After COVID recovery, Temple says he's ready to play
Preseason is over, but the Bulls picked up some reinforcements when they returned to practice at the Advocate Center on Sunday.
Garrett Temple, Denzel Valentine and Adam Mokoka joined the workout for the first time since training camp began. Temple has been out while recovering from COVID-19, Valentine was sidelined by a hamstring strain and Mokoka's arrival from his native France was delayed for various reasons.
Three players remain out. Forward Thaddeus Young has a left lower leg infection, which coach Billy Donovan said is improving. Guards Tomas Satoransky and Devon Dotson remain absent for undisclosed reasons.
Even though Temple spent nearly two weeks isolated in a hotel room, he told reporters he's ready to play in Wednesday's season opener against Atlanta if needed.
"We didn't really have many subs, so I practiced the entire time," Temple said. "Me playing Wednesday, I'm not looking to play 35 minutes or anything like that, but I definitely think it's in play as long we don't have anything happen over the next few days."
Temple said he was able to stop by the Advocate Center once while the Bulls were in Oklahoma City and played some one-on-one.
"I felt decent," he said. "Today was my second day playing live. It wasn't necessarily my wind. It was more my legs. I need to continue to get my legs under me. My conditioning is actually pretty decent, better than I thought it would be. Just got to keep playing and get these legs right."
The Bulls signed Temple as a free agent to add some veteran experience to the backcourt. How he'd fit into the rotation remains to be seen. With Satoransky out, Donovan has used Ryan Arcidiacono as the backup point guard and seems to favor a taller second unit with both Otto Porter and Chandler Hutchison. But there are plenty of different combinations he can use.
Donovan wouldn't commit to starting rookie Patrick Williams in the opener, though it seems a likely scenario. The starting lineup could use a strong defender, although Williams wouldn't figure to match up with Hawks high-scoring guard Trae Young.
"I think the biggest thing right now is I'm trying to keep an open mind and because of the unrest, so to speak, with some of our players," Donovan said. "I mean, I don't know where Thad is going to end up being on opening night. I don't know where Sato is going to be opening night.
"We could have some guys potentially just not available. So you could go in with some kind of plan but you don't know if you're necessarily able to stick to it. Probably should have had a little better of a rotation (in OKC), but I wanted to look at some of those guys together."
The Bulls completed a few transaction Saturday. They waived Simi Shittu and Zach Norvell, as expected, and exercised rookie contract options on Coby White, Wendell Carter Jr. and Hutchison for the 2021-22 season.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls