BREAKING: The Bulls lose a crucial player for two to four weeks due to injury.

The Chicago Bulls, more than any other team in the Eastern Conference, needed a long All-Star Break break because they were missing three of their six highest paid players. Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball will be out for the remainder of the season, but the Bulls are counting on Patrick Williams to return quickly in order to get back into the postseason race before the season ends.

With the rotation getting thinner by the day, even the healthy players could use a little vacation. They have to carry a bigger burden. When it comes to total minutes played this season, DeMar DeRozan and Coby White actually rank first and second, with Nikola Vucevic not too far behind at 27th.

This is particularly true for Torrey Craig, who suffered a foot sprain early in the season that required him to miss 22 games. Craig needed this rest to get his legs under him because he wasn’t quite as effective in the six post-injury games he played prior to the All-Star Break.

Regretfully, the situation has gotten worse. Rather than recovering from his foot injury, Craig’s issues have gotten worse. It looks like he may miss the next two to four weeks because of a knee sprain.

Without Torrey Craig, the Bulls will find it difficult to win their remaining 27 games.
The Bulls were already operating with a depleted roster, so losing a third 3-and-D specialist will be a severe blow going forward. Nobody on this Bulls team plays the same role as Craig, a versatile wing defender and dependable three-point shooter, aside from Patrick Williams.

Craig is a player who understands his role and excels in it, averaging 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game off the bench while shooting 37.4% from beyond the arc. He’s not exactly packing the stat sheet, but that kind of output from a player on a veteran’s minimum contract is difficult to be upset about.

Expect more playing time for rookie Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry on the wings in his absence. Even though I really want the best for these two, at this point in their careers I’m not entirely sure that I can count on them to be important players on a team that contends for the playoffs.

The good news here is that Craig should be able to return in time for a possible postseason run, at the very least. The bad news is that without him, the Bulls might not be able to make the playoffs.

Chicago still has Craig under contract for next season at a low cost, if all else fails. Given how unlucky the Bulls have been with injuries this year, it might be best for the team to take a break and start planning how they can recover for the following campaign. I’m just not sure Chicago has enough firepower left to be the threat that Arturas Karnisovas obviously still thinks the Bulls are in an Eastern Conference that has more talent at the top than ever before.