The Bulls are set to face off against the Denver Nuggets tonight in Chicago. Unfortunately, the team is going to be without one of their best players tonight. For the third time in five days, the Bulls are going to lose a player to the league’s health and safety protocols, and this time it’s a huge blow to the team.
Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan has entered into the league's Covid-19 health and safety protocols, sources tell ESPN. DeRozan was the NBA's Player of the Week in the Eastern Conference, averaging 30 points in a 3-0 week.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 6, 2021
Bulls star forward DeMar DeRozan has entered the league’s health and safety protocols and will be out tonight. Unfortunately, we likely won’t be looking at just one game with this. DeRozan is now the third player to enter health and safety protocols and this is likely going to be another long-term impact. It looks like whatever is going around the Bulls locker room is here to stay. The Bulls are now without guard Coby White, forward Javonte Green, and DeRozan due to being in health and safety protocols. Both Green and White ended up testing positive for COVID and are out until they meet the league’s requirements when coming back from a positive COVID test. This could be a big hit if DeRozan is out for an extended period.
Here’s what it will take to get DeRozan back
With DeRozan entering NBA protocols there are only a couple of ways for him to come back sooner rather than later. We don’t know if he has tested positive just yet, we just know he has entered these protocols. Although we can assume at this stage that it was a positive that put him here. Hopefully, it was a false positive but that will be determined in time. For DeRozan to come back soon he is going to need some consecutive negative tests.
DeRozan is ruled out tonight vs. Denver, but it's unclear how much longer he will be out for the Bulls. DeRozan will need to show two consecutive negative PCR tests in 24 hours, or be isolated for at least 10 days. Team has now announced DeRozan's entry into protocols. https://t.co/Bds1QpdUPh
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 6, 2021
For DeRozan to come back he will need to get two consecutive negatives over 24 hours. If that isn’t possible then he will be out for 10 days like the other Bulls players who have entered protocols this season. We will likely find out more tonight as well and into tomorrow. If this is a false positive then DeRozan should be back soon, if it isn’t the Bulls will need to have a backup plan ready. Whatever comes from this one thing is for sure, Bulls fans are devastated by this news.
Chicago can’t have nice things
Just when things were looking great for the Bulls and excitement was at an all-time high the Bulls get hit with terrible news. Coming off a player of the week award this news is especially hard to swallow.
NOBODY FUCKING TALK TO ME https://t.co/tVl5uXK50b pic.twitter.com/V7qakftU9M
— Artūras Karnišovas Fan Club (@arturasfanclub) December 6, 2021
The Bulls are coming into form and something like this certainly impacts the team. DeRozan has been the main reason why the Bulls have won quite a few games as he has carried the team in the fourth quarter. Without him, we are going to need to see everyone else step up in crunch time. It’s certainly going to be a tough time but we have to hope head coach Billy Donovan can find a lineup that can get us through this. Either way, let’s hope that this will be the last player to end up entering the league’s health and safety protocols, or else we will be in a world of trouble.
The Bulls could be in a tough position moving forward
Here’s the worst part about all of this, the Bulls have had three players enter protocols over the last 5 days. That definitely makes it look like this is spreading through the locker room. That means there likely will be other players testing positive down the road. I am hoping I am completely wrong and DeRozan is the last one. The Bulls can’t afford to lose more players as they are pushing to make a name for themselves in the Eastern Conference. They also need to be concerned about the possibility of postponing games if the situation gets serious enough within the team.
DeRozan now the 3rd Bulls player in the health & safety protocols & positive tests are popping up around the league. Is the NBA heading towards postponing games again when multiple players test positive? https://t.co/Pw7lm4JcBw
— Mark Schanowski (@MarkSchanowski) December 6, 2021
Last season there were multiple times when the Bulls had games postponed. While they weren’t the Bull’s fault it still shows that the league has done it before. Again, hopefully, that isn’t the case but it’s something we should prepare for. If this continues spreading the Bulls will likely end up seeing some games postponed. That would likely make the back half of their schedule a lot tougher with more back-to-back games. All we can do now is wait and hope we don’t get any more news about Bulls players entering health and safety protocols. This team can be great this season and hopefully, COVID won’t put them in a position they can’t recover from.
