In their regular season opener at home on Dec. 23 against the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls have a few injuries they’re dealing with.
The injury updates poured in for first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls on the morning of Dec. 23, ahead of their tip off at home to the 2020-21 regular season slate. Donovan and the Bulls open up their regular season schedule at home at the United Center against star point guard Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks, with tip off time set for 7 p.m. CT on Dec. 23.
Yet, it sounds like the Bulls will be a bit shorthanded in their regular season opener against the improving Hawks. According to a report on the Twitter timeline of K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago on the evening of Dec. 22, the Bulls could be without multiple players off the bench in their opener.
Veteran forward Thaddeus Young is out for sure, with combo guard Tomas Satoransky and rookie two-way contracted point guard Devon Dotson both listed as questionable. Young is out for this game with a leg infection that also hampered him during the preseason.
For Wednesday's season opener, Bulls list Thad Young as out and Tomas Satoransky and Devon Dotson as questionable on first injury report of regular season.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 22, 2020
With mostly unknown health issues facing Sato, he missed a lot of Training Camp and the preseason for the Bulls. But in an additional report on the Twitter timeline of Johnson on the afternoon of Dec. 23, Sato is shown as available for the Bulls regular season opener.
Bulls upgrade Tomas Satoransky and Devon Dotson to available for tonight’s opener vs. Hawks. Only Thad Young (lower leg infection) is out.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 23, 2020
Dotson was also upgraded to questionable on the afternoon of Dec. 23, leaving only Young out for this game on the Bulls injury report. The former Kansas Jayhawks star point guard also missed some time during the Bulls preseason slate with injury issues.
Missing Young in this rotation means that there could be more playing time ahead of the likes of Luke Kornet, Daniel Gafford, rookie Patrick Williams, and Chandler Hutchison, among others. Making up for the absence of Young in the rotation should be doable for Donovan and his staff, though.
The Bulls finished up their four-game preseason slate with a record of 3-1, with their last outing resulting in a Dec. 18 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. They also rounded out the preseason on a three-game winning streak. The Bulls raked in two wins over the Thunder on the road, and split two games at home with the Houston Rockets.