Bulls lose Wendell Carter Jr. for the summer with a core-muscle injury

The development of big man Wendell Carter Jr. hit yet another snag Wednesday when the Bulls announced he will have surgery to repair a core-muscle injury.

The procedure will be performed Tuesday in Philadelphia, and the Bulls expect to have Carter up and running by the start of training camp in late September. But he will miss the Summer League and won’t be able to practice with the team during the summer.

This will be the second surgery Carter, whom the Bulls selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft, has had since January. He tore ligaments in his left hand during a game against the Lakers, had surgery and ended up missing the rest of the season.

Carter averaged 10.3 points and seven rebounds in 44 games before the hand injury. All reports indicated that the hand was completely healed and that Carter had taken some big steps forward in his game.

There had been some excitement heading into the Summer League, with Carter, a healthy Chandler Hutchison and recently drafted first-rounder Coby White expected to play together in Las Vegas. Now second-round pick Daniel Gafford can expect some extended playing time in the middle.

If Carter still isn’t completely healthy by the time camp starts, at least the Bulls have options. Besides drafting Gafford, the Bulls signed 7-1 center Luke Kornet and still have Cristiano Felicio. Lauri Markkanen also is expected to play center more often, especially when coach Jim Boylen goes small.

NOTE: The Bulls made changes to their coaching staff official by announcing the hiring of Chris Fleming and Roy Rogers as assistants. The two join Nate Loenser, Dean Cooper, Shawn Respert and Karen Stack.

Paul Miller was named assistant to Boylen, and Chris Kent was named video coordinator.