The Chicago Bulls are about to embark on a tough West Coast road trip, but they're going to be without one of their All-Stars in Nikola Vucevic. NBC Sports Chicago's K.C. Johnson first reported that Vucevic was placed in the NBA's health and safety protocols, and he'll miss 10 days due to a positive COVID-19 test unless he returns two negative tests in a 24-hour period before that. The Bulls are reportedly fully vaccinated as a team.

There's a chance Vucevic caught COVID from Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid after they faced off twice in the last week:

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A 10-day absence would mean Vucevic is out for the entire five-game road trip, which features matchups against the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets. That's quite a murderers' row of opponents, so Vucevic missing all these games is a brutal blow for a Bulls squad that's already without starting power forward Patrick Williams for the season.

Vucevic has struggled to start 2021-22, but he played well in Wednesday's win over the Dallas Mavericks and is one of the few Bulls with legitimate size. Tony Bradley is a big body as the backup center, but the rest of the roster is rather small. How Billy Donovan navigates this road trip without his starting center will be something to watch. Don't be surprise if he plays really small a lot.

The good news for the Bulls is they're 8-3 on the young season, so there's some cushion here if they struggle on this road trip. Given the current roster (Coby White is also out, but he could be back on this trip), snagging two wins would have to be seen as a positive. It's going to take a team effort to make up for these key absences against a difficult schedule.