Chicago Bulls: The outcomes of this early-season injury plague

While the most injury-prone Chicago Bulls have stayed healthy thus far, other injuries have caused an early season change of plans.

When the Chicago Bulls‘ 2018-19 season began, there were plenty of injury concerns regarding guys like Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker.

While those injury concerns haven’t been actualized thus far, in an ironic plot twist, every other starting-caliber talent has fallen to one injury or another (with the exception of Wendell Carter Jr. — knock on wood!)

Here’s a brief overview:

• Lauri Markkanen is out until late November with an elbow injury
• Kris Dunn is out until mid-December with an MCL sprain
• Bobby Portis is out until mid-December with an MCL sprain

The reverberating toll of these injuries has of course impacted coach Fred Hoiberg’s game plan.

Villanova product and unknown sophomore Bulls point guard Ryan Arcidiacono had a really great showing against the Atlanta Hawks, beating out Cameron Payne. Arcidiacono ended with 13 points, seven assists, two rebounds, two steals and one block — a full line indicating perhaps he will be the guy to fill the gap until Dunn returns.

More significantly, Zach LaVine is breaking out, with an impressive streak of six games in a row of more than 20 points. He is finding his offensive groove, shooting the ball at an efficient 52.7 percent from the field. This is great news for the momentum and confidence of the Bulls, who can both develop LaVine while still losing enough games this season to earn a ticket to the Zion Williamson sweepstakes.

Meanwhile, rookie Chandler Hutchison isn’t earning his keep, averaging 3.0 points and 3.2 boards in 15.8 minutes per game thus far. While he stepped into a decent opportunity, it’s tough for a rookie to establish himself in this league at any level — just look at Wendell Carter Jr., who despite having a really exciting future, only had his first double-double after six games. For Hutchison, who was not primed for minutes in the preseason, and now has a potential to see upwards of 20 minutes a night, the sudden surge of opportunity could end up setting him back a step.

Carter has been eating up the starting center minutes as expected, but in an encouraging move favoring the youth, Cristiano Felicio has been earning the lion’s keep of backup minutes, leaving Robin Lopez on the outside looking in. While Lopez could be traded, he could just as well hang tight and work in an advisory role.

Unlike the veteran ousting of RoLo, Justin Holiday has surprisingly held his own, playing 34.3 minutes a night so far this season. While this will likely not last, until Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen return, there’s no reason to believe Holiday will not continue to be the consistent 3-and-D guy he has been for the Bulls.

Another clear outcome of these injuries is that Hoiberg’s hopes for Jabari Parker are, simply put, limited. While this may be tough to hear for the fans who were hoping to get the same kind of upside they once saw in Milwaukee, the truth is that despite the opportunity presented early on here, Parker is not producing the same eye-popping stats he once had (currently averaging 16 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest).

Despite playing 34 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks, Parker coming off the bench means that he will remain in his natural position of power forward, which of course means he will remain in the second unit. Markkanen’s injury shows that whether coming from GarPax or Hoiberg himself, Parker is not as high of a priority as Lauri Markkanen.

All of this has been revealed through the fortuitous (but certainly not fortunate) injury bug that has struck Chicago early on in this 2018-19 season. Only time will tell how this chemistry will come together once the injured players all return to form.