NEWSLETTER
In case you forgot we’re still in the preseason, tonight’s Bulls lineup will happily remind you.
According to The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry, the Bulls will be resting Tomas Satoransky, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter Jr. and Thaddeus Young. Major Bummer.
The rest is all part of the plan for Boylen though, who’s reportedly been careful about his player’s usage behind the scenes as well.
Chicago's preseason schedule has mandated the Bulls play four games in seven days on the heels of a voluntary but strenuous September mini-camp. Bulls coach Jim Boylen has been mindful of the early workload and built in rest for his regulars, both in practices and in games.
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) October 11, 2019
The roster will also continue to miss Wendell Carter Jr. (despite practicing fully yesterday), Chandler Hutchison, and Shaquille Harrison.
Mayberry reports Carter Jr. should be making his preseason debut this Sunday against the Toronto Raptors on the road, “barring any setbacks.” Unfortunately, when it comes to the health of the Bulls big man, “setbacks” might as well be his middle name. After tonight, the Bulls will only have two more opportunities to get Carter Jr. on the court before the regular season, so let’s hope he can make it to Sunday.
The plan is to utilize a lineup and rotation closer to the one we'll see in the regular season on Sunday at Toronto and in the preseason finale at home against Atlanta on Thursday.
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) October 11, 2019
As for Hutchison and Harrison (both suffering a hamstring problem), we haven’t heard any major updates. Hutchison participated in limited practice recently, but Harrison has remained sidelined.
Well, at least with all these absences on the court tonight, we get this:
Coby vs. Everyone https://t.co/rzcTo0S8FQ
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 11, 2019
Over the course of these first two preseason games, Coby White has played a team-high in minutes. He was on the court for 25 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks and 27 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans. White has certainly shown decent progress over his first two games, but tonight he’ll really get an opportunity to look like the best player on the court (for Chicago, at least).
I do want to point out that the offense may well run through White a lot this evening, and it’ll be important to separate how well he’s doing with the personnel around him. He may might look bad at times, but there is also a good chance it has more to do with the players around him than his individual performance/contributions.
Anyway, give me some #CobyContent! Let’s go!
