Second-year Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro continues to recover from the strained left hamstring that has caused him to sit for seven straight games. A source tells Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that, provided he continues trending in the right direction, Okoro could be in line for a return as soon as Wednesday against the Wizards.
Fedor adds that Okoro could merit consideration as Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff‘s choice to replace injured guard Collin Sexton in the club’s starting lineup. Sexton will be sidelined for a while with a meniscus tear. The Cavaliers have not yet determined a timeline for Sexton’s recuperation, as that hinges on whether or not the tear will need to be surgically repaired.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Rookie Bulls shooting guard Ayo Dosunmu, the No. 38 pick in the 2021 draft out of Illinois, has carved out serious rotation minutes for a depleted roster so far. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders just how long Dosunmu will be able to stick in Chicago’s lineup. Cowley notes that Dosunmu has displaced swingman Troy Brown Jr., the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft out of Oregon, in the club’s rotation. Dosunmu has averaged 17.8 MPG across the team’s last five contests. ‘‘He’s got the ‘it’ factor,” head coach Billy Donovan raved. ‘‘And he’s got a great drive. He’s incredibly motivated.”
- The Bulls have announced (via Twitter) that they have assigned third-year combo guard Coby White to their NBA G League club, the Windy City Bulls. White suffered a left shoulder injury that ultimately required surgery over the summer, and has yet to play in a game this season for a revamped Chicago roster.
- Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is taking the long view when it comes to determining a recovery timeline for small forward T.J. Warren, according to James Boyd of Yahoo Sports. Warren has missed all but four games of the last two seasons due to a left foot injury. “I know that there’s some stuff out there that’s talking about a timeline for him to return possibly late December or January,” Carlisle said. “This has turned into more of a long-term thing. I just think it’s unfair to an athlete, you know, to be put up against a timeline like this. He’s doing phenomenally well compared to where he was nine or 10 weeks ago.”
When Coby White comes back, the Bulls will have to choose between White and Dosunmu for minutes. Only four guards can get minutes. LaVine, Ball and Caruso have to play. So either White or Dosunmu will play and the other will be the odd man out.
White is behind Ball, Lavine, Caruso, Green, Ayo and probably Brown. He’s trade bait, Not a vital cog by any means.
Only four guards can get minutes? Says who? They can do a 3 guard line up off the bench.
Say the Coby White haters who need to justify their narrative lol
Agree with you. Coby White is a good player. Just have to accept White for what he is. White isn’t Donovan Mitchell or Bradley Beal but can score and hustle. IMO the Bulls wouldn’t have meaningful minutes of floor time for both Domusnu and White. It is a given that LaVine, Ball and Caruso will play.
Go Cavs!
Having watched Ayo the last 2 years at Illinois, I knew that he could almost do everything. Run the team, Play tough D, pass the ball. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was if he had a decent long range jumper with 3 point range. Question answered. The Bulls did not match up well with Philly because Embid and Drummond just wore them out. Vujevic can’t really guard either of them. Hopefully, they can steal Kofi Cockburn this year. 7 foot, 290 rebounding machine to butt heads with those types. Bradley isn’t really the answer either against them.
DeRozan is versatile enough to slide to 4 when needed and Donovan tends to use rotations to emphasize matchup strengths, so no, White can get minutes. The question is if Dosunmu will keep up the level of play. In that case they might be inclined to trade White for a true PF which is all they are missing right now. But that scoring punch off the bench is important, and btw Green is not a key rotation piece, the role he has been asked to play is being better filled by Derrick Jones Jr. I suspect they may just wait it out and see if any veteran bigs get waived later this year. I think they have an open roster slot?
I suspect the braintrust wants Derozan to play the 4, as did Popovich, to get those favorable matchups… and that’s why they shorted that position intentionally. Derozan may not like it but what can he do.
Vucevic, thus exposed alongside a small 4, swill continue to struggle and present the appearance of not being big enough.
( That’s what happens when your first team gives up on you for the rebuild!)