Zach LaVine was expected to stay back in Chicago when the Bulls leave for a two-day road trip to take on the 76ers and the Knicks.
Don’t expect the two-time All-Star to have a lot of downtime, however.
According to coach Billy Donovan, LaVine has gotten through the cutting and running portions of his rehabilitation from a sore right foot, and the next step will be taking contact in simulated practices with members of the player development staff.
“It’s not necessarily that he can’t get into the weight room (on the road), it’s more about the fact of the availability of the gym and the running, keeping some player development people back and giving him more and more extended workouts where he’ll get a chance to do a little more contact, running, sprinting, those types of things,” Donovan said on Saturday. “I think they’ve ramped him up pretty good as far as the conditioning part. He’s responded well. The next phase to this would be him starting to do some contact. I would envision him staying behind and working.”
Then what?
As long as LaVine is still a Bull and not traded – which seems more and more likely for at least another month – he could be ready to return by late next week if everything goes well.
In fact, it sounded like LaVine would possibly be on track to return before Nikola Vucevic.
The big man missed his third straight game with a groin injury, and was only getting shots up in shootarounds and practices.
Donovan even went as far as to already rule him out for the Tuesday game in Philadelphia.
“I would say it’s definitely not in the realm of possibility, no,” Donovan said. “That’s my guess right now. (Vucevic) hasn’t even done anything as far as running or sprinting as of now. There will be a ramp up period, but I also know that when guys have been out for a period of time the first thing the medical guys worry about is one, getting the guy back healthy, but two, what kind of ramp up period do they need based on what they’ve lost physically in terms of the conditioning piece?”
Mid-range maestro II
No player in the NBA has mastered the mid-range shot like DeMar DeRozan, and while Patrick Williams knows DeRozan is one of a kind, he’s at least making sure that shot stays in his bag.
He’s continued showcasing that more and more this season.
“I’ve always felt most comfortable in the mid range area, working on getting all the way to the rim and getting fouled that way,” Williams said. “Never want to settle for that shot because a lot of teams want you to shoot that, but always knowing it’s always a spot I can get to, create for myself and others.”
December was arguably one of the best months of Williams’ career, hitting 20-plus points three times, as well as shooting 51.9% from the field.
Minute men
Donovan acknowledged that he was concerned with the high minutes he’s been playing DeRozan lately, but until the roster gets back to full strength there’s not a lot the coach can realistically do about it, especially with DeRozan continually telling him that he feels fine.
DeRozan entered the game against Philadelphia second in the league in total minutes played (1,136.1) – teammate Coby White was first with 1,150.9 minutes played – and doing so at the age of 34.
The other player that’s concerned Donovan was Alex Caruso, specifically because the team came into the season wanting to keep him around 26 minutes per game. Over the last six games, however, Caruso was averaging 29 minutes per game.