We are now just a few hours ahead of the tip-off of the preseason opener for head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls, against the divisional foe Cleveland Cavaliers at home at the United Center on the night of Oct. 5. Donovan and the Bulls will get to face two former players on this night in shooting guard/wing Denzel Valentine and power forward Lauri Markkanen, who are now with the Cavs.
The Bulls will also be facing these two notable former players without a host of key players of their own. We already knew that the Bulls would be missing forward Patrick Williams and point guard Coby White throughout most, if not all, of the preseason. Williams and White might be missing for the Bulls at the outset of the regular season too.
But the Bulls are now also set to potentially be missing small forward Derrick Jones Jr. and center Tony Bradley. Both Jones Jr. and Bradley are doubtful with various lingering injury issues for the preseason opener on Oct. 5, per a tweet from K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Chicago Bulls could reportedly be without Derrick Jones Jr. and Tony Bradley vs. Cavaliers
May not be able to read much into Billy Donovan’s rotation for preseason opener. Besides Patrick Williams and Coby White being out, Tony Bradley (lower left back strain) and Derrick Jones Jr. (sprained left ankle) are listed as doubtful.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 5, 2021
Jones is dealing with a sprained left ankle, and Bradley has a lower left back strain. Johnson mentioned in his tweet that Bulls fans “may not be able to read much into” Donovan’s rotation against the Cavs in the preseason opener. That is really true if Jones and Bradley are both out.
As I predicted Jones to be in the Bulls’ starting five for the preseason opener against the Cavs on this night, it looks like there will have to be someone else that Donovan slots on the wing. Former Washington Wizards shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr. could be an option for the Bulls to slot in the starting unit in the preseason opener now.
Bradley likely wasn’t going to be in the Bulls’ starting unit either way. But this will now potentially open up the door for more minutes in this game for the likes of center Daniel Oturu, forward Tyler Cook, and even rookie big man Marko Simonovic.
It is also worth noting that the Bulls could now give more minutes on the wing to non-guaranteed players such as sharpshooting guard/wing Matt Thomas, small forward Stanley Johnson, and even down to rookie combo guard Ethan Thompson. What looks to be the case for the Bulls heading into the preseason opener is the fact that we’ll see a lot of new faces getting more minutes.
The Bulls and Cavs are set to tip-off at the United Center in this preseason on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. CT. After this meeting with the Cavs at home to tip-off the preseason slate, the Bulls will take on star forward Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans at home on Oct. 8.