The Chicago Bulls certainly have not been playing their best basketball lately, and the injuries are starting to mount up. The Bulls best player Jimmy Butler missed their last game, a win over the Sacramento Kings, on Wednesday night, and they can certainly use a spark despite the win. The Bulls luckily might be getting one as soon as this weekend, as Mike Dunleavy is expected to make his season debut on Saturday when the Bulls take on the Timberwolves, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Dunleavy underwent back surgery last offseason and was expected to miss some time, but he has missed much more time than the Bulls would have anticipated. Dunleavy was working his way back to getting on the floor earlier this season, but he suffered a setback which pushed his timetable back. Now it seems like Dunleavy will finally return as long as he doesn't suffer another setback between now and Saturday's game.
The 35-year-old guard spent some time earlier this week practicing with Santa Cruz of the NBA D-League participating in full-contact practices. Dunleavy reportedly met up with the Bulls in Sacramento on Wednesday, and the plan is for him to travel with the team for its game in Denver on Friday but to be active on Saturday.
There is still no guarantee that Dunleavy will be able to return on Saturday, but the Bulls definitely seem optimistic about it. There is always a chance that he can suffer another setback between now and then, so the Bulls will likely bring him along slowly despite the fact that they need him. It is unclear whether Dunleavy will be inserted into the starting lineup immediately, but whatever kind of minutes he can give them they will take.
Dunleavy doesn't really jump out at you in terms of statistics, but he is a guy that is so valuable because of the little things he does. Dunleavy did shoot 41 percent from three last season, but he is also a very good team defender and someone that gives Chicago another threat on offense that it can use with Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah out and Butler also hurting. For his career Dunleavy averages 11.7 points in 13 NBA season, and although it is impossible to know what he will bring to the table after being out for so long, he should at the very least provide a boost to a team that could really use one.
