Jim Boylen told reporters Friday afternoon that Chandler Hutchison will play tonight for the Windy City Bulls.
Jim Boylen said Chandler Hutchison will play in G League tonight.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 3, 2020
Hutchison has been sidelined since suffering a shoulder injury two minutes into the Bulls game against the Golden State Warriors on November 27th. Since then, he has missed 16 games and watched his team go 7-9 over that stretch.
As the only true small forward behind Otto Porter on the roster, the expectation heading into the season was to see Hutchison play a big role as a member of the second unit. The start of his season was already delayed due to a hamstring injury, then when he returned, he saw a sudden increase to his expected role, thanks to Otto Porter’s foot foot injury. The second-year forward started five-straight games over mid-November before falling victim to shin splits. Sidelined for three more games, Hutchison returned only to hurt his shoulder two games later.
Talk about a rough start to your NBA career. Hutchison has now missed 70 of the Bulls 117 games since he joined the team (missed 44 games last season).
Hutchison showed glimpses of productivity over his brief time on the court this season, but what he can really offer up (and how long he can stay healthy) remains up for debate. The fact that he’s shown more promise defensively and crashing the glass doesn’t exactly help the Bulls right now, who are actually doing well on that end of the court, while looking for massive help on the offensive end. But, regardless, the Bulls are beginning arguably the toughest month of their season, and Hutchison would be a welcomed addition to the bench to boost the poor wing depth.
Tonight will be a good test to see how prepared Hutchison is for the grueling Bulls schedule that lies ahead.
Also, for what it’s worth, Cristiano Felicio is also playing in tonight’s G-League game.
Windy City Bulls, with @MarkSchanowski on the call, will play with Chandler Hutchison and Cristiano Felicio tonight. https://t.co/vlBmXW7SWb
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 3, 2020