Chicago Bulls: 3 players who must step up in absence of Otto Porter Jr.

Three names stick out on this Chicago Bulls roster that could at least somewhat replace the void left by small forward Otto Porter Jr.

Taking that next step toward true playoff contention in the Eastern Conference appears to be a really long way off for the Chicago Bulls at the moment. A 4-9 record after a terrible 117-111 home loss at the United Center to the Brooklyn Nets pushed the Bulls one step even further back in the NBA standings over the weekend.

One key player the Bulls are missing right now that would definitely be making things easier otherwise is the former Washington Wizards small forward Otto Porter Jr. For pretty much the entire month of November, Porter Jr. was sidelined due to an ankle sprain. It doesn’t appear as if he will be back in the mix anytime soon either.

A report that surfaced on the Twitter timeline of K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago shows that Bulls head coach Jim Boylen doesn’t see any concrete timetable for Porter Jr.’s return to game action.

That doesn’t bode well at all for the fortunes of the Bulls on the wing in the immediate future. There’s only so much that a coach that has more on his plate that he can chew (I.e. Boylen) beyond trying to come up with creative solutions to fix the wing depth problem.

This issue really leaves the Bulls with one option. That is for players on the current 15-man roster to finally step up and rise to the occasion. That’s something that no one really pulled off yet in Porter Jr.’s absence.

Here’s a look into the three players that need to step up to fill the void of small forward Otto Porter Jr. for the Chicago Bulls in the midst of his lingering ankle injury.