Bulls

Nikola Vucevic continued his strong season in the Bulls' win Saturday as he prepares to possibly enter unrestricted free agency in July, ...

And I think it helps us a lot because Zach (LaVine) and DeMar (DeRozan) get doubled and I get it in the pocket and make plays for others. Somewhat quietly, Vucevic is having a big season, particularly when you factor in he’s often the third option offensively. “There was one little stretch for awhile where I did my work early to get my guy out and then wouldn’t go get the ball. I’m really in a rhythm,” Vucevic said. After Vucevic delivered his huge season, the Magic promptly signed him to a four-year, $100 million deal. Just like he was in 2018-19 when he averaged 20.8 points, 12 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Magic.

DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each scored 32 points, Nikola Vucevic added 26 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls turned back a late rally and beat ...

… F Derrick Jones Jr., limped off the floor in the third quarter, but came back to play four minutes in the fourth. “Obviously the energy level wasn’t where we wanted it to start the game,” he said. But when the Bulls’ lead got down to six, DeRozan and LaVine responded with baskets, and a 3-pointer by Williams made it 116-106 with 3:29 left. We let them back in the game, but this time we were able to finish the game off.” “I thought we controlled most of the game,” said Vucevic, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half. … Being pressed against it, we needed a game where we could respond and come out on the winning side.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — There hasn't been a whole lot that guard Goran Dragic, who's halfway through his 15th NBA season, hasn't seen.

“But the growth part of it for him and the way he’s approached it, I appreciate it. Anytime the Magic looked to run down the Bulls, a big basket was made. We’re trying to figure out the things that would benefit this team and get us on the same page. “It is a little disturbing that the search is still going on with [33] games left,’’ Dragic said. “At the same time, where I think it’s positive, we have a lot of guys here that care. It’s still a “little disturbing,” point guard Goran Dragic said.

In the latest pessimistic update on Lonzo Ball, coach Billy Donovan acknowledged that the point guard is "nowhere near playing."

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each scored 32 points, Nikola Vucevic added 26 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls turned back a ...

... F Derrick Jones Jr., limped off the floor in the third quarter, but came back to play four minutes in the fourth. ... DeRozan, who came into the game with a 26.3 scoring average, played eight scoreless minutes in the first quarter without taking a shot. "Obviously the energy level wasn't where we wanted it to start the game," he said. Magic: F Jonathan Isaac had five points and four rebounds in nine minutes in his third game back from a knee injury. "I thought we controlled most of the game," said Vucevic, who had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half. "This is not an excuse but we were just flat," said Mo Wagner, "and part of that was we put our head down too quickly. We let them back in the game, but this time we were able to finish the game off." But when the Bulls' lead got down to six, DeRozan and LaVine responded with baskets, and a 3-pointer by Williams made it 116-106 with 3:29 left. ... Being pressed against it, we needed a game where we could respond and come out on the winning side." But we have to be a defensive team first, whether the shots are falling or not." "In the Charlotte game we never responded," coach Billy Donovan said. "I really think sometimes it falls down to taking the easy route, in some ways.

ORLANDO, Fla. — For most of Saturday, the Orlando Magic's 128-109 home loss to the Chicago Bulls looked like it was going to go how most of their games on ...

Coach Billy Donovan was holding out hope that Ball's left-knee rehab really picks up, but the reality of the situation was not good.

“If he can get to that place where he can do that consistently and be able to come back the next day and do it again, do it again and do it again, I think you would feel a little more optimistic about when he could return,’’ Donovan said. Work with the group that we have and try to get better.’’ “For me, you’re always, every game, every day, looking at the hand you have and trying to figure out ways to help it,’’ Donovan said. There was a push to get him back for the first-round playoff series against the Bucks, but he simply wasn’t ready. You have all of March and not even two weeks in April, so you start to get to that point where I think there will be some conversations of, ‘OK, if he’s still not close to playing, what’s the plan moving forward?’ ‘‘My guess would be, we get through the All-Star break, everybody would probably sit down to talk about the length and time of the season, how realistic it is for him to get back.

