Bulls looking to upsize on West Coast trip with Torrey Craig's return

SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Bulls have been playing short-handed in the frontcourt for some time and, in some rotations, just playing flat short.

Help might be on the way on this four-city West Coast trip, however.

Forward Torrey Craig, who has been out since the All-Star break with a sprained right knee, continued to ramp up his activity with the training staff. He got individual work during the Bulls’ shootaround early Monday.

While coach Billy Donovan couldn’t point to when Craig might be available, it sounded sooner than later.

‘‘He’s moving in a really good direction,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I don’t know about this road trip, [but] it’s not out of the question. A lot of it depends on how he continues to progress, but I think the medical guys are pretty optimistic of where he is at this point and time, so he’s definitely progressing closer and closer to playing.’’

What the Bulls have to be careful with will be his minutes.

Before this injury, Craig missed more than six weeks with plantar fasciitis. He came back for six games entering the break, then sprained the knee.

‘‘In my conversation with the medical staff, it will definitely be a minute restriction — and a pretty strong one — as he works his way back,’’ Donovan said.

While Craig doesn’t give the Bulls much punch in the scoring department, he does provide a little three-point shooting (37.4% this season) and a key wing defender to put on opposing forwards. With Patrick Williams (surgery on left foot) lost for the season, the Bulls have been very thin in that department, with Donovan leaning on guard Alex Caruso and his jumbo lineup of Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond.

Vucevic and Drummond have found some success against bigger lineups, but the Bulls have been exposed when they’ve had to face athletic power forwards.

The hope is that Craig might be ready for the back end of the Bulls’ back-to-back Thursday, getting some playing time against the Warriors.

Eyes forward

Donovan has been around long enough to know the Bulls would need a team ahead of them in the standings to collapse for them to jump from the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference. Entering their game Monday against the Kings, the Bulls trailed the Pacers by five games and the Heat by six.

‘‘We talked about that the other day at practice,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘The biggest thing for how much we can move up or move down is predicated on how well we play or don’t play.

‘‘If you’re fortunate to get into a situation where you’re able to have the opportunity to play after the regular season is over with, [do you want] to cruise into that or glide into that? You want to be playing well at that time of year. I’m not personally watching that [other] stuff.’’

The Bulls have two more games against the Pacers but are in a spot where they would need a lot of help.

‘‘The biggest thing we have to do — and I know it sounds cliché — we have to worry about ourselves,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘We can only control what’s in front of us. This road trip is going to be really challenging. We don’t need to be watching what’s going on around the league at this point.’’

Williams update

The Bulls are hoping to get a more definite timetable on Williams after his foot surgery Wednesday.

Williams spoke with the media last week and said his goal is to be ready for full activity by July.