NBA’s New Health and Safety Protocols, a Full Roster, and Other Bulls Bullets

Is Black Friday just Cyber Monday this year? If so, what deals are better? I bought some gifts online yesterday, but are those prices just about to drop even more on Monday? I need answers!

•   It’s all fun and games until someone gets COVID (#ThingsYouSayIn2020). While basketball fans are all smiles with the season under one month away, I have to assume Adam Silver is feeling a bit queasy. The league has made the tough decision to push through with the 2020-21 season even sooner than some expected. The pandemic will very much rage on when the season begins on December 22nd and this time there is no bubble to keep everyone safe. Instead, the league will have to rely much more on the honor system, luck, and the 134-pages worth of protocols. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced that the league sent out a new Health and Safety Protocol Guide to everyone around the league this morning. Additionally, daily testing will begin today as teams look to start training camp this upcoming week.

•   I’m sure the league office has kept a watchful eye on how other professional sports leagues have managed the virus, and I’m also sure they hope to manage it a lot better. While the MLB and NFL have been able to push through their respective seasons, neither have made it through anywhere close to unscathed. The NBA is arguably the most well-run league, but it’s hard to imagine they can get through an entire season without some kind of virus scare. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps did say, though, that the league is expecting this to be the outcome and the occurrence of “independent cases” will not lead to a full-blown league shut down. Also, the league has made it clear that they will release their schedule in two parts. The thought behind this is that any games that must be canceled before the All-Star break can then be rescheduled afterward. The goal is to play a total of 72 games.

•   Another season … another hotline! I’m not saying Zach LaVine should highly consider calling the hotline when the Bulls play Dallas to report Luka Doncic for throwing his mask away and eating an Italian beef off the floor in the streets of Chicago, but I’m also not not saying that.

•   The Chicago Bulls finally announced the signing of veteran guard Garrett Temple. Considering the two sides reportedly reached a deal on the opening day of free agency, I’m not sure what the hold-up was. Maybe it just took a while to get his physical in? Who knows. Regardless, with Temple and No. 4 pick Patrick Williams in the mix, it puts the team at 15-guaranteed contracts for the 2020-21 season. Whether or not those 15 contracts remain the same at the start of the season is the real question. The team reportedly signed both Noah Vonleh and Zach Norvell to one-year deals, both of which are expected to be partially or non-guaranteed training camp contracts. If either performs well enough, though, who’s to say the new front office doesn’t make room for them on the roster?

•   Give me all the Zach LaVine hype videos.

https://twitter.com/ZachLaVine/status/1332499428289208320?s=20

•   I spot a GOAT.

https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1332483573002080256?s=20

•   The NBA’s play-in tournament will feature seeds 7-10 this season, can the Bulls make the cut? It’ll be a lot easier said than done.

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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