{"id":162635,"date":"2025-10-13T22:13:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T02:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=162635"},"modified":"2025-10-13T22:13:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T02:13:28","slug":"bulls-expect-star-guard-opening-night-others-trending-in-right-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/13\/bulls-expect-star-guard-opening-night-others-trending-in-right-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Set Roster While Star Guard Expected To Be Ready By Opening Night, Others Trending In Right Direction?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Could the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/03\/3-reasons-why-chicago-bulls-won-2025-nba-draft\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Bulls<\/a> finally get out of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/09\/2026-nba-draft-prospect-preview-unc-forward-caleb-wilson\/\" target=\"_self\">NBA<\/a> purgatory this year?<\/p>\n<p>While it is just the preseason, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/04\/how-caleb-grill-can-carve-out-a-role-on-the-chicago-bulls\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago<\/a> is 2-1 in the exhibition slate despite being shorthanded. The most promising development of the early going for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/27\/nikola-vucevic-bulls-trade-rumors-lakers\/\" target=\"_self\">Bulls<\/a> is that they may be deeper this year &#8212; Chicago&#8217;s bench ranked in the bottom third in efficiency last year, and the play of their youngsters is promising.<\/p>\n<h2>Bulls Set Roster While Star Guard Expected To Be Ready By Opening Night, Others Trending In The Right Direction?<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_162719\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-162719\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-162719\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27311913_168401876_lowres.jpg 1771w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-162719\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chicago defeated Cleveland in its first two preseason games before falling to Milwaukee 127-121 last night. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dosunay01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ayo Dosunm<\/a>u, who produced his most efficient preseason, led the way with 22 points, while their budding star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buzelma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matas Buzelis<\/a> has shown improvement in his shooting early on. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giddejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Giddey<\/a>, a late signee, also had his most efficient game of the preseason against the Bucks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ayo has delivered some seriously good mins here in the preseason, &#8220;<a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JoelXLorenzi\/status\/1977540361141502277\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic<\/a> tweeted during the Bulls game against the Bucks. &#8220;Tonight especially. Lot of his offense feels unforced, and he\u2019s putting so much pressure on the rim. 22 pts on just three missed shots going into the fourth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All totaled, 18 Bulls have seen action this preseason, with the lone exception being<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whiteco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Coby White<\/a>. White, who has said he plans to test free agency next summer, is dealing with a calf injury that he sustained in August. While White is expected to be ready by opening night, he will likely not play this preseason.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/donovbi99c.html#:~:text=William%20John%20Donovan%20%28Billy%20the%20Kid%29%20Born%3A%20May,2.4%20PPG%2C%200.6%20RPG%2C%202.0%20APG%20%28Full%20Record%29\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Donovan<\/a> says the likelihood of Coby White making his debut this preseason is \u201cprobably\u201d unlikely. <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JoelXLorenzi\/status\/1977786888552431866\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lorenzi reported today<\/a>. &#8220;Says that his calf likely feels good to the point he *could* play, but that the sense is medical doesn\u2019t feel comfortable with the amount of ramp-up time he has.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Bulls Have Other Injury Concerns<\/h3>\n<p>White is not the only Bull dealing with an injury. According to <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KCJHoop\/status\/1977788225147298150\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">K.C. Johnson of CHSN<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonestr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tre Jones (foot)<\/a>,\u00a0<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a> (groin), and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/phillju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julian Phillips<\/a> (knee soreness) are dealing with ailments. Huerter and Phillips have missed the last two preseason games.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said Huerter is trending in the right direction and participated in practice today.\u00a0 He added that Huerter, who played well after coming over from Sacramento at the NBA trade deadline, won&#8217;t play against Denver tomorrow but could play in the team&#8217;s final preseason contest against Minnesota (Thursday).<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jones (foot) and Phillips missed practice, though both could play tomorrow night. There was no word that <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kawamyu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yuki Kawamura<\/a> didn&#8217;t practice after sitting out Sunday&#8217;s contest due to a lower leg injury. Kawamura, on a two-way deal, has averaged 10 minutes in his two preseason affairs.<\/p>\n<h3>Bulls Set 18-Man Roster.<\/h3>\n<p>Coming into the preseason, Chicago knew who they were going to roll. That is why <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gueyemo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mouhamadou Gueye<\/a> was the only player in camp who was not on a standard or two-way deal.\u00a0 The Bulls officially set their 18-man Roster after waiving Guye earlier today.<\/p>\n<p>Guye will likely head to the G League with the Windy City Bulls, as he has signed an Exhibit 10 deal. The 27-year-old forward, known for his hustle and defense, totaled four points and two rebounds in eight minutes of action this preseason.<\/p>\n<p><a  class=\"ng-binding ng-scope\" title=\"Matt Marton\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imagn.com\/searchByPhotographerId\/Matt%20Marton\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a9 Matt Marton<\/a> Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could the Chicago Bulls finally get out of NBA purgatory this year? While it is just the preseason, Chicago is 2-1 in the exhibition slate despite being shorthanded. The most promising development of the early going for the Bulls is that they may be deeper this year &#8212; Chicago&#8217;s bench ranked in the bottom third [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":162717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,62,3],"tags":[545,1782,49148,4745],"class_list":["post-162635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","tag-billy-donovan","tag-coby-white","tag-matas-buzelis","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162635"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162723,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162635\/revisions\/162723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}