The Chicago Bulls have won five of their last seven games and their record now sits at 9-5 which is solid but not anything earth shattering. Chicago has been a relatively healthy team so far this season aside from Mike Dunleavy who has yet to play this season and his absence has gone under the radar but he is definitely missed. Dunleavy appeared to be working his way back towards a return but now it seems like he may have suffered a setback, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago.
Dunleavy had a lower back microdisectomy at the end of September and was given an 8-10 week timetable for a return. It has now been more than two months since the surgery and Dunleavy appeared to be right on track as he was travelling with the team and reportedly ramping up his workload but he is now expected to see a doctor again after he was experiencing some soreness. It is unknown right now if this is just typical soreness from being rusty or if this is a setback but it likely will push his timeline back a little bit as he doesn't want to rush anything.
"I don't know. Hopefully soon, but trying to get completely right and feel good and safe enough to go out there and play. It's a little of pain management, but I haven't played since May so it's getting into basketball shape, getting my legs under me where I can feel comfortable, where I can go out there and not re-injure myself," said Dunleavy.
Dunleavy also added that he has had trouble sleeping recently due to the back pain which doesn't seem like a good sign but neither he nor head coach Fred Hoiberg sounded overly concerned about this new development. It appears that there will be more clarity on the situation once Dunleavy is checked out by a doctor at some point on Monday.
Without Dunleavy the Bulls have been playing just fine but the small forward position has been one of the weak points. Doug McDermott and Tony Snell have split the time there and each of them has had their shortcomings. While Snell is making 41 percent of his threes he is shooting just 32 percent from the field and his PER is a measly 5.3. McDermott has been great on offense as he is shooting 48 percent from the field and 47 percent from three but he doesn't bring much to the table on defense. Dunleavy isn't a great defender but he's a solid team defender and he can make shots so his return is very important to this Bulls team but for now it is impossible to know when that might come as he might have suffered a setback.
