Undermanned Bulls use hardship exception to bring back Javonte Green

Javonte Green has a very specific job description.

“He’s got a motor; he’s got energy,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Saturday. “I talked to him about this. He just has to be ready to go out and play, do what he does.”

But Green wasn’t promised a certain number of minutes or any playing time at all. The Bulls signed him to a 10-day contract as a hardship exception because of all the injuries they’ve been dealing with and because they have a certain amount of familiarity with Green, who was a Bull the previous three seasons.

“Just be myself,” Green told reporters of his latest opportunity. “Obviously, the Bulls know what I bring to the table.”

Green played in 113 games, including 46 starts, for the Bulls after he was acquired from the Celtics in the 2020-21 season.

He suffered a knee injury last season, however, and it took much longer to recover from it than first thought. That’s why he found himself without a team in free agency, eventually ending up with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League.

Green came to the game between the Bulls and Warriors earlier this month, surprising his former teammates afterward in the locker room, and now he’ll no longer have to make unannounced visits.

“Having another body with some of the things we’ve had to deal with, especially at that wing spot, just to bring him in,” Donovan said of the move. “Obviously, he was coming off dealing with his knee last summer and the familiarity piece with the players, with the staff. Things have changed some, but he’ll be able to pick those things up. I trust his energy as far as throwing him in there.

“Like I told him, it’s not a situation where I carved out a role for him. He just needs to be ready when an opportunity calls.”

Foot work

The Bulls haven’t had the best of luck with injured feet and walking boots this season, already losing Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams to surgeries.

Now they find themselves playing the guessing game with rookie Julian Phillips, who was still in a walking boot with a sprained right foot.

He was expected to be re-evaluated soon but with no promises.

“A lot of it is going to be where the pain level is at,” Donovan said. “He’s been in a boot to take away some of the discomfort. I think that’s kind of gone away. From where it was, it’s gotten better, but we’re not going to know anything until he can actually get back on the floor and see what happens with him physically. There’s still some uncertainty on, OK, how does he respond once he gets out of the boot? Does he have setbacks? We don’t know that.”

Phillips has played in 40 games (eight minutes per game).

Next man up

With the Bulls still playing short-handed and Jevon Carter barely getting playing time, second-year swingman Dalen Terry has seen his minutes get a bump.

Terry started the month playing single-digit minutes the first four games, but since then, he has played 13 against the Clippers, 19 against the Wizards, 15 against the Trail Blazers and 17 against the Rockets. He played 20 minutes Saturday against the Celtics.