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is "nowhere close" to returning from the knee injuries that have caused him to be sidelined for 12 months.

While scoring 13.0 points per game, Ball was shooting 42.3 percent from 3 (his current career-high) and coming away with a career-high 1.8 steals per game. [Bulls head coach Billy Donovan](https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-billy-donovan-has-lost-chicago-locker-room-amid-major-roster-problems) adds that while there’s no cut-off date set for Ball’s return this season, Chicago will have one after All-Star Weekend if Ball’s injury doesn’t improve by then. To make matters worse, Ball was playing some of his best basketball with Chicago after blossoming with the New Orleans Pelicans.

On Saturday, Bulls coach Billy Donovan admitted that Lonzo Ball is "nowhere near returning" from the knee injury that's sidelined up him for some time now.

That's gotta be incredibly difficult to deal with on a daily basis." "And there we go. It's been a long time since Bulls fans have seen Lonzo Ball take the floor.

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is looking increasingly less likely to appear in a game this season as he continues to recover from a knee injury that has...

They lost to the Bucks in five games in the first round of the playoffs. 29 that Ball had a second surgery to address some of the lingering problems in his knee, but there was "confidence" in the Bulls organization he would be able to return at some point this season. The plan was going great for the first four months last season when they got off to a 39-21 start, but they lost 15 of their final 22 regular-season games to finish as the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 22-26 record. [Shams Charania](https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1575505985011171330?s=20&t=cnaU82SLxvhsaBQaZQVDbw) of The Athletic and Stadium reported on Sept. He wound up missing the rest of the season.

The Chicago Bulls are creeping closer to shutting down injured point guard Lonzo Ball for a second straight season.

Even if Ball is cleared to begin running in February, it’s uncertain how he could be ramped up in time to play meaningful minutes by the end of the season. Although he has made marginal improvements — lightly jumping to shoot and dunk the ball, jogging on a treadmill — none is enough to signal that Ball will be cleared in the coming weeks for sprinting or other high-intensity drills. Although the Bulls haven’t set a firm cutoff date for Ball to return this season, they are facing a rapidly shortening runway.

The Chicago Bulls did it, folks. They managed to hold onto a second-half lead and beat one of the worst teams in the NBA. Halle–freakin'-lujah. To be sure ...

The Bulls will have to build on this in a big way next week to get out of my doghouse. The Bulls’ off-ball player movement that led to 30 assists was a major reason why they were able to build a big enough lead to win the game tonight. They managed to hold onto a second-half lead and beat one of the worst teams in the NBA.

The Chicago Bulls guard hasn't played since Jan. 14 of last season, when he was originally diagnosed with a seemingly innocuous knee bruise. After evaluation, ...

It's a real bummer, because prior to the injury Ball had really found his niche in the league as a knock-down 3-point shooter, transition pilot and versatile and disruptive defender. It's been a year and he still can't run or jump and anything near full speed? Although he has made marginal improvements — lightly jumping to shoot and dunk the ball, jogging on a treadmill — none is enough to signal that Ball will be cleared in the coming weeks for sprinting or other high-intensity drills. [NBA](/nba/) game and it doesn't look like he will be returning any time soon. He can't scrimmage or play basketball. [Lonzo Ball's](/nba/players/2268586/lonzo-ball/) knee situation continues to look grim.

While most look forward to the NFL conference championship games, chronic sufferers of PSBD — or post-Super Bowl disorder — dread the thought of only one ...

Bulls Still Staying Put? Big Night From Big 3, Patrick Williams' Slam, and Other Bulls Bullets. January 29, 2023, by Elias Schuster Chicago Bulls.

