Augustin reportedly on his way to Bulls
The Bulls appear to have a new player lined up. Whether that means help is on the way remains to be seen.
According to several reports, the Bulls are expected to sign guard D.J. Augustin once he clears waivers. Augustin was released by Toronto to make room for the players acquired from Sacramento in the Rudy Gay trade.
Augustin, 26, was the No. 9 pick of the 2008 draft out of Texas. During his third NBA season, playing for Charlotte, he averaged 14.4 points and 6.1 assists.
He moved to Indiana last year and fell out of favor. The Pacers worked quickly in the off-season to secure C.J. Watson as their backup point guard, while Augustin moved on to Toronto. He had played in just 10 of 19 games for the Raptors this season, averaging 2.1 points.
Generously listed at 6-feet, Augustin might resemble ex-Bulls guard Nate Robinson, but he doesn’t figure to be an explosive scorer. Over his career, Augustin has shot 40 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point range. He might be able to add some depth and allow Kirk Hinrich to play fewer minutes, which should help the Bulls in the long run.
Deng, Butler out again:Luol Deng sat out his second straight game with a sore left Achilles. Jimmy Butler, who hasn#146;t played since Nov. 18, remains out with a turf-toe injury on his right foot.It sounds as though Deng playing Wednesday in New York is a possibility, while Butler might need a few more days.#147;Both guys are a lot better,#148; coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. #147;They#146;re close, but not quite there yet. We#146;ll see where it is (Wednesday).#148;Butler is now able to run and change direction, but the biggest problem might be getting his conditioning back.#147;I think I still have a little bit of a ways to go,#148; Butler told reporters at shootaround. #147;But we#146;re definitely moving in the right direction. I#146;m moving a lot better, jumping off of it better, so we#146;ll just see every day that I wake up how I#146;m feeling.#147;I hate sitting out. I hate missing games. I always want to play. But they#146;re just constantly telling me to take my time, make sure I#146;m back at full strength so you don#146;t re-aggravate it or make it worse.#148;Bull horns:After starting against Detroit on Saturday, Taj Gibson returned to his usual role of coming off the bench against Milwaukee. The Bulls started a front line of Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer and Nazr Mohammed on Tuesday. #133; Rookie forward Erik Murphy saw his first significant action of the season Tuesday and scored his first NBA points on a jumper midway through the first quarter. Murphy#146;s previous season high was six minutes of garbage time in the blowout loss to the Clippers.Bulls game dayBulls vs. New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, 7 p.m. WednesdayTV/radio: Comcast SportsNet, ESPN/ESPN 1000-AMAt a glance: The Knicks actually looked pretty good on opening night in Chicago. They played some scrappy defense before losing 82-81 on Derrick Rose’s floater with 5.7 seconds left. Things seemed to fall apart when C Tyson Chandler injured his knee on Nov. 5, and the Knicks are 5-15 following Tuesday’s loss at Cleveland. Carmelo Anthony is averaging 25.2 points and a career-high 9.7 rebounds. Former Toronto PF Andrea Bargnani is the second-leading scorer at 14.7 points, followed by SG J.R. Smith at 11.2 ppg and PG Raymond Felton with 10.6. The Bulls have won six in a row against New York.Next: Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday— Mike McGraw