Another Bulls postponement opens up practice time
If Bulls coach Billy Donovan had to pick a single Christmas wish, it might have been for more practice time.
The circumstances aren't ideal, but the Bulls will get some time to hone their skills after Wednesday's game against Toronto was postponed. The next game on the schedule is Sunday against Indiana at the United Center.
The Raptors were in Chicago preparing to play, but the game was called off around 10:30 a.m. when forward OG Anunoby reportedly became the eighth Toronto player to enter health and safety protocols.
The Bulls now have three games to make up: two against Toronto plus a home date against Detroit. No games have been rescheduled by the league so far. The Bulls had 10 players in protocols when the two games last week were postponed.
Playing against a severely short-handed Raptors team would likely have been a benefit for the Bulls. But they did manage to post wins over the Lakers and Rockets this week while missing some key players.
"It's a great group of guys," Donovan said after the Houston game. "I knew coming in (Sunday) with one day of practice, I knew they'd come in and compete. We're going to have to regain our chemistry, we're going to have to regain our rhythm."
The COVID omicron variant is spreading rapidly through the NBA, prompting teams to sign a few dozen hardship players. The Boston Celtics signed 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who last played in the NBA in 2018, to a 10-day contract on Wednesday. The Raptors were counting on five hardship players to arrive in time to play Wednesday's game before the postponement.
In some ways, the Bulls being the first team to experience a significant outbreak could be an advantage. No players have described any significant symptoms, they might be close to full strength by Sunday and they were able to get a jump on signing hardship players. Chicago native Alfonzo McKinnie has played well as a new addition.
The Bulls players still in protocols, as of Wednesday, were Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Alize Johnson, Matt Thomas and Devon Dotson. Dotson was a recent protocols addition, but the other four have reached the prescribed 10 days in isolation.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed hope the league can increase the number of players getting booster vaccines and keep playing through this rough stretch. He also said the league is exploring a shorter isolation period for fully-vaccinated players who test positive for COVID, but experience no symptoms.
The Bulls players who have not been in protocols this season are Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Tony Bradley, Marko Simonovic, two-way player Tyler Cook, McKinnie and the injured Patrick Williams.
There were reports Tuesday the Bulls would add two more hardship players - rookie guard Mac McClung and veteran forward Ersan Ilyasova. The Bulls did not announce any signings Wednesday, but for what it's worth, the G-League Twitter account posted congratulations to McClung for being called up to the Bulls.
The Bulls gave an injury update on Caruso, saying he'll be reevaluated in 7-10 days after suffering a left foot sprain early in Monday's game. Derrick Jones Jr. (left hamstring strain) was also listed as out for Wednesday.
There have been nine games postponed in the NBA in the past two weeks, including Thursday's Brooklyn at Portland matchup.
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