Guard Matt Thomas is the latest Bulls player to enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). In a follow-up tweet, Schaefer notes that Thomas was in Cleveland for the matchup Wednesday against the Cavs, but will travel back to Chicago.
Thomas is expected to miss several games, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), so he likely tested positive for COVID-19, although that has not been confirmed yet. If he did test positive, Thomas will be out for at least 10 days or until he returns two consecutive negative tests a minimum of 24 hours apart.
Thomas is now the fourth Bulls player in the protocols, joining Coby White, Javonte Green and DeMar DeRozan. With those four sidelined, Patrick Williams out four-to-six months, and Alex Caruso out at least a week with a hamstring strain, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets that the Bulls could apply for a hardship exception in order to sign a player.
Thomas is playing on a non-guaranteed contract with the Bulls. He played 19 minutes in the team’s win over Denver on Monday, but had seen only 30 minutes of action across seven games prior to that contest. The 27-year-old holds career averages of 3.8 PPG and 1.2 RPG (8.7 MPG) across 94 games for the Raptors, Jazz, and Bulls, with a .432/.404/.808 shooting line.
The Bulls will have just 11 active players Wednesday night. Rookie Ayo Dosunmu played a team-high 41 minutes against Denver and should continue to see a heavy workload. Troy Brown also figures to see an uptick in playing time with the backcourt depth so thin at the moment.
I’m more concerned with DRR than I am with Matt Thomas. I’m still confused on why he has a spot here when we needed size and Boogie was available, I trust Ak and Eversley but seems like a waste of a roster spot to me.
Thomas drove Nick Nurse crazy everytime he’s inserted into the game and asked to shoot but then wouldn’t. It was amazing to see a shooter not shoot. Waste of a roster spot for 2 yrs.
He does seem timid for a guy with only 1 skill.
Waist of a roster spot until Utah sent us a SRP for him.
Not sure where Bulls stand as a true playoff contender, Christian Wood would be a nice addition with injuries to the Bulls. It would move a roster spot with 2 going to Houston with maybe a draft pick (at best) and 1 player going to Chicago. How that works for Houston, is the unknown. They seem to want to trade Wood, Eric Gordon, and Wall. The Rockets have so many young players and doubt any team will move a young player for Wood, Gordon, and Wall.
COVID finds the Bulls delicious…
Hope it hits your team hard as hell…
Again…??? Im worry now,we have no depth anymore