The Chicago Bulls were without DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, Javonte Green and Matt Thomas in an ugly loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night due to health and safety protocols. Now, Derrick Jones Jr. is the latest Bulls player to enter the protocols, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Bulls just signed Stanley Johnson to a 10-day contract via the hardship exception because of all the positive COVID-19 tests. ESPN's Bobby Marks says if Jones is confirmed as a positive test, Chicago will be eligible to sign another player using the hardship exception.
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
The Bulls don't play again until Saturday against the Miami Heat, and they're then off until Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons. So if there's a silver lining, it's that this massive breakout isn't happening during a super busy part of the schedule.
Still, this is rough for a team that's also dealing with an Alex Caruso injury and a possible season-ending injury to Patrick Williams, which was suffered earlier in 2021-22 against the New York Knicks. Nikola Vucevic also missed time due to COVID-19 earlier this season, so Chicago has been hit especially hard by this.
Even with all the health woes, the Bulls are 17-9 on the season, which is good for second place in the Eastern Conference right behind the Brooklyn Nets. When healthy, this team is looking like a potential contender, but right now the goal is to just survive these tough times and hope everybody comes back okay.