Do injuries to guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso threaten the Chicago Bulls’ surprisingly strong season?
Within days, the Bulls learned they’d be without both of their playmakers and defensive stalwarts due to injury. On Thursday, Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee that the team said is expected to sideline him six to eight weeks.
Two days later, Chicago announced that Caruso will also need surgery after suffering a broken wrist when he was flagrantly fouled by Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen on Friday night. Caruso’s timetable to return is also six to eight weeks.
Although overshadowed by the addition of DeMar DeRozan, the defense, shooting and playmaking provided by Ball and Caruso have also helped the Bulls go from the lottery to leading the Eastern Conference before Friday’s loss.
They join a lengthy injury list in Chicago that also includes All-Star guard Zach LaVine, who’s currently sidelined by knee soreness but expected to return sooner, and starting power forward Patrick Williams.
With the East standings crowded at the top — the Bulls are now tied with the Miami Heat a half-game back of the Brooklyn Nets, while four other teams are within three games of them in the standings — Chicago’s positioning is precarious.
With limited minutes from Ball and Caruso, Chicago’s defense has suffered. Since Dec. 26, the Bulls have allowed 113.9 points per 100 possessions, a mark that ranks 22nd in the NBA. Chicago has barely outscored opponents in that span despite a top-10 offensive rating, relying on clutch heroics from DeRozan to go 9-6.
Losing Ball and Caruso also makes Chicago a much smaller team. Their size as guards (Caruso is listed at 6-foot-5, Ball at 6-6) helped compensate for the Bulls’ small frontcourt and allowed Donovan to use lineups with four perimeter players around center Nikola Vucevic.
Despite how well the Bulls have played thus far, they’re now in jeopardy of dropping to seventh in the East and needing to advance to the playoffs via the play-in tournament for the first time since trading Jimmy Butler in 2017. Even if the Bulls can avoid that, they are trending toward unlikely to maintain home-court advantage in the opening round.
