Throughout this heavy stretch of games for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls stemming through the Nov. 22 meeting at home at the United Center with the Indiana Pacers, the need for depth came to the forefront. And the importance of having players like star center Nikola Vucevic and point guard Alex Caruso was also spotlighted in the Bulls’ tough 32-point loss to the Pacers on Nov. 22.
Donovan and the Bulls missed Caruso just in the loss to the Pacers early this week. He was questionable heading into that game but showed up in street clothes at the United Center. It was clear at that point that Caruso would be missing for the Bulls in the back end of back-to-back games.
But the Bulls have missed Vucevic for the last seven games due to the league’s health and safety protocol. And it does look like the Bulls are going to be missing Vucevic at least through the Nov. 24 matchup on the road against the Houston Rockets.
Chicago Bulls star center Nikola Vucevic could make his return this week against the Orlando Magic
Nikola Vučević will travel with the Bulls for this week's trip to Houston and Orlando.
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) November 23, 2021
This doesn't mean he'll play — Donovan says that's still up to the team doctors — but this means he could make his big homecoming in Orlando on Friday.
Vucevic could make his return to the Bulls’ lineup, after what looks to be an eight-game absence, when the team takes on the Orlando Magic on the road on Nov. 26. The Bulls face Vucevic’s former team in the front end of back-to-back games in Florida this weekend.
It sounds like Vucevic is ready to travel on yet another road trip for the Bulls this week. He reportedly could be making his return for the Bulls at the soonest by Nov. 26. This could also mean that Vucevic faces his former team in Orlando for the first time since the Magic traded him to the Bulls at the deadline last season.
Vucevic did get to face his former team last season as a member of the Bulls, but that meeting came at the United Center in Chicago.
It would be special for Vucevic to both make his return from the league’s health and safety protocol for the Bulls and make his first return to Orlando since he was traded from the Magic all in the same game. This would also be big for the Bulls as a whole to get Vucevic back in the lineup.
When the Bulls aren’t getting productive scoring nights from the star duo of shooting guard Zach LaVine and shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan, having Vucevic to turn to would help out a lot. For the time being, the Bulls are often struggling to find other sources of offense when DeRozan and/or LaVine aren’t producing at a high level.
Following their bad 32-point loss to the Pacers on Nov. 22 at the United Center, the Bulls are now sporting a record of 12-6. Next up for the Bulls is a meeting on the road with the Rockets on Nov. 24.