Two days after picking up their first win of the season, the Chicago Bulls have some bad news.
Lauri Markkanen, Tomas Satornasky, Chandler Hutchison, and Ryan Arcidiacono will all be out for today’s game against the Wizards due to the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols. The expectation is that all four will miss Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, as well.
Billy Donovan confirms that Lauri Markkanen, Ryan Arcidiacono, Tomas Satoransky, and Chandler Hutchison are OUT today vs. Washington.
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 31, 2020
With a back-to-back vs. Bucks Friday, Donovan said it’s possible these four will be out tomorrow. https://t.co/oIgCRuSaQl
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 31, 2020
Donovan said it’s unclear as of now whether Markkanen, Hutchison, Arcidiacono and Satoransky will be allowed to travel with the Bulls postgame.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 31, 2020
Head coach Billy Donovan did not provide much more information than that, which isn’t all that surprising considering he took a similar tight-lipped approach during the preseason when Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky, Devon Dotson, and Luke Kornet all experienced time away from the team for the same reason.
What we can assume this means is that either (1) someone/a group of players tested positive, (2) someone/a group of players tested inconclusive, or (2) someone/a group of players had close contact with someone who tested positive/inconclusive. Whatever the exact cause is, it was listed in the NBA’s rules and regulations that it was worthy of immediately removing these players from team activities.
For the rest of the roster, I’m sure this feels like a pretty harsh blow. Hutchison and Arcidiacono may not have been definitive rotation players, but both add to the Bulls solid depth. Meanwhile, Markkanen and Satoransky have both been instrumental in helping steer this new-look offense in the right direction each game. Markkanen has been the team’s second-leading scorer through its first four games and Satoransky has dished out an average of 6.0 assists over his first three games. Satoransky, specifically, also missed time earlier this month due to the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols, and it forced him to miss the Bulls’ final two preseason games (and, ultimately, their first regular-season contest because he wasn’t yet caught up to speed).
I’m not quite sure how the Bulls will respond to this roster-hit over the next couple of games, but there is no question this afternoon’s matchup against the Wizards just got that much more difficult.