JANUARY 26: Jones will be evaluated “in about a week” to determine whether he can play while wearing the splint on his right index finger, according to coach Billy Donovan, as Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago relays (via Twitter). The Bulls said in their press release that Jones could return to action sooner than six-to-eight weeks if he’s able to play with the splint, Schaefer notes.
JANUARY 25: During a workout at the Bulls practice facility while rehabbing from a bone bruise in his right knee, Chicago reserve forward Derrick Jones Jr. broke his right index finger, the team has announced.
Chicago adds that Jones will be unavailable for approximately the next six-to-eight weeks. The fractured digit is currently in a splint. Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago notes that Jones has injured his non-shooting hand.
Jones was two weeks into his recovery from the bone bruise, and had been projected to return in another two-to-four weeks prior to fracturing his finger. In 31 games this season, Jones is averaging fairly modest counting stats of 6.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG across 17.2 MPG for the Bulls. He is also connecting on a career-best 40.5% of his 1.2 three-point attempts per game. The numbers belie the true extent of his impact for Chicago.
His extreme athleticism and 7′ wingspan have made Jones a versatile defender off the bench for the Bulls. The springy 6’5″ forward, still just 24, has emerged as an intriguing small-ball center option for head coach Billy Donovan in certain Chicago lineups.
The injury woes continue for Chicago. Though All-Star shooting guard Zach LaVine and power forward Javonte Green recently returned to the team’s lineup in a 111-110 victory over the Thunder after their own injury absences, several Bulls players remain sidelined with long-term ailments. Guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso just underwent surgeries and will also be unavailable for at least the next six weeks of games. Starting power forward Patrick Williams has missed all but five games this season with a dislocated wrist, and will return at the earliest in April.
Jones and his expiring $9.7MM contract were viewed as favorable trade fodder for the Bulls. Were the Bulls to try to offload a young player on a rookie deal for a veteran upgrade as the NBA nears the February 10 trade deadline, Jones could be used to match salaries. With his fate for the next two months now more bleak, it will be interesting to see how this impacts the roster construction choices of Chicago president Arturas Karnisovas and GM Marc Eversley. Chicago has been hit particularly hard at the point guard and power forward spots.
At 29-17, the Bulls are currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Zooming out, the team has gone a mere 3-7 in its last 10 games as the injuries have begun to pile up and is just four games ahead of the 26-22 Hornets, the seventh seed in the East.
You have to be kidding me!?! /: What next?? Man, the Bulls have just suffered one injury after another this year, especially to their #4 spot..
Then, if it isn’t injuries, it is guys out because of protocols. They were the first to really get hit, except they HAD to play the majority of their games while missing several players in their rotation.
Finally, guys start to get healthy, and the core group is coming together, and then BAM THREE MORE injuries pile up!!
Is there some Bulls voodoo curse or something this year!?! Jesus…
It’s gettin rough man, we knew we were thin in the front court coming into the season, gotta get through it and keep winning 3-7 in our last 10 isn’t getting to the playoffs and every team has injuries
krause curse. his bones are buried in center court.
I’m going to Chicago next weekend. Do you have any recommendations on good places to check out some classical music?
Specifically if they use the world’s tiniest violin?
Stop! Teams go through this every year. Dallas just lost THJ for maybe the year. Take off the homer vision. Your team very likely will have all starters going into the playoff.
(Worlds smallest violin playing in the backgroun.)
No, teams go through an 8NJURY or two each ajd every year. NIT missing half the DANG ROSTER at one point or another. THIS IS BY NO MEANS NORMAL…
EVERY STARTER has missed significant time, and EVERYONE OF THEIR TOP 7-8 players has missed significant time…That isn’t your typical injuries happen poor us…
Thats absurd..lol And absurdly unlucky!! So yes, I’ll take some cheese with my wine, and feel free to play all the classical music your heart desires, cause the Bulls deserve it all!!!
With all that said Bulls will still have their starting unit intact prospectively well before the playoffs. Again hard for me to feel sorry for that. Cavs have had alot ofbad injuries too maybe as many as the bulls this year in fact. Tell me I am wrong.
Bulls started out thin at the 4/5 of their own accord.
The Magic & Lakers have the most games missed, but I’m sure the Bulls rank high, tho I did not find a list. The Cavs have had a hard time with the non-Garland guard position, but Mobley’s ankles have held up like I thought after a preseason scare, knock on wood, and that is key considering his quick movements & length.
So, going by the logic of all the anti-Grayson Allen people, another Bulls player should obliterate a piece of workout equipment tomorrow? Or just straight up boycott using the conditioning center? After all, it’s only fair — if the workout caused the injury, the equipment in question should not get the privilege of being used until Derrick Jones Jr. can play again…
Go on somewhere, Allen made a dirty play, and everyone knows it. Just because he plays for your team, and you choose to ignore it, doesn’t mean other people are overreacting..
I will say let him continue that behavior, and watch how funny it is when another team’s player “overreacts.”
Somebody explain the concept of causation to this man
You’re not even good at being a troll.
Lol there is a treadmill somewhere cowering in fear