Bulls Will Be Down 6 Players In First Road Trip In 9 Months
DEERFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Without a bubble, this NBA season could be tricky.
The Bulls will be shorthanded for their first preseason road game on Wednesday. Six players were left behind for the matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Denzel Valentine and Thad Young have injuries, but the Bulls have also had two confirmed cases of COVID-19. Garrett Temple is still self-quarantining, and Noah Vonaleh has been waived.
But three more players were scratched from the Bulls game on Sunday.
Contact tracing will be critical in keeping the team safe.
"You've got to be able to, you know, deal with the uncertainty. You've got to deal with the confusion," said Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan. "We're just trying to take all the guidelines that have been given to us, but you're going to probably – once you start traveling an start, you know, getting out and going to different places – you probably open yourself up to being a little bit more susceptible. We have to take the necessary steps to try to keep ourselves and all of us safe."
Meanwhile, the Bulls' division won't be getting any easier. Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying in Milwaukee.
The back-to-back league MVP agreed to a five-year supermax extension worth 228 million, um, bucks. He can opt out after four years.
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