Head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls are currently in the midst of what has been a relatively frustrating 2023-24 NBA season up to this point. Chicago currently sits in ninth place in the vaunted Eastern Conference playoff picture, and Donovan's squad is on a collision course of mediocrity with the Atlanta Hawks, as the two teams look poised to play one another in the nine vs ten play-in game in the Eastern Conference playoffs next month.
As the regular season enters its stretch run, the Bulls are reportedly bringing in a familiar face to add some much needed depth to their bench.
“The Chicago Bulls are signing guard Javonte Green on a 10-day contract, sources tell ESPN. Green — who played 113 games for the Bulls from 2020 to 2023 — played with Santa Cruz of G League this season,” reported Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
As Wojnarowski mentioned, Green has been with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League (previously referred to as the D League) so far this season, and has evidently played well enough to impress the Chicago brass once again.
This year, Green has averaged 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game on an impressive 49% shooting from the field, including 36% from three point range.
An up and down season for the Bulls
The Bulls have been on a steady decline since the days when they were perched atop the Eastern Conference playoff picture back in the first half of the 2021-22 season, when DeMar DeRozan was playing like a top 10 player in the league and Lonzo Ball looked like the glue to bring everything together.
Since then, Ball hasn't appeared in almost two full seasons due to various leg injuries, and DeRozan, while still playing at an elite level admirably this far into his career, is not quite good enough to make up for what is a heavily flawed Bulls roster.
It should also be noted that the Bulls are without Zach Lavine for the remainder of the season, as he was shut down due to injury earlier in the campaign after seeing his name run through the rumor mill on several different occasions.
Last year, the Bulls also found themselves in a Play In tournament situation, first going on the road to defeat the Toronto Raptors in the first round before bowing out in a tightly contested game vs the Miami Heat in Round Two. The Heat, of course, would go on to win three straight series as the underdog en route to the NBA Finals, where they finally met their match in the Denver Nuggets.
The point being, the Play In tournament is not an automatic sentence for an early playoff exit. But, in the Bulls' case, it probably is.
It's unclear at this point when Javonte Green will make his return to the Windy City. Chicago is next set to take the floor on Saturday night in front of their home fans vs the best team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics, at 8:00 PM ET.
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