The Chicago Bulls are sitting in the ninth spot of the Eastern Conference standings. At this point, every game is critical if they intend to get into the playoffs, which was the goal at the beginning of the year. However, healthy bodies have been lacking for the Bulls, as they have relied on depth more than they originally intended to. That will change with the return of Jimmy Butler, but can he and Derrick Rose co-exist enough to get wins?
Butler has been out since Feb. 18 after suffering a knee strain in a game against the Denver Nuggets. The 26-year-old was lucky and did not have any structural damage to the knee, but the Bulls proceeded with caution when it came to his return to the court. All of that will change as Butler makes his return on Saturday against the Houston Rockets. He will not have any minute restrictions, as Chicago needs him to bounce back to being the player that was averaging 22.4 points and 4.3 assists prior to getting hurt. Head coach Fred Hoiberg was still cautious when discussing Butler's status.
"[He] had a great workout today," Hoiberg said. "I actually talked to him on the phone a little bit ago, and he'll be back in there [Thursday], practice fully with the team on Friday, and then we'll make the decision. It's still too early to tell if he'll play on Saturday, but he's definitely making progress."
Getting Butler back on the court means that Rose will have to figure out how to take a back seat to the shooting guard at times. The two stars have had plenty of issues co-existing on the court together when they are both healthy. Rose and Butler play two different styles of basketball. However, their chemistry will be the biggest x-factor in whether or not Chicago makes it to the playoffs. Hoiberg is confident that the two can figure things out in time.
"Well, I think a big thing right now is we've had such good movement, the ball swinging side-to-side,'' he said. "We're making a lot quicker decisions than we were making earlier in the year. That benefits everybody. It's not always going to be the same person every night. Our guys have to understand that if you play the right way it's going to give you the best opportunity to win."
The Bulls will still be short-handed when it comes to healthy bodies, even when Butler returns. Taj Gibson is playing with a strained hamstring, while Nikola Mirotic is working on returning following an appendectomy. Hoiberg said that Mirotic has started to work out again, but the team needs him to regain the 17 pounds he lost following the surgery before he can get back on the court.
