Bulls still hopeful guard Jaden Ivey can return this season
Guard Jaden Ivey (left knee) won’t travel with the Bulls on their upcoming five-game trip. Coach Billy Donovan said Ivey has made good progress, but the medical team wants to keep him home.
Donovan also sounded confident Ivey would play again this season. Right now, the Bulls are working to get Ivey’s knee to calm down and to make sure he has enough strength in his quad to accelerate and decelerate.
‘‘When you’re out there playing and you’ve got fatigue and are dealing with a sore knee and you’ve got some strength deficiency, then you’re putting yourself in harm’s way,’’ Donovan said.
After the Bulls acquired Ivey in a trade Feb. 3 with the Pistons, his lack of explosiveness was obvious, especially compared to his form before he suffered a broken left leg in January 2025 and an injury to his right knee during the preseason. After not playing in the Bulls’ loss Feb. 19 to the Raptors, Ivey declared the ‘‘old J.I. is dead.’’ He was shut down two days later.
Guard Anfernee Simons (left wrist) and forwards Jalen Smith (right calf) and Patrick Williams (right quadriceps) will travel. Donovan said that Williams and Smith might return at some point during the trip but that Simons still is dealing with some discomfort in the hand.
Miller time
One positive about the Bulls’ injury plight is that it gives some players a chance to impress in relatively low-stakes situations.
Forward Leonard Miller is someone who is taking advantage of that opportunity.
‘‘I’m trying to do that right now,’’ said Miller, who was one of the first Bulls off the bench Tuesday against the Thunder. ‘‘I feel like so far I have been, and I’m just going to continue to build.’’
Acquired from the Timberwolves as part of the Ayo Dosunmu trade, Miller scored a career-high 15 points in the Bulls’ victory Sunday against the Bucks. That followed his outing Thursday against the Trail Blazers in which he scored 11 to reach double figures for the first time in his career.
Donovan said Miller has a strong feel for how to play, has good length and passes and shoots well. He also said the Bulls have gotten ‘‘really good minutes’’ from him the last couple of games.
‘‘He impacts the game [in] a lot of different ways,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘He’s on the glass, he’s around the basket and he can make a [three-pointer]. He can put it down.’’
Miller, 22, was a second-round pick in the 2023 draft and played 49 games in parts of three seasons with the Timberwolves.
Distant but familiar
Guard Josh Giddey began his NBA career with the Thunder, selected sixth overall