The Bulls will begin preseason play tonight without Patrick Williams, who is recovering from a severely sprained left ankle. That leaves a hole in their starting lineup, and coach Billy Donovan is considering a number of options to fill it, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
Donovan has expressed a desire to play faster this season, so it doesn’t appear he will turn to a traditional big man to step in for Williams at power forward. He has been experimenting with several players to see who fits best alongside Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.
“We’ve thrown Derrick (Jones Jr.) in with that (starting) group,” Donovan said. “We’ve thrown Javonte Green in with that group. We’ve put Alex Caruso in there. We’ve put Troy Brown in there with that group. It’s been hard to really evaluate it because as you’re implementing and you’re putting in, there’s things that we have to continue to get better at and improve upon. And then I think the other piece of it is, how well does the group function together?”
There’s more from Chicago:
- It’s possible that Williams could return before the preseason is over, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Williams injured his ankle on September 15 and was projected to miss four to six weeks. Mayberry notes that he wasn’t limping at media day and may be ahead of schedule in his recovery. “He’s been able to come in here and shoot,” Donovan said. “We haven’t done anything laterally, cutting-wise with him. He’s been coming in at night, getting some shots up, doing as much conditioning as he can be doing. But he’s done well. We feel pretty good about the way he’s progressing. I guess that’s what happens when you’re 20 years old. You heal pretty quickly.”
- No team has changed its roster more than the Bulls since last season’s trade deadline, and Vucevic believes they’re ready to contend, calling it “definitely the most talented team I’ve been a part of,” Mayberry adds in the same piece. One concern is lack of depth in the frontcourt after the team missed out on Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency.
- The Cavaliers will be the opponent in the preseason opener, which means a quick return to Chicago for Lauri Markkanen, who suggested in the offseason that he wanted a “fresh start.” Speaking to reporters today, Markkanen refused to criticize his former team, tweets Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I’ve got nothing bad to say about them,” he said. “When I was here, they treated me well and just things didn’t go as planned.”
I have a feeling that AK will somehow land MB III for Coby White. White wasn’t his draft pick and he’s not a traditional PG. Bulls desperately need a 4 and I think they offer a 2nd round pick in return in some capacity. Kings have Fox/Hallieburton/Hield, but White could be a guy they like with his various ways to score the ball.
But isn’t mb injury prone. Why would the bulls want that mess.
In theory that could make sense but Bulls fans everywhere just groaned at going through the Wendell Carter experience all over again so soon after getting off Wendell Carter lol
Problem was WCJ wasn’t athletic or a good shooter to play either the 4 or 5. MB III has a unique skill set. Yes, he’s injury prone but let’s also blame Walton for not utilizing him properly as well.
Agree with you. If I am the Bulls, would take Bagley for Coby White in a heartbeat. The trade is too one sided. MB for White straight up seems like a terrible trade for the Kings. Therefore don’t believe the trade will happen.
I’m not sure Bagley is even better than WCJ. Bagley might be more athletic but that athleticism hasn’t translated to production, and for a supposed shooter he only shoots ~30% from deep. WCJ is a better defender and passer, and he’s projectable as a shooter (although I have doubts). All things considered, I think the shine has really worn off both of those guys. And in answer to the below commenter, I think the Bulls would hang up immediately on the idea of trading Coby for him.
I really do believe Coby has hit his ceiling (Lou Williams). Not a good defender, not a real playmaker. Strictly a bucket guy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Bagley would setup a nice starting 5 for the foreseeable future amongst the lack of draft picks they currently possess.
WCJ has some worth. Having said that, WCJ was too small to match up against the bigger talented centers such as Embiid, Vucevic, Jokic, etc, and not agile enough to be a forward. So just an undersized center.
Once I went to a Bulls game in person when the Bulls were playing Orlando. Vucevic killed WCJ. It was very striking how much bigger Vucevic is compared to WCJ. Bigger and quite a lot more talented than WCJ. Granted it was WCJ’s rookie season, so it is unfair to expect WCJ to match up against Vucevic that game.
I honestly don’t think the Bulls make the playoffs this year. That roster looks like a Mish mash of underwhelming talent.
Ball the point they needed and not a bad shooter, Caruso give you defense, demar give you 20+ a night and than they still have Zach and that talented center. What more could you ask for
That roster is good offensively on paper. But highlighting caruso, a reserve, as the defense answers your question as to what else one could ask for. Defense is going to be a big problem, especially on the interior.
I agree. I’m worried about the rim protection from Vu and Bradley. It feels like they’ll need to score 115-120 PPG to win games.