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Bulls Notes: White, Harrison, Boylen, Collins

March 7th, 2020 at 10:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls coach Jim Boylen is reversing his stance on not starting rookie guard Coby White for the rest of the season, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. With the playoffs out of reach, White may be inserted into the starting lineup soon as the team focuses on developing players for next season.

“I think that day is probably coming,” Boylen said after practice this morning. “We’ve talked all year about developing and winning. Is that day coming? I would say, ‘Yes, probably.’ When, I’m not exactly sure.”

White is making a strong case for a starting role with his recent performance. He is averaging 27.7 points and 3.9 assists over the past seven games, and Schaefer notes that his defense and decision making have improved.

“He’s been great, man,” Zach LaVine said. “Just seeing his growth over the last month, he’s getting better every game. Even if it’s not like he’s getting 30 like he was, he’s still doing things that we’re progressing on. He’s growing every game.”

There’s more from Chicago:

  • Shaquille Harrison used his new-found 3-point stroke to put up a career-high 25 points last night, Schaefer writes in a separate story. He has made nine of his last 11 from beyond the arc after shooting 27.7% on 3-pointers for his career. With restricted free agency looming this summer, Harrison is looking for any edge he can find to prove his worth. “I was undrafted, I had a couple offers coming out of high school,” he said. “I’ve always been that last guy they’re looking at, and I knew I had to make an impression that one opportunity or chance I get. So, it’s usual for me, it’s nothing new. I take pride in that, a lot of guys can’t do that.”
  • Boylen is denying reports of a rift with senior advisor Doug Collins, relays K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. The dispute reportedly involves Collins’ presence at coaching staff meetings. “All my interaction with Doug has been very positive. He’s been in my meetings and on the floor with the team,” Boylen said. “I don’t control his schedule or if he’s here or not here. We’ve had a very good, close relationship since he’s been here.”
  • Despite another disappointing season, Boylen continues to have strong backing from ownership and executive vice president John Paxson, Johnson writes in another piece.
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Mokoka Details Journey to NBA

March 5th, 2020 at 10:05pm CST by Jovan Alford

When the Pacers play the Bulls on Friday night, they could be without a few notable players, including Malcolm Brogdon.

  • Who is Adam Mokoka? If you asked Bulls fans earlier this season, they might not be able to answer that question. Fast-forward to March, and the 21-year-old is starting to carve out a role for himself with Chicago. Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago looks at the road the Bulls’ two-player has taken from his early playing days in France, Serbia, and now Chicago.
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Bulls Notes: Presti, Paxson, Boylen, Markkanen

March 5th, 2020 at 11:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Sam Presti has been mentioned as a possible target in the Bulls‘ front office shakeup, but K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago doesn’t believe the organization is willing to spend heavily on a new executive. He estimates it would take an offer in the neighborhood of $10MM a year to get the attention of Presti, the current president of basketball operations for the Thunder.

Johnson adds that Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf is exploring multiple options, which likely include both Presti and Raptors executive Masai Ujiri. Toronto isn’t expected to let Ujiri leave while he still has a year left on his contract, but because Presti is a close friend with Oklahoma City owner Clay Bennett, the feeling around the league is that Bennett wouldn’t stand in his way if he wanted to leave the organization. Even so, Johnson expects the Bulls to make several hires for the new front office, rather than investing so much in a single executive.

Johnson believes John Paxson will accept whatever role ownership wants him to and speculates that Paxson is actually behind the management restructuring plan. The Bulls also intend to revamp their scouting department, which Paxson originally proposed.

There’s more from Chicago:

  • Front office candidates will likely be asked to keep an open mind about the future of coach Jim Boylen, Johnson relays in the same piece. Boylen received a contract extension after last season and has kept the support of management despite a poor win-loss record. He recently objected to senior advisor Doug Collins’ presence at coaches meetings, Johnson adds, so Collins’ role in that area has been reduced.
  • Lauri Markkanen played nearly 21 minutes last night after being sidelined since January 21 with a stress reaction in his pelvis, Johnson writes in a separate story. Markkanen posted 13 points and four rebounds and believes he’s ready for more time once he’s cleared by the medical staff. “I thought he tried. I thought he was active. I thought he was moving pretty good. I thought he showed his whole game — inside, outside,” Boylen said. “… He showed his full game in the minutes he played. I think it was a good first showing for him.”
  • Last night’s game between the Bulls and Timberwolves matches two franchises that are currently linked by bad decisions, states Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Those include the shared choices to get rid of Jimmy Butler and coach Tom Thibodeau.
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Bulls Interested In Sam Presti?

