Chicago Bulls: 5 takeaways from the 2019 preseason
1. Injury bug biting the Bulls again
Once again at the outset of Training Camp, the Chicago Bulls were bitten hard by the injury bug across the board. The injury report listed a whole five players for the Bulls after just the first two days of Training Camp. The two most significant of which went to second-year center Wendell Carter Jr. and small forward Chandler Hutchison.
At least Carter Jr. got to make his preseason debut this year. And he looked good in the preseason finale win over the Hawks. Carter Jr. was previously dealing with an ankle sprain and a tailbone contusion that limited him early in Training Camp and a couple of the preseason games.
Meanwhile, Hutchison and defensive standout guard Shaquille Harrison didn’t get any game action during the preseason. Both Hutchison and Harrison has lingering hamstring issues. Hutchison could miss a few games early in the regular season too. Harrison is far enough down the rotation that missing any time during the regular season shouldn’t impact him all that much.
Other injuries during the preseason worth noting went to former New York Knicks center Luke Kornet and rookie former Arkansas Razorbacks big man Daniel Gafford. Hopefully the quick recovery time for Kornet and Gafford are good indications that they won’t be hanging around throughout the regular season.