DeMar DeRozan's Injury Could Result In Chicago Missing The Postseason
Making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2017 was a major step in the right direction for the Chicago Bulls, even though they lost in the first-round.
The Bulls as an organization had high expectations for this season, but everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong and now, the Bulls are heading into the final several weeks of the 2022-23 season looking like they will miss the postseason for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
Lonzo Ball continues to be a major question mark and red flag for this franchise given the concerns surrounding his knee issues, Chicago did not make any moves to help their playoff chances at the trade deadline and now, All-Star DeMar DeRozan finds himself on the injury list.
Dealing with some hip issues for a while, DeRozan recently underwent an MRI that revealed a Grade 1 right thigh strain, an injury that will sidelined him and force him to miss some time.
The good news for the Bulls is that the All-Star break will begin in the next few days, allowing DeRozan to rest and not miss any games. The bad news though is that DeMar DeRozan has not appeared to be healthy for quite some time and will likely miss some games following the All-Star break.
“I don’t think it’s significant. But we’ll see how he progresses and how he feels,” head coach Billy Donovan said following the news of DeRozan’s injury. “He knows his body well. He’s always very conscientious about taking care of it. We hope with treatment and how diligent he is, he’ll progress. But there’s enough discomfort there for him where he’s having a hard time moving and cutting and jumping.”
Following Monday night’s loss to the Orlando Magic, DeRozan revealed that he had been dealing with discomfort for close to a month and a half.
The Bulls and Donovan have not ruled DeRozan out for Thursday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the second night of a back-to-back, even though the All-Star did not travel with the team to play the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
DeRozan, who has stated that he will be at All-Star Weekend in Utah this upcoming weekend, may ultimately be able to play through this injury, but the fact that he is not 100 percent is definitely troublesome for the Bulls as they enter the final stretch of the season.
Chicago has not been healthy all season long and now with their top scorer banged up, their chances of making the playoffs are looking very thin.
The Bulls currently sit 0.5 games behind the Washington Wizards for the 10-seed in the East entering Tuesday night and even if they were to get themselves into the Play-In Tournament, they would most likely have to win two games to claim the 8-seed in the postseason.
This season has been torture for Bulls fans given all the inconsistency surrounding the organization and after not making a move at the trade deadline, Chicago will have quite a few question to answer surrounding their core group heading into the offseason.
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