9:19pm: The Bulls have provided an update on Carter, announcing that he is expected to be on the shelf for four-to-six weeks due to a severe right ankle sprain. If he misses a full six weeks, Carter won’t be back in Chicago’s lineup until after the All-Star break.
4:17pm: The Bulls are expected to be without second-year big man Wendell Carter Jr. for multiple weeks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that an MRI revealed a high right ankle sprain for Carter.
The team has yet to issue an official update of its own, and Charania notes that Carter will be evaluated daily. However, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago also hears that it’s a “serious” sprain for Carter and that the injury will be a week-to-week issue rather than a day-to-day one.
Although Carter is only 20 years old, he has been a stabilizing presence in Chicago’s frontcourt, nearly averaging a double-double (11.7 PPG, 9.9 RPG) and anchoring a surprisingly strong defense.
With Carter starting the club’s first 37 games and averaging 30.0 minutes per contest, the Bulls have the eighth-best defense rating in the NBA. The team clearly missed him on Wednesday, surrendering 123 points and recording a 120.6 defensive rating vs. the Pelicans.
With Carter on the shelf, it appears the Bulls will roll with Thaddeus Young as a frontcourt starter alongside Lauri Markkanen. Rookie Daniel Gafford should also see an increase in playing time, with little-used center Luke Kornet perhaps getting a longer look as well.
Sucks for my fantasy team….
I don’t know why I’m a bulls fan anymore. Season after season of failures and injuries.
I’m a wolves fan… I might know your pain… at least we don’t follow the Knicks!
He is the best player on the team. Gafford ain’t bad, so silver lining is he will get some experience. This is going to make it very hard to watch for the rest of the season. No Porter, no Carter, and Boyboy the world’s most confused coach. I hope this doesn’t mean Kornet or Fellatio get extra playing time.
LOL no. Carter is arguably better than Markkanen consistently but LaVine is by far the best player on the Bulls. It’s a ridiculous take to say otherwise. I watch every game. He’s improved his defense and while he’s not a defensive plus, he’s really not that bad defensively this year. His DBPM is only -.6. And offensively LaVine is light years ahead of anyone else on the Bulls.
The on-off splits like WCJ a lot, and that’s with the caveat that Boylen hasn’t been using him properly all season.
So while LaVine may be more valuable to the team now, I’d expect WCJ to surpass him at some point, most likely when Boylen is eventually replaced.
Wendell is never going to average more than 17 points per game, if that. Defensively he’s pretty good but he’s still an undersized center. If he improves his 3 point shooting, he’ll have a long career as a solid center. But he’s never going to be an All Star. Let’s be real here.
If you think PPG is a good measure of a player’s value I have one Carmelo Anthony to sell to you.
Wow I seem to have sparked the most interesting Bulls discussion of the year here. Certainly more interesting than endless trashing of GaaaaarPaxxxx.