March 4th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Bulls consider changes to their front office, Sam Presti‘s name is one that has now surfaced multiple times. Discussing the situation last week, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times cited the Thunder‘s head of basketball operations as an example of a big-name candidate Chicago could pursue. This week, David Kaplan said during an appearance on ESPN 1000 that Presti is the Bulls’ top target (Twitter link via Daniel Greenberg).

Kaplan’s comments signal that Cowley’s mention of Presti last week probably didn’t come out of nowhere, so I don’t doubt that the Bulls have interest in the Thunder executive. Still, I’m skeptical that Presti would leave a favorable situation in Oklahoma City – where the team has accumulated more first-round picks than it knows what to do with – for a position in which he’d rank below John Paxson in the Bulls’ organizational hierarchy.

While it’s worth keeping the Bulls’ reported interest in Presti in mind, we may not get a more concrete sense of which candidates are realistically in play for the team until after the season.

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Clippers Notes: Dunn, George, Jackson

March 4th, 2020 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been buzz throughout the 2019/20 season that the Clippers are expected to be among the teams that will show interest in Kris Dunn when he reaches free agency this summer, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. It’s not clear how Dunn’s season-ending knee injury will affect L.A.’s potential interest, Johnson adds.

The Clippers’ interest level may also be impacted by how the Bulls handle Dunn’s situation — he’ll be a restricted free agent if Chicago extends a qualifying offer worth $4,642,800, which seems likely and which would increase the Bulls’ leverage.

While Dunn’s offensive numbers aren’t great, he was one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders when healthy, leading the league with 2.9 steals per 36 minutes. That would make him an intriguing fit on a Clippers roster that’s already packed with talented defenders, including Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley.

Here’s more on the Clippers:

  • After he enjoyed a career year in 2018/19 in Oklahoma City, Paul George is still trying to get comfortable amidst an injury-plagued first season with the Clippers, writes Royce Young of ESPN. “I’m a work in progress,” George said on Tuesday. “It’s been a tough year being injured. Being in the rotation, being out of the rotation. And then just playing in a whole new system, new players, new teammates, new coaches, new playing style. So it’s been a bit of an adjustment for me.”
  • Reggie Jackson has had an impressive impact on the Clippers’ second unit since arriving from Detroit, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who notes that Jackson’s ball-handling ability has freed up Lou Williams to play off the ball more frequently.
  • In case you missed it, we identified Jackson as one of 2020’s best buyout-market signings in a Community Shootaround discussion earlier today.
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Injury Updates: Markkanen, Lillard, Hawks, Zion, KD

March 4th, 2020 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of former top-10 picks are expected to return to action on Wednesday night after somewhat lengthy injury absences.

One of those players is Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen, who has been sidelined since January 22 due to a stress reaction in his pelvis. According to the team (via Twitter), Markkanen will return to Chicago’s starting lineup tonight in Minnesota, making him the third frontcourt player in the last week to get healthy for the team — Wendell Carter and Otto Porter are also back in action.

More importantly for the playoff race, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is being listed as probable for Wednesday’s game against Washington (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com). Lillard has been out since injuring his groin on February 12. Including that game, Portland has gone just 2-5 since his injury, but the team remains in the postseason hunt, 3.5 games back of Memphis.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

  • The Hawks announced today in a press release that big men Clint Capela (foot) and Skal Labissiere (knee) continue to rehab their respective injuries and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Both players were acquired at the trade deadline, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll see much -if any – action for Atlanta this season.
  • In other Hawks-related injury news, swingman DeAndre’ Bembry, who is dealing with abdominal pain, has been cleared for non-contact work, head coach Lloyd Pierce said today (Twitter link via Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Bembry, a potential restricted free agent this offseason, hasn’t played since January 20.
  • Zion Williamson isn’t currently dealing with an injury, but the Pelicans have played it safe since he returned from knee surgery, opting not to play him in back-to-back sets. That’s expected to change tonight, with the No. 1 overall pick on track to play against Dallas after being active against Minnesota on Tuesday. Andrew Lopez of ESPN has the full story.
  • During TNT’s Tuesday broadcast (video link), Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports cited league sources who say Nets star Kevin Durant is making good progress in his Achilles recovery and is doing some 3-on-3 work. Durant is on track to be ready for training camp in the fall.
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Dunn Done For Season, LaVine Likely Out For One Week

March 3rd, 2020 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls‘ frontcourt has been getting a little healthier lately, with Otto Porter and Wendell Carter returning to action within the last few days and Lauri Markkanen making good progress as well. However, the team isn’t in the clear yet when it comes to injuries, especially in the backcourt.

