Markkanen takes another small step toward good health by joining scout team
The good news is the Bulls are creeping toward better health.
The bad news is it's not a sprint to better health.
The latest baby step saw Lauri Markkanen (right elbow sprain) and Kris Dunn (left knee sprain) join the scout team at Wednesday's shootaround. It was still a noncontact session only for both, however. This was Markkanen's third straight day of joining noncontact portions of practice.
"Lauri, he feels really good," coach Fred Hoiberg said after shootaround. "He had another great conditioning session today. On game days we go through a pick-and-roll continuity where we go through three or four of the actions we're going to see.
"And we put him on the scout team today as well at the end of practice and he was great. He's continuing to work himself into better shape. He's responded well to the noncontact portions of our practices."
Thursday will mark the eight-week anniversary of Markkanen's injury, originally diagnosed with a 6-8 week recovery. It certainly appears he's getting close to a return, but it won't happen this weekend.
"We're going to get him another workout in (Thursday). Friday, he'll get another workout in," Hoiberg said. "Then we'll just keep seeing how he responds and hopefully we can keep increasing his workload."
Dunn is two days past the four-week mark of his injury, which was given a 4-6 week time frame. Bobby Portis, out with a sprained right knee, did not join the scout team Wednesday, an indication he's a little behind Dunn in his recovery.
Portis' knee injury happened on Oct. 24, two days after Dunn's. But considering Dunn kept playing, while Portis ran off the court and collapsed behind the visiting bench, worried that his season was over, it would not be a surprise to see Dunn make a more rapid recovery.
Valentine tries to help:
Even though Denzel Valentine is out for the season with impending ankle surgery, he said he plans to stay around the team as much as possible and try to help the cause.
"He's still going to be the same Denzel," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He's still been trying to rally the troops and get them to go out there and compete, play hard. After the surgery's over I know he'll continue to be a positive influence on this team."
Valentine is expected to have surgery next week in Green Bay, Wis., to fix an unstable left ankle. Originally believed to be a bad sprain, the injury kept him out of training camp and wasn't improving.
"I don't want to alienate myself," Valentine said. "I want to still be part of the team and try to be positive and encourage the guys and everything like that."
Bulls horns:
The demise of the circus road trip is complete. The Bulls will host games surrounding Thanksgiving for the first time since 1979. Coach Fred Hoiberg went 0-27 on the circus road trip when he played for the Bulls from 1999-2003. "I'll say this, I'll be happy to be home tomorrow and be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, I think for the first time," he said. … Both sides featured a former point guard. The Suns started Isaiah Canaan, who played for the Bulls two years ago and is back from a broken ankle that ended his season last year. Bulls' backup Shaq Harrison played with Phoenix in preseason, then was released.