- ICYMI: The end of last night’s Laker game was hilarious and infuriating. The officiating this season has been downright awful at times. - If there is one glimmer of beauty amid this ugly season, it’s the slow but sure rise of Patrick Williams. His efficiency numbers are some of the best of his career, and he continues to rebound at an elite rate. On the other hand, I kinda understood where he was coming from. - With all that said, I also can’t deny that this trio can be fun to watch at times. Not dealing him and then not re-signing him would lead to the Bulls walking away from that trade with *literally* nothing to show for two seasons later. Not to mention, moving at least one of the All-Star-caliber talents feels necessary to begin restocking this organization’s asset pool. They don’t have the roster space nor draft capital/financial flexibility to fill the holes needed without moving one of these guys. As much as I want to believe this somewhat easy 128-109 win over the Orlando Magic is enough to prove to the Bulls that they can do this regularly against below-.500 squads … - Unfortunately, it still doesn’t seem like change is on the horizon. - Heck, even if they’re able to pick up wins against the Hornets, Blazers, and Spurs in three of their next four games, I’m not quite sure how I will feel.

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley probably drew this strategy up on the whiteboard before facing the Bulls on Saturday. Jog through the first half, lull the ...

landed badly on his right ankle in the third quarter, signaled to the bench that he needed to come out and then limped to the sideline. A group of subs got the Magic back in the game and Mosely let them go the distance. "I thought the intensity of the game the last couple of games, especially in Indiana, when the intensity went up, we never responded," Donovan said. Williams finished with 16 points and hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulls up by 10 with 3:29 left. "I think we can learn from this, because it was a lot of tactical things," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. That formula beat the Bulls twice already this week at Indiana and Charlotte.

Four Bulls starters — DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams — accounted for 106 of Chicago's 128 points, in yet another testament to ...

The team will get a bit of a schedule reprieve before its next battle, Tuesday against an ascendant LA Clippers club that has now won four straight. He finished with 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe, eight assists, two boards and a block. LaVine also notched 32 points, on 11-of-18 shooting (3-of-7 from deep) from the floor and 7-of-7 shooting from the free throw line. It was cute to see them emerge as useful small-ball options for Donovan in this department last year, but the charm has worn off now that they’re the go-to choices (when healthy) at reserve power forward and center, respectively. Instead, Patrick Williams (!), Zach LaVine, and of course DeMar DeRozan proved especially critical for the Bulls down the home stretch for once. So, fine, we’re back to semi-mid. But Chicago has been absolutely desperate for passing help, which the Dragon readily supplied. Here’s a bit of that defense, capitalizing on some sloppy Chicago passing: Chicago led by as much as 25 points in the frame, but given what happened in the Bulls’ last two second-half advantages over lottery-bound teams, that edge felt much more tenuous than it should have. Things looked relatively rosy through the game’s first half, as Chicago leaned on a pass-happy offense to drum up a fairly impressive 60-47 edge at the break. [pic.twitter.com/UqRKHU5nBc] [January 29, 2023] But, unlike some miserable contests against the

Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball remains out following a second knee surgery and coach Billy Donovan said he is "nowhere near playing."

You have all of March and not even two weeks in April, so you start to get to that point where I think there will be some conversations of, ‘OK, if he’s still not close to playing, what’s the plan moving forward?’” “My guess would be – there’s not been a specifically set date – my guess would be I think we get through the All-Star Break, I think there would probably be everybody sitting down to talk about length and time of the season, how realistic is it for him to get back, if he could get back what would the minutes look like, is it not worth having him back just because it’s too much?’’ Donovan said. [ recovery from that is going slowly as well](https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/12/01/donovan-says-lonzo-balls-recovery-has-been-really-slow/). “I think everything, at least in my conversations with medical about him, have always been geared towards helping him get back to playing. When he can get to that place where he can do that consistently and be able to come back the next day and do it again, do it again and do it again — I think you’ll feel a little bit more optimistic.” I would never count that out.”

Billy Donovan provided the latest update on the Chicago Bulls injured point guard prior to the team's 128-109 victory over Orlando Saturday.

“Once you get out of the All-Star break (Feb. 17-19) I think that, with the amount of time that’s left — you’re at the end of February, you basically have all of March and a couple of weeks, if not even two weeks, in April. [Julia Poe](https://twitter.com/byjuliapoe/status/1619467203597975552?s=46&t=Gq1fvLsFfwh6q99QGDRF8w) of the Chicago Tribune.