Speaking today to reporters, including K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), Bulls head coach Jim Boylen confirmed that Kris Dunn will miss the rest of the 2019/20 season. That update doesn’t come as a surprise — we heard nearly two weeks ago that Dunn’s season was in jeopardy as a result of his right MCL sprain. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer and won’t meet the starter criteria, which will reduce the value of his qualifying offer, as we detailed in that February story.

Meanwhile, the Bulls’ leading scorer, Zach LaVine, confirmed that he’ll remain on the shelf for Wednesday’s game in Minnesota after missing Monday’s contest vs. Dallas (video link via Tony Gill of NBC Sports Chicago). LaVine added that his quad strain will probably sideline him for about a week.

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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/2/20

March 2nd, 2020 at 7:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from across the NBA G League:

  • The Warriors assigned guard Stephen Curry to its affiliate in Santa Cruz and then recalled the former MVP, according to a team press release and Twitter post. Curry got in a practice with the G League club as he prepares to return from a broken left hand. The team also assigned forward Alen Smailagic to Santa Cruz. Smailagic has appeared in 19 games with Santa Cruz this season, posting averages of 15.2 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 25.9 MPG.
  • The Pacers recalled center Goga Bitadze and forward Alize Johnson from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s PR department tweets. Bitadze, the team’s first-round selection, has averaged 3.0 PPG in 8.5 MPG while making 46 appearances for the Pacers. Johnson, a 2018 second-rounder, has seen action in 12 NBA games this season.
  • The Magic recalled guard Melvin Frazier from Lakeland, the team’s PR department tweets. A 2018 second-round pick, Frazier has appeared in 14 games with Orlando this season.
  • The Bulls assigned and then recalled power forward Lauri Markkanen from the Windy City Bulls, the team tweets. Markkanen participated in a practice as part of his rehab process. He has been sidelined since January 22 with a stress reaction of his right pelvis.
  • The Clippers assigned big man Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Terance Mann to their Agua Caliente affiliate, according to the team’s PR department. A late first-rounder last June, Kabengele has appeared in 12 Clippers games. Mann, a rookie drafted in the second round, has seen action in 35 NBA games.
  • The Jazz assigned forward Juwan Morgan and guard Rayjon Tucker to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the G League transactions log. A pair of undrafted rookies, Morgan has appeared in 16 Jazz games this season while Tucker has made 14 NBA appearances.
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Otto Porter Set To Return For Bulls

March 2nd, 2020 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Otto Porter, who has been sidelined for nearly four months, said today that he’ll return to the Bulls‘ active roster for Monday night’s game against Dallas, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link).

Porter suffered a foot injury early in the 2019/20 campaign, dealing with a bone bruise, bone edema, and a small fracture in that troublesome left foot. He last suited up for Chicago on November 6, having appeared in the Bulls’ first nine games of the season.

Acquired at last year’s trade deadline for the expiring contracts of Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis, Porter has played just 24 total games since arriving in Chicago, averaging 15.1 PPG and 4.8 RPG with a .463/.458/.846 shooting line. When he’s in the lineup, he has been a reliable three-and-D frontcourt option for the club, but health issues have limited his playing time both this season and last season.

Even if Porter finishes stays healthy and plays well over the next month and a half, he’s unlikely to opt for free agency by turning down his $28.5MM player option for 2020/21 this summer. As such, he’ll likely return to the Bulls next season, barring a trade.

The Bulls are gradually getting healthier after being hit hard by the injury bug this season. Wendell Carter played on Saturday for the first time since early January, while Lauri Markkanen, who last played on January 22, appears to be nearing a return as well.

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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/1/20

March 1st, 2020 at 9:00pm CST by JD Shaw

Here are Sunday’s assignments and recalls from across the NBA G League:

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