Chicago Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. injured his right ankle on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks and didn't play on Wednesday versus the New Orleans Pelicans.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Carter will miss multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain:
MRI on Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. revealed a high right ankle sprain and likely to miss multiple weeks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Bulls will evaluate Carter on daily basis.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 9, 2020
The Bulls, after losing to the Pelicans, are 13-25 on the season. They are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings and have lost five games in a row.
Carter has appeared in 37 games this season for the Bulls. He's averaging 11.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.9 blocks while shooting 53.7 percent from the field, 21.4 percent from beyond the arc and 73.6 percent from the free-throw line.
The Bulls started Thaddeus Young in place of Carter against the Pelicans. The lefty figures to remain in the starting lineup until Carter is back.
Chicago drafted Carter with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Duke. He has career NBA averages of 11.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Carter is one of the players the Bulls are building around. He's part of the core which includes Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Coby White.
The Bulls are only four games back of the Brooklyn Nets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Because the back half of the Eastern Conference is so bad, the Bulls will likely be in the playoff race for the whole season assuming they don't free fall now that Wendell Carter Jr. is out.
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