CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The situation with Bulls guard Zach LaVine’s injured right foot isn’t getting any better.
He’s scheduled to be re-evaluated at the end of this week to determine a more definitive timetable, but that doesn’t mean he’s any closer to returning anytime soon.
That’s not good for the Bulls in the standings, and it’s definitely not good for LaVine’s trade value, which wasn’t high in the first place.
“I don’t want to put a timetable on it,” coach Billy Donovan reiterated Wednesday. “The issue is it’s the ankle and the foot. I think the ankle has healed up pretty well. I think he’s still dealing with some foot discomfort. That’s the concerning part.”
It’s not the only concern Donovan and the coaching staff are dealing with.
Second-year wing Dalen Terry stayed in Chicago with LaVine to get treatment on a sprained ankle, but at least Terry has some light at the end of the tunnel.
His MRI exam came back clean late Tuesday, and Donovan exchanged text messages with him before the game Wednesday against the Hornets and felt a bit more optimistic.
“He said he thought he would be fine other than his ankle being landed on when he went in for that layup [in the loss to the Raptors],” Donovan said. “He didn’t really have any swelling, so responded pretty well. There’s a hope he’ll be back relatively soon.”
If Donovan was looking for truly positive news on the injury front, that came with Torrey Craig, who has been out with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Like Patrick Williams (left foot), Craig was with the team in Charlotte and got in an early-afternoon workout with the player-development staff and some of the bench players. As long as there are no setbacks, the plan is to get Craig into contact practices in the next couple of days, possibly having him ready to go Saturday or Tuesday at the latest.
“Our hope is somewhere in those four days of being able to practice, we’ll have a good pulse, but he’s certainly very close, I would say that,” Donovan said.
Plastic man
There’s definitely some Stacey Augmon in rookie Julian Phillips’ game, especially how he can contort his wiry frame through traffic.
That’s not all that has jumped out to Donovan, though.
“He’s got a really good instinct and knack of when to cut, where to cut to, when to space,” Donovan said. “He can get into these spaces and kind of contort his body. He’s got good body control. He can finish. He had that before he came here.
“I’ve seen players that have come in, and they’re young and they have a really hard time understanding when to cut and that kind of stuff. Then there’s guys that are really good at it. Julian instinctively has that.”
Decisions, decisions
The Bulls now will have the opportunity to miss out on draft picks for two straight nights rather than just one.
The NBA on Wednesday expanded the 2024 draft into a two-night event in New York on June 26 and 27. The first round will remain at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn; Round 2 will move to ESPN’s Seaport District studios in Manhattan. Round 1 still will have five minutes between picks; Round 2 will go from two minutes to four.
