The Chicago Bulls are currently on pause as they are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak on the team. They have not been able to get together as a team since Monday, which is when the NBA announced that their games on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons and Thursday against the Toronto Raptors would be postponed.
Chicago had 10 players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, which put them under the required eight players to be eligible to play. Two players, Coby White and Javonte Green, have since cleared protocols and been at the practice facility for individual workouts.
Outside of those two, there hasn’t been much going on at the facility. Players are coming in for the required daily testing and to complete rehab assignments, but other than that, the place has been empty.
Which is concerning for the Chicago Bulls. As of now, they are scheduled to play against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Bulls Games Postponed Due To NBA’s Health And Safety Protocols
Head coach Billy Donovan is hopeful that the NBA will clear them to return so that they can get some practice in before taking the court against Los Angeles, who will be without Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Talen Horton-Tucker and Malik Monk, as all four players are in protocols as well.
“We haven’t been able to do anything at all,” Donovan said during a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday. “Right when [the games were postponed], the league came out with some protocols that we needed to follow.
“In terms of the activities of being able to come in here, get together as a team, work out as a team, do those kinds of things, we haven’t been able to do anything. … I’m hopeful the league will give us some time here, Friday and Saturday, to get the group back together that would be available to play on Sunday.”
LATEST NBA NEWS: Bulls Games Postponed Due To NBA’s Health And Safety Protocols
The Bulls are already going to be at a competitive disadvantage with the number of players that will be sidelined for Sunday’s game. But, if it is not yet considered safe for them to return to the practice facility, they may have to play Sunday’s game without having the team together for a week.
While they will likely have 10 players available for Sunday’s game, they are going to be missing a lot of firepower. DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Jones Jr. and Matt Thomas will have cleared isolation by Sunday, but are considered day-to-day as they ramp up their activity and conditioning.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Bulls Games Postponed Due To NBA’s Health And Safety Protocols
Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Troy Brown Jr. and Alize Johnson, who were the most recent players to test positive, will be sidelined until after Christmas.
“We’ve had a lot of guys quite honestly that you would consider asymptomatic, where they have not really experienced any illness or sickness, but I still think there’s a period where they’ve got to deal with the medical staff and the league in terms of what they can and cannot do,” Donovan said.
Donovan believes the break could help his team, as some players were taxed picking up the slack for teammates that were unavailable to play. Sunday is the start of a four-game homestand for the Chicago Bulls, as they will get another mini-break following Wednesday’s game against the Raptors.
