Bulls News: New Julian Phillips, injury updates, critical part of rebuild revealed

Here's the latest Chicago Bulls news for Oct. 14 ahead of a preseason matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks that could see Lonzo Ball play an NBA game for the first time since Jan. 14, 2022.

Could a new Julian Phillips be a game changer?

Julian Phillips played a game-high 27 minutes, 28 seconds in the Bulls' preseason loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 12. He scored 21 points and added eight rebounds.

The most important stat of the night for Phillips, though? He shot 5-for-8 from three.

Per The Chicago Tribune's Julia Poe, the 20-year-old got some offseason work in with shooting coach Peter Patton and may have turned a corner.

Phillips leads the team in minutes this preseason and is third in scoring at 15.0 points per game. Small sample size and it's only preseason alerts apply, but he's shooting 54.5 percent from deep on 5.5 attempts a night.

If the second-year pro can enter the regular season with a respectable three-point stroke to go along with his athleticism and almost 7-foot wingspan, he'll see extensive (developmental) minutes on a guard-heavy roster as a potential 3-and-D wing.

A breakout season from Phillips would be a massive boost for Chicago's future.

Latest Bulls injury updates

Ayo Dosunmu, who will be a significant part of head coach Billy Donovan's rotation this season, hurt his shoulder against the Grizzlies but was sidelined for the remainder of the game as a precaution. He's day-to-day moving forward.

Ditto for Patrick Williams, who jammed his wrist. His post-game X-rays came back negative.

Coby White missed the contest against Memphis with a groin injury, but it doesn't appear to be anything serious and he should be fine to start the regular-season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Jalen Smith missed the Grizzlies game with knee soreness, but again, the Bulls are being cautious during the preseason.

More concerningly, Lonzo Ball experienced some knee soreness during the pregame shootaround. He's still expected to play two of the final three exhibition games, perhaps beginning tonight in Milwaukee.

Critical part of Bulls' rebuild strategy revealed against Grizzlies

Chicago plans to push the tempo and run in transition this season with Josh Giddey now aboard and an offensive-leaning roster. A lack of interior size and rebounding will limit those opportunities.

But if the Bulls can rack up steals and deflections like they did against Memphis, that could make up for a lack of size inside.

Chicago had 13 steals, forced 18 turnovers and totaled 30 deflections in the loss to the Grizzlies. That led to nearly a quarter of the team's points coming off turnovers and 19 percent on fast-break opportunities.

If the Bulls can't grab-and-go on rebounds, that kind of effort defensively will allow them to grab-and-go off forced turnovers, an even better option.