What’s the Plan with Cristiano Felicio?

If the first preseason game is a sign of things to come for the Chicago Bulls, then Cristiano Felicio isn’t going to see much action again this season.

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Nine players saw action off the Chicago Bulls bench in Monday night’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Coincidentally, that’s the same minutes total for Cristiano Felicio.

Felicio made both shot attempts he took in those nine minutes, including an athletic play of running in transition and throwing down a major slam in the second half. He did miss two free throws in the final seconds that could’ve sent the game into overtime, but thankfully for everyone watching, he missed both and avoided overtime in the preseason.

The question is: What’s the plan for Felicio this season?

The Bulls already have a front court problem. Taj Gibson leads the power forward “open competition” after his 11-point, 12-rebounds performance against Milwaukee, but the Bulls don’t have any reliable option behind him (as of now).

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Nikola Mirotic is expected to play a bigger role this year, but after his performance on Monday, maybe that “leap” isn’t going to happen. It’s just one game in the preseason, but the Bulls are going to have some serious issues if Mirotic is that version of himself this season.

Bobby Portis is also expected to improve as a potential 4/5 combo, but he didn’t show a whole lot either on Monday.

During camp practices, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg mentioned that Taj Gibson has been seeing minutes as the second unit’s center.

If that becomes a thing this season and Gibson isn’t the starting power forward, where does Felicio see any playing time?

The best chance for Felicio to see extended playing time is 1) injuries in front of him (which, knowing the Bulls, could happen) or 2) Gibson starts as the first unit’s power forward and the second unit’s spot at the five opens up.

Paul Zipser didn’t make his debut on Monday, and neither did any of the training camp signings.

That leaves Felicio up front.

Robin Lopez is a good, solid player, but he’s going to need support behind him. Gibson at the five probably isn’t going to happen all the time, so Felicio should see some minutes this season because well … he should.

Felicio’s basically a fan favorite because when he’s actually logged minutes for the Bulls, he’s been good. He’s not a starting center by any means, but he’s a good backup option behind Lopez.

How many 270-pound guys are making these kinds of plays in the NBA today?

There’s still plenty of time for the Bulls to figure things out. There’s six preseason games left and some practice time to figure what a solution is for their front court rotation.

But, it’s pretty clear that Cristiano Felicio should be playing more than nine minutes.