at Notre Dame). That's what he did in Las Vegas. He can knock down a shot and he did that a couple times last night."
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