Injuries continue to hinder the Chicago Bulls as Patrick Williams is still experiencing pain in his foot while Torrey Craig has sprained his knee

The Chicago Bulls will head to the regular season’s final stretch without many forwards, as Patrick Williams’ ramp-up towards a return hasn’t gone according to plan, while Torrey Craig sprained his knee working out during the All-Star break. This leaves the Bulls’ frontcourt rotation paper thin, with numerous players set to play out of position and take on more prominent roles.

Cautious ramp-up

Williams, who had been out since January 25 due to acute bone edema in his left foot, was slated to begin cutting and running after the All-Star break. However, the team’s medical staff deemed it best to have Williams go through a slow ramp-up as he continues to experience pain in his foot.

“Patrick is doing the light, slow ramp-up. Everything they do is going to be based on his pain and what he can tolerate. Quite honestly, there have been certain things where he’s felt it. He’s much better than he was. I think when this first happened, he was feeling it walking. He’s beyond that right now. But they’re going to be very, very careful in terms of how much they continue to push through and how much they pull back on him,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.

Donovan added that the Bulls’ trainers will monitor Williams’ on-court activities to ensure he doesn’t suffer any setbacks moving forward.

“They just want to make sure on the ramp-up, where if he continues to feel pain, they have to pull back. And that’s where they’re at right now. He has done stuff. For a period of time, he was in the boot and not doing anything but lifting weights. He has done some low-level stuff on the court. He feels much better than he did prior to this. But they’re not going to push him until those symptoms are completely gone.”