Chicago Bulls: Pat Williams, Sato set to return vs. Hornets

After a long stretch of games where first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls were not all full strength in the entirety of the rotation, it looks like they will be whole again entering the weekend. Or at least close to it.

Donovan and the Bulls are set to take on the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 22, which will be their first game since Jan. 18. The Bulls have gotten two lengthy hiatuses between games in the middle of the week for each of the past two weeks. There were no novel coronavirus related issues that caused the Bulls to have a game pushed back this week, though.

But now the Bulls will have three games in the next four days. On the night of Jan. 22, they hit the road to face the Hornets. And then they return home to the United Center in Chicago on the night of Jan. 23 to face LeBron James and the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.

To round out this stretch of three games in four days, the Bulls face the Boston Celtics at home on the night of Jan. 25.

Chicago Bulls injury updates

Moreover, good news did arrive for the Bulls in the injury update concerning rookie forward Patrick Williams. The former Florida State Seminoles ACC Sixth Man of the Year award winner is reportedly (per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer) probable for the matchup against the Hornets to enter the weekend.

Williams is dealing with a hip contusion that kept him out of the Bulls matchup with the Houston Rockets, which resulted in a win at home back on Jan. 18.

So far this season, Williams has played in 13 games for the Bulls (starting in all of them), while averaging just south of 27 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 10.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks. Williams shot 48.5 percent from the field, and ultra-efficient 50.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, the Bulls are also expected to get the likes of combo guard Tomas Satoransky and small forward Chandler Hutchison back in the rotation. Each of those two Bulls role players dealt with COVID-19 cases over the past couple of weeks.

The injection of depth into the backcourt and wing rotations from Sato and Hutch returning to the lineup should also be a nice addition for Donovan’s bench against the Hornets.

Sato has only played in three games for the Bulls this season (none of which he’s started in). And he’s averaged 6.3 points per game, 2.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 2.7 turnovers. Sato shot 46.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, and is perfect on just a few attempts from the free-throw line.

Donovan and the Bulls will come into their road meeting with the Hornets on Jan. 22, with tip off time set for 6 p.m. CT, with a record of 6-8. The Hornets carry the same record heading into this game.