Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Bulls small forward Luol Deng went up for a rebound on Friday night, but when he came down he immediately grabbed his hamstring. Deng was forced to leave the game in the third quarter and didn’t return. After the game, Deng said he has tweaked his hamstring and likely won’t be ready to play tomorrow against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“I tried to take off and as soon as I pushed off, I felt a pull.” Deng said after the game, via Chicago Tribune beat writer K.C. Johnson. “It’s swollen and painful.”

Deng originally injured his hamstring in the Bulls win on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors. Deng stayed in the game and eventually hit the game winner, but he wasn’t able to finish on Friday.

Should Deng not be able to play on Saturday, which is looking like a distinct possibility, Jimmy Butler is looking at a start instead. Deng ended his night with 3 points in 27 minutes, while Butler played 25 minutes and scored 13 points. The Bulls have been looking to give Butler more minutes, and Butler is looking to earn as many as he can get.

Losing Deng throws off the Bulls fung shui a bit, but Butler has started before and does have a feel for the schemes. The Bulls shouldn’t stumble at all in Deng’s absence, and with Butler at their disposal, the hope is Deng will be rested as much as possible so the hamstring injury doesn’t flare up again.

Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA All-Star Game is right around the corner, but the Bulls very well could get shut out from top to bottom when the game officially tips off. The NBA All-Star reserves will be selected January 24th, which means Joakim Noah will have to wait until then to hear if his name is added to the roster.

However, head coach Tom Thibodeau can expect to not be asked to coach the team in any capacity this year, as he’s been ruled ineligible to coach the team.

The NBA picks the head coaches for both the East and West team based on who has the best winning percentage through February 3rd. Thibodeau coached the Eastern Conference team last year, meaning he can’t coach the team this year. In a system and a game that is clearly unfair, the rule was put in so that one coach can’t constantly be coaching the All-Star game.

This means that Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks will be blocked from coaching the Western Conference team this season, as he too was chosen as a coach last year.

As it stands now, the current Bulls coach won’t be able to coach in the All-Star Game, but a former one in Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro is in line to coach the Western Conference.

Is that really a world any of us want to live in?