Bulls Rumors

Injury Notes: Mavericks, Doncic, Lonzo, Ivey

March 14th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks will once again have just nine players available on Friday in Houston. Forward P.J. Washington, who is dealing with a right ankle sprain, was originally listed as questionable, but he has been ruled out and will miss a seventh consecutive game, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Head coach Jason Kidd explained that with the Mavericks scheduled to play an early-afternoon game against Philadelphia on Sunday, Washington was unlikely to be available for that contest if he plays tonight. So, as Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning relays (via Twitter), the decision was made to hold the forward out of Friday’s game, but it sounds like he should be ready to return in a couple days.

There has been no indication that any other injured Maverick is on the verge of being activated. Kidd did say that Anthony Davis (adductor strain) “continues to trend in the right direction,” but there’s no timeline for his return, tweets Townsend.

Besides only having nine players available, Kidd is also limited in how much he can use several of those players. Dante Exum is on a minutes limit of about 20-to-25 per game, while Dwight Powell, Caleb Martin, and Brandon Williams all remain on minutes restrictions too, per Townsend (Twitter link).

Here are a few more injury-related notes from across the NBA:

Already missing LeBron James, the Lakers will be without their other star on Friday in Denver. They’ve ruled out Luka Doncic, who is managing a left calf issue as well as a right ankle sprain, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The Lakers have lost three games in a row and will face long odds to snap that streak on Friday with their top two players inactive.
Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined for the past six games due to a sprained right wrist, told his teammates before they embarked on a six-game road trip that he’d see them “on the second half of the trip,” tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. It’s unclear whether that means Ball expects to return to action by then or if he’ll just meet up with the team at that point — either way, it sounds like he’ll be out for at least three more games.
Despite being ruled out for at least four more weeks on Thursday, Pistons guard Jaden Ivey hasn’t given up on the idea of returning to action this spring, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN relays. As the No. 6 seed in the East, Detroit is well-positioned to make the playoffs, so the team should continue playing beyond the end of the regular season for the first time since 2019, giving Ivey more time to recover. “It’s definitely motivating. I want to be out there so bad,” he said. “And I’m putting in the work to get back so just seeing those guys go out there and compete hard, that’s all I want to do is compete and play the game of basketball so it’s definitely encouraging and exciting to see.”

Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Vucevic, Smith, Phillips

March 13th, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Bulls guard Josh Giddey is nearing the end of his rookie contract and will be one of the most interesting restricted free agents to monitor this offseason. While appearing on an episode of Nothing But Net with ESPN’s Kane Pitman (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst pointed to Immanuel Quickley‘s five-year, $162.5MM contract as a deal that Giddey’s camp figures to use as a point of comparison.

While Giddey likely won’t get quite that much money, $30MM annually seems to be about the going rate for starting point guards in the league now. Reporting last fall indicated that the Bulls guard was seeking $30MM per year on a rookie scale extension.

However, Giddey’s restricted free agency might not play out that simply. As Windhorst observes, if Giddey doesn’t receive an offer sheet worth signing from a rival suitor, the Bulls could potentially play hardball. In that scenario, the 22-year-old would have the option of signing his one-year qualifying offer and reaching the market again the following year as an unrestricted free agent.

Windhorst also points out that the Bulls recently re-signed point guard Lonzo Ball to an extension, which could improve their leverage in the Giddey negotiations. However, since the Bulls traded Alex Caruso for Giddey, they likely view him as part of their long-term future. After having a similar situation play out last year with restricted free agent Patrick Williams, all signs point toward an extension of some kind.

Since Giddey received an expanded role, he’s averaging 20.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in his last 15 games. He’s currently sidelined with an ankle injury.

We have more on the Bulls:

According to coach Billy Donovan (Twitter link via Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson), Giddey will travel for the start of the six-game road trip while continuing rehab on his ankle. In a follow-up tweet, Johnson reports that Giddey said he’s happy with how his recovery is going and that there’s optimism he’ll return on the trip.
Coby White scored a career-high 44 points in a game earlier in March and his strong play over the past two seasons has been a result of his evolution into a multi-layered scorer, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “From where I was with him, from his first year to now is amazing,” Donovan said. “He deserves all the credit because he is a guy who never points fingers, never blames, always looks internally, ‘How do I get better?’ He’s really made a strong investment to himself [and] the game.” White’s arsenal of shots has expanded since he entered the league as primarily a shooter and he has improved significantly as a finisher around the basket, Mayberry notes.
After missing seven games due to a calf injury, Nikola Vucevic came off the bench for the Bulls’ game against the Pacers on Monday. He returned to the starting lineup on Thursday, according to Johnson, but he’s currently on a restriction of 28-30 minutes per night. With Vucevic back in the lineup for the past two games, Jalen Smith has been the odd man out of the frontcourt rotation, Johnson adds (Twitter link).
Julian Phillips was the first man off the bench, ahead of Williams, in the Bulls’ Thursday win over the Nets. Phillips responded with a career-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists while playing as part of the closing lineup, Johnson observes in a series of tweets. The Bulls are on a four-game win streak.

Injury Notes: Williams, Giddey, Porzingis, LeBron

March 12th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After suffering a hip strain in the second half of a victory over Denver on Monday, Thunder All-Star forward Jalen Williams was ruled out for Wednesday’s road contest against Boston, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Aaron Wiggins drew the start in Williams’ absence

With their 118-112 win over Boston on Wednesday, the Thunder have ensured they’ll avoid the play-in tournament in the West, having clinched a top-six playoff spot, per the NBA (via Twitter).

According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link), Williams didn’t travel with the Thunder as they embarked on a three-game road trip. Reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault indicated on Wednesday that the team has yet to determine a recovery timeline for the 6’5″ forward.

Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:

Bulls guard Josh Giddey sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of an eventual 121-103 win over Indiana on Monday. The 6’8″ pro, a restricted free agent this summer, was in a walking boot briefly to stabilize the ankle, but head coach Billy Donovan revealed that he is now out of the boot, per KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Although Giddey is recovering well, Donovan said that he expected him to “be out for a little bit.” Johnson tweets that the fourth-year guard is engaging in toe raises and walking, but has no return timeline until Chicago brass can gauge how he holds up in on-court workouts. Giddey indicated that he will travel with the team for its upcoming road trip, according to Johnson (via Twitter).
In the loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis sat out his seventh straight game due to a viral illness, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Porzingis was originally listed as questionable before being ruled out a couple hours prior to tip-off. Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters pregame that he did not have a sense of when the 7’2″ big man would be available, with the postseason just a month away. 38-year-old veteran big man Al Horford started in Porzingis’ stead.
A medical recommendation prompted 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James to depart L.A.’s road trip and return home for further treatment on his groin strain, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN. Los Angeles will wrap up the road trip with games in Milwaukee and Denver on Thursday and Friday, respectively. James exited the Lakers’ Saturday loss to Boston in the fourth quarter, and reports have indicated that he’ll miss at least one or two weeks with the injury.

Central Notes: T. Jones, Giannis, Haliburton, Atkinson

March 12th, 2025 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

As an undersized pure point guard who rarely takes three-pointers, Tre Jones doesn’t really fit the Bulls‘ blueprint, but he has impressed the team since being acquired from San Antonio in last month’s Zach LaVine trade, averaging 9.6 points and 3.7 assists per game on .538/.429/.905 shooting in his first 13 outings with Chicago.

“He’s got the ‘it’ factor,” head coach Billy Donovan said of Jones, per Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. “He really does. He’s just a winner. … You can look at size and length for his position and he probably doesn’t have any of those things. But he’s got really good speed. He’s really tough. He’s got a high IQ. He understands competition. He can really stay in the moment and compete.”

Jones played well for San Antonio in 2022/23 and ’23/24 as the Spurs’ primary point guard, putting up averages of 11.4 PPG and 6.4 APG on 48.0% shooting across those two years. But he took a back seat to Chris Paul this season and saw his playing time and production crater before he was dealt to the Bulls at the deadline.

Now, as he nears the end of his current contract, Jones is looking more like his old self, increasing his value ahead of free agency — and potentially making a case for Chicago to retain him, though that will likely depend on the team’s other offseason roster decisions.

“I know he’s going into free agency and we’ll see how that plays out,” Donovan said. “But when you talk about a guy you want to have for 82 nights — and I’m not saying he’s always perfect — but he understands competition. He understands what goes into it. That’s what you want.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

As we outlined last week, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is taking and making mid-range shots at a higher rate this season than he ever has before. Jamal Collier of ESPN digs deeper into that trend, noting that Antetokounmpo wanted to develop a reliable mid-range game in part to reduce the physical pounding his body was taking when he was relying more on playing inside and getting to the basket. “I’m in my thirties, obviously, (and) I believe that I have four (to) six years, still, of good basketball to give, but I got to be smarter,” Antetokounmpo said. “I got to be smarter in the way I play.”
The Pacers went 0-3 with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined due to a hip injury in the past week, culminating with head coach Rick Carlisle, frustrated by how his starters were playing, pulling all five of them at once in the third quarter of Monday’s loss in Chicago, as Dustin Dopriak of The Indianapolis Star details. So it was good news for Indiana that Haliburton was back in action on Tuesday vs. the division-rival Bucks. The star point guard capped his return by completing a ridiculous four-point play in the game’s final seconds to steal a win for the Pacers (Twitter video link). ESPN has the story.
In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Brian Lewis takes a look at how Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has grown as a coach since he was “unceremoniously” pushed out the door by the Nets in 2020. “When you’re a first-time coach, you’re searching. You have your thoughts and ideas, but you’re searching for that identity,” said Atkinson, the favorite to be named Coach of the Year this season. “I think later on in Brooklyn as we got to that playoff that third year, I started to know. That’s when I really started (to think), ‘OK, I can coach in this league. I know what I’m doing. I kind of know what our identity is.’ Then the second time around, I was much more comfortable just coming in.”

And-Ones: Eaglestaff, Kyrie, Australia, MVP Race, Rookies, More

March 12th, 2025 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

North Dakota junior Treysen Eaglestaff will enter the NCAA’s transfer portal while testing the NBA draft waters, agent George S. Langberg tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).

Eaglestaff wasn’t included in Givony’s most recent top-100 list of prospects for the 2025 draft, but he had a strong season as a scorer for the Fighting Hawks in 2024/25, averaging 18.9 points per game on 416/.359/.794 shooting in 33 outings.

Eaglestaff’s scoring average was buoyed by some massive performances, including a 51-point outburst in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament against South Dakota State last Friday. The 6’6″ shooting guard also put up 40 points in a loss to Alabama on December 18. He knocked down a career-high eight three-pointers in both of those games.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

There may be too many hurdles to clear to make it actually happen, but after Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving expressed interest in playing for the Australian national team at the 2028 Olympics, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels is fully on board with the idea, per Grant Afseth of RG.org. “Oh yeah, I love it. I love it,” Daniels said. “I know he wants to do it. We want him to come play for us. There’s a lot of stuff that has to get cleared for him to come play, but we welcome him with open arms. He’s a brother. He’s an Australian.” Irving has Australian citizenship, but he previously played for Team USA in international competitions, so both USA Basketball and FIBA would need to sign off for him to play for the Boomers.
In a pair of stories for The Athletic, one panel of NBA writers debates which player is most deserving of this season’s MVP award, while another panel takes a closer look at an uninspiring race for the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference. While a recent three-game winning streak for the Bulls has put them in prime position for a play-in spot, the general consensus on the MVP race is that it remains too close to call between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.
Elsewhere at the Athletic, draft expert Sam Vecenie has updated his rookie rankings for the 2024/25 class, placing a pair of Grizzlies – Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey – in his top three, sandwiching Spurs guard Stephon Castle at No. 2. First overall pick Zaccharie Risacher of the Hawks and Heat big man Kel’el Ware round out Vecenie’s top five.
It has been five years since the NBA shut down its 2019/20 season due to COVID-19. In an extensive oral history, Baxter Holmes and Tim MacMahon of ESPN revisit that period, sharing a number of interesting behind-the-scenes details on how the league came to its decision and how teams and players reacted.

Bulls’ Josh Giddey Sprains Right Ankle

March 11th, 2025 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls point guard Josh Giddey exited Monday’s win over Indiana with over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter after rolling his right ankle. The Bulls subsequently ruled him out for the rest of the contest due to an ankle sprain.

The injury occurred after a shot attempt near the basket when Giddey’s right foot landed on the foot of Pacers wing Ben Sheppard (Twitter video link). The Bulls guard immediately limped off the court and headed to the locker room.

The ankle is the same one that Giddey injured while playing for the Australian national team at the Olympics last summer. He was in a walking boot after the game, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.

“He had a game a couple games ago where he kind of rolled it a little bit, but not too bad,” head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday night, per The Associated Press. “This one you could just tell, it was pretty painful the way he came up. So, obviously I’m concerned, but I just don’t know to what degree it is.”

Donovan said it may take “a day or two” before the Bulls have a clearer picture of the severity of the sprain.

It’s unfortunate timing for Giddey, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career in recent weeks and scored a season-high 29 points on Monday. In nine games since the All-Star break, the 22-year-old has averaged 23.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game, with a .522/.525/.865 shooting line.

“He’s been really good at playing to his strengths,” Donovan said of his point guard, according to Annie Constabile of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s really balanced his ability to pass the ball, and then his ability to score. The shots he’s getting and generating, the shots he’s looking to take, are higher-quality shots for him.”

Giddey will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Although he got off to a shaky start in his first year as a Bull, scoring just 11.2 PPG on .432/.319/.744 shooting in his first 39 games, his uptick in production over the past month or two has increased his value heading into the offseason and has likely helped cement his place as a building block in Chicago going forward.

“I’ll let (the front office) handle that,” Donovan said of Giddey’s contract situation. “(I) certainly have had conversations with Josh about it. But I think the idea of trading for him and having him come here was going to be for him to be here on an extended period of time. … Everybody here feels good about Josh as a player — what he’s been able to do and hopefully what he can continue to do.”

Central Notes: Thompson, Collins, Vucevic, Giddey

March 9th, 2025 at 4:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Pistons forward Ausar Thompson has established himself as a talented young defender, but he’s not satisfied with his development on either side of the ball, as he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. Thompson’s growth has been one of the components of the club’s ascent to postseason contender this season. At 35-29, Detroit is currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“I feel like since I’ve played basketball, I’ve never wanted my man to score on me,” Thompson said. “Never have and never will. I definitely take it personally.”

Thompson, who was a finalist for February’s Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month award, noted that he has been putting in consistent shooting work with Pistons assistant coach Fred Vinson this season, and broke down the specific foci of their approach.

“I’m trying to shoot with more arc,” Thompson said. “I’m trying to stop misses from going left to right. I’m shooting it with confidence. We work on it every day.”

Thompson did acknowledge that opposing defenses don’t necessarily fear him just yet, instead giving him plenty of space on long-range jumpers. This year, the 22-year-old swingman is connecting on just 21.2% of his 0.8 attempts per game beyond the arc.

“They want to let me shoot,” Thompson said. “I feel like they don’t think they can guard me if they step up. That’s how I like to view it. So I’m going to keep going.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Whenever Bulls center Nikola Vucevic returns from a calf injury, reserve Zach Collins is hoping he can be employed in two-big lineups alongside Vucevic, notes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I always hope it happens,” Collins said this weekend. “I enjoy playing with another big guy on the court, whether it’s a four or five, being able to interchange.” Head coach Billy Donovan has at least expressed some interest in exploring a jumbo-sized Collins-Vucevic tandem at times. “It’s something I’ve thought about and talked about, but since the [All-Star] break, we just haven’t been whole,” Donovan said.
Although the 34-year-old Vucevic was ultimately not traded from Chicago this season, it could still happen this summer. Should the Bulls move on from the former All-Star, Cowley wonders if new acquisition Collins has shown enough to perhaps replace Vucevic as the team’s next starting five. The 6’11” big man has averaged 12.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks in his 10 games with Chicago. The Bulls have gone 4-6 in those bouts.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, a restricted free agent this summer, helped power Chicago to a surprise 17-point comeback victory against Miami on Saturday, Cowley writes in another Sun-Times story. In the win, Giddey logged a 26-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double that included some clutch late buckets. “Guys being out has kind of made us shift lineups around, being able to guard multiple positions, play multiple positions offensively,” Giddey said. “Just being versatile and flexible to whatever is out there… Confidence is a big thing.”
In case you missed it, the Cavaliers‘ deadline trade to acquire forward De’Andre Hunter has given head coach Kenny Atkinson new flexibility in his closing lineups. Although Atkinson sometimes opts to play Hunter and bench starting center Jarrett Allen in these moments, Allen says he doesn’t mind.

Bulls Notes: Williams, White, Buzelis, Phillips, Play-In

March 7th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Bulls forward Patrick Williams has missed the past two weeks with a right knee injury, but he appears to be nearing a return. According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the plan is for Williams to practice today in Miami, and, assuming things go well, he’ll suit up on Saturday against the Heat.

“After being out for a while, I just want to check all the boxes, so to speak,” Williams said Thursday. “A lot of injuries happen when guys are trying to rush back more than anything, so I’m just trying to be careful in that aspect.

“You guys know I’ve dealt with my fair share of injuries already, so I’m doing what I can to prevent what I can. The knee itself feels good; the quad tendon feels good. I want to get back knowing we’re in the homestretch of the regular season. I want to be able to be full-go swinging by the time we get to that play-in tournament.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Guard Coby White erupted for a career-high 44 points in Thursday’s comeback victory in Orlando, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. White scored the team’s final nine points and recorded 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Centers Zach Collins and Jalen Smith fouled out in the fourth quarter yesterday, but recent draft picks Matas Buzelis and Julian Phillips stepped up late against a physical Orlando frontcourt, per Cowley. “Whatever it takes to get the win, honestly, and that’s what we had to do,” Buzelis said. “We had to be physical, dive on the floor, run in transition, and whatever we had to do. I’m proud of that, and I’m proud of Ju for sure.”
In another story for The Sun-Times, Cowley examines a few key questions facing the Bulls following the news of Ayo Dosunmu‘s season-ending shoulder surgery. Cowley believes Dosunmu’s injury could increase White’s trade value this offseason, perhaps making the team more likely to deal 2023/24’s runner-up for Most Improved Player.
In a column for The Chicago Tribune, Poe argues that another play-in berth for the Bulls feels all but inevitable. As Poe writes, Chicago has a 3.5-game lead on Brooklyn and Philadelphia and is 4.5 games up on Toronto for the final play-in spot with 19 games remaining on the team’s schedule. While things could certainly change, as all four teams have struggled lately, the Bulls’ reluctance to embrace a tanking season will likely come back to bite them when the draft lottery rolls around, Poe opines.

Central Notes: Dosunmu, Walker, Jerome, Pistons

March 5th, 2025 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, who was scheduled to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday, said on Tuesday that he’s still not sure when the initial injury – a fracture along the back side of his left shoulder – occurred, according to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.

“It is kind of bizarre just knowing that there was a fracture there,” Dosunmu said. “It was something that I played on — and I think I could have continued to play on. But I don’t know, for whatever reason the last time (he aggravated the injury), it probably knocked it out in a different way, because it was a different pain than I previously felt.”

Dosunmu will be entering the final year of his current contract in 2025/26 as he comes back from his procedure on his shoulder. As Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times observes, that would be a stressful situation for many NBA players, but the Bulls guard welcomes the challenge of returning from this injury, having a big contract year, and helping the team take a step forward.

“I thrive in situations like that,” Dosunmu said. “I thrive in adversity, proving people wrong, wherever the doubters may be. . . . I’m excited for the rehab process. Like I said, taking it one day at a time. Just looking at it as a blessing in disguise.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Pacers forward Jarace Walker, who hasn’t been part of the rotation for the past month, continues to handle his demotion admirably, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. As Dopirak details, the former eighth overall pick hadn’t been assigned to the G League all season before this week, but welcomed the opportunity to suit up for the Indiana Mad Ants and see legitimate game action on Monday. “I’m not gonna lie, I was excited,” said Walker, who ended up posting a triple-double (20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists) for the Pacers’ G League affiliate. “Any time I can work on my game, hoop, have fun, still be with the guys, it’s a good experience for me. I had a great time. It was kind of a no-brainer.”
In a subscriber-only story for Cleveland.com, Chris Fedor considers whether the Cavaliers can – and will – re-sign Ty Jerome when he reaches free agency this summer following a breakout season. As Fedor writes, the Cavs are headed into apron territory next season, but will have the ability to make Jerome a competitive offer using his Early Bird rights if they’re comfortable further increasing their team salary.
The Pistons‘ decision to bring in Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. as veteran leaders last summer has paid major dividends. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press takes a closer look at the positive impact the “Uncle T’s” have had in Detroit’s locker room this season.

Eastern Notes: Quickley, Holiday, D-Lo, Harris, Dosunmu

March 3rd, 2025 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The five-year, $162.5MM contract that Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley signed in free agency last July was viewed by several fans and analysts at the time as an overpay. It hasn’t become any more team-friendly over the course of this season as Quickley has battled one injury after another and has seen his production decline a little even when he’s been healthy.

However, the 25-year-old provided a reminder in Sunday’s win over Orlando of what he’s capable of, scoring 17 of his team-high 24 points (and handing out a pair of assists) during a five-minute barrage at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth to help seal the victory, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. While Quickley was happy about his performance, he disagreed with the notion that it will help build confidence for him going forward, Grange adds.

“Confidence is also a choice, a decision,” Quickley said. “Mindset is choice, confidence is choice. I try not to think like that. That’s how I used to think early in my career. And I’ve kind found out elite players don’t think like that. They don’t think that good plays give them confidence, or bad plays don’t give them confidence. Confidence is a choice. You choose confidence.”

It has been a fairly forgettable season overall for Quickley, but the Raptors remain confident that he can be an elite point guard, according to Grange, who notes that Sunday’s outburst was one of the few times this year that he has looked the part.

“That stretch in the third (and fourth) quarter, he was our engine,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He was getting us organized, he was touching the paint, he was scoring. He did a lot for us there and he was really efficient, everything came on the move, everything came with a minimum number of dribbles and when he plays that way, efficiently, it’s good for the whole team.”

Here’s more from around the East:

Veteran guard Jrue Holiday has missed the Celtics‘ past two games due to an injury known as mallet finger. Although his right pinky finger is technically broken, Holiday won’t require surgery and will aim to eventually play through the injury, which is keeping him on the shelf for now, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. “Trying to figure out — I’m going to be in a splint for a minute but figuring that out since it’s on my shooting hand,” Holiday said. “… I mean, I’m shooting, dribbling, catching, it’s probably all pretty weird or, I mean, honestly, inconvenient. I haven’t tried so far to catch a ball because of the pain, but I will soon.”
Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell, who has missed the past five games due to a sprained right ankle, is no longer on the team’s injury report, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. That’s an indication Russell will be active on Tuesday in San Antonio.
Pistons forward Tobias Harris is unavailable for personal reasons as Detroit opens a four-game road trip in Utah on Monday, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link).
Ayo Dosunmu‘s shoulder issue, which will require season-ending surgery, is an old injury that was discovered via imaging, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network. Although the Bulls guard aggravated it when he sustained a shoulder stinger vs. New York on Feb. 20, he’s not sure when the initial injury occurred, Johnson adds (Twitter link).

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