NEWSLETTER
Who knows what to believe anymore?
Only a day after head coach Jim Boylen said the Bulls were going to slow Chandler Hutchison down a little, the second-year forward told the media he’d be ready to go for Sunday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
Here’s what NBC Chicago Sports K.C. Johnson shared yesterday:
Chandler Hutchison said he feels great, healthy, ready to go. Said plan is to play Sunday in Indy. Will run that by Boylen, who yesterday said Bulls had to “slow him down a little.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 2, 2019
I don’t know what the disconnect is here, but how does he go from “no timetable for return” one day to ready to go the next?
Anyway, it appears he ran his health status update by Boylen, who told Johnson that Hutchison will be re-evaluated sometime before today’s game.
We also got a bit more detail on what Hutchison’s injury actually was. According to Johnson, he suffered a Grade 3 hamstring strain and it happened on a non-contact play during the team’s first voluntary workout in September.
Hutchison has missed nine weeks of action, and (I’ll say it again whether you believe it or not) he’d be a welcomed sight for a team that’s struggled defensively and on the glass. He may not have had the most exciting rookie season, but he still hauled in 4.2 rebounds per game. He also finished 8th on the team in defensive rebounding despite only playing 44 games.
Like it or not, the Bulls could use that. Having Hutchison back would mean (hopefully) the end of the Bulls three-guard rotation featuring Kris Dunn, Coby White, and Ryan Arcidiacono, a combination that is -12.1 in the rebounding department through roughy 59 total minutes on the court.
If Hutchison doesn’t return tonight, the Bulls should still be getting some help on the boards … thanks to the Pacers.
Indiana could have both of their starting big men, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, out for tonight’s matchup. The Bulls will definitely avoid Turner, who suffered an ankle injury earlier this week and is now listed as week-to-week. But Sabonis is a game-time decision after suffering a calf contusion.
Domantas Sabonis has a calf contusion and did not practice today, per Coach Nate McMillan. He’ll be a game-time decision tomorrow against the Bulls.
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 2, 2019
Considering how we’ve seen the Bulls frontcourt struggle to find consistency (mainly looking at you Lauri Markkanen), this could surprisingly lead to a solid rebounding performance.
