Postponements are ‘an option’ for the Bulls amid COVID-19 outbreak
Late in the morning of Dec. 12, the news came down that second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls added two more players to the list of those out due to the league’s health and safety protocol. The Bulls are now up to nine players missing due to the list of those in the league’s health and safety protocol right now.
The two latest additions to this aforementioned list due likely to COVID-19 cases are star shooting guard Zach LaVine and shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr. This is pretty detrimental to a Bulls team that was already in dire straights this weekend before adding two more players to the list of absences in the health and safety protocols.
At this point, the Bulls now have a list of players missing due to the league’s health and safety protocol that also includes star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan, point guard Coby White, shooting guard/forward Javonte Green, forward Derrick Jones Jr., and rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu, among others.
There is even one player that the Bulls signed with the hardship exemption, small forward Stanley Johnson, that was placed in the health and safety protocol before really even playing in a game for this team. The Bulls also signed forward Alfonzo McKinnie with the hardship exemption waiver to fill depth needs with all of these absences right now.
But now, the question that is really looming over the Bulls is whether the team will try to actually play their next game. The Bulls are now missing more than half of their rotation. Since the Bulls reportedly need eight active players ready in the rotation to play in a regular season game, it would make sense if this squad pushes for a postponement for their next outing.
The Bulls are set to face the division foe Detroit Pistons next up on the docket. While the Pistons aren’t the best team on the docket this month, Donovan and the Bulls shouldn’t want to let this one slip away from them in the midst of all of these absences.
Chicago Bulls reportedly facing postponements after Zach LaVine enters the health and safety protocol
Under league rules, the Bulls need to have eight eligible players vs. the Pistons on Tuesday. There have been no Covid-related postponements in the NBA this season, but the Bulls outbreak -- with LaVine and Troy Brown the latest -- continues and postponements could be an option.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 12, 2021
According to a report from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on Dec. 12, “postponements could be an option” for the Bulls amid this COVID-19 outbreak. He also notes that “there have been no COVID-related postponements in the NBA this season”.
This COVID-19 outbreak for the Bulls feels like the one that the Philadelphia 76ers had last season, where they were well down into the single digits in terms of players available in their rotation. There were also a number of COVID-19-related postponements during the regular season in the NBA during the 2020-21 campaign.
Most teams around the league are likely to experience either some rash of injuries or a COVID-19 outbreak, like the one the Bulls are going through now. It’s just the severity of this list of injuries/absences for Donovan and the Bulls (which also now includes the first-time All-Star LaVine) that could cause any postponement.
Next. 3 players the Bulls should've signed instead of Alfonzo McKinnie. dark
Following their convincing double-digit loss at the hands of the Miami Heat on the night of Dec. 11, the Bulls are sporting a record of 17-10. Donovan and the Bulls are now slated to face the Pistons at home on Dec. 14 without the services of LaVine and Brown, along with the seven others in the health and safety protocol at the moment.