MIAMI — In the season opener against the Heat, Alex Caruso got the start in place of Zach LaVine.
The plan for Friday against the Wizards? It’s a wait-and see.
Ayo Dosunmu earned the start at point guard in place of Lonzo Ball (left knee). Will the second-year player hold up through the month or even the next week? That’s another wait-and-see.
The plan for Thursday was to have LaVine (left knee) work out when the team practices in Washington, but how much will he be able to do?
That’s right, a wait-and-see.
So much for the organization’s “continuity’’ plan.
Unfortunately for Bulls coach Billy Donovan, it’ll be his responsibility to clean up the mess.
“Some of the stuff is unfortunate, and anytime you’ve got players out — not just our team, any team — it hurts,’’ Donovan said. “But we’re still going to have to play games with some of these things going on. The continuity is not ideal, but from a coaching perspective, we’ve got to play to an identity.’’
That’s how Donovan is approaching life with question marks surrounding Ball and LaVine to start the season. He won’t get overly concerned with players as much as establishing a team identity.
But identities are built through practices, and with LaVine’s ability to practice from day to day unknown and with no definite timeline for Ball to come back, how much can actually get done in these practices?
Donovan has installed the foundation pieces of his offense and defense but admittedly has a lot to build out in both aspects.
“It’s just the way it is,’’ Donovan said. “I feel like it’s my responsibility and my job that whoever the next person is that has to step in for Zach, we’ve got to play to a certain style on both ends of the floor. Listen, you’re talking about a guy [in LaVine] that gets 27 points per game, shoots over 40% from three and is an NBA All-Star. I can’t ask any of those guys to replace him, but regardless of if he’s there or not, can we play how we know we need to play to put ourselves in the best position to play with the best teams?’’
Heads up
Veteran DeMar DeRozan made sure his teammates weren’t sulking in the wake of the injury-management news on LaVine.
DeRozan admitted that it would be easy for his teammates to fall into the woe-is-us trap, especially after all the injuries last season, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“You can’t hold your head down at all,’’ DeRozan said. “Nothing ever goes as ideal as you want it to go. That’s just part of life.
‘‘We’re a team, and everyone has to have the approach that nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and we’re not looking for anyone to feel sorry for us.’’
Expected outcome
Reserve guard Coby White saw the deadline for an extension on his rookie contract come and go Monday, making him a restricted free agent at the end of the season. It was a scenario that White expected to see play out that way.
“I wasn’t really focused on that,’’ White said. “Just play this year out. I put in a lot of work this summer, so let my work show, and take it from there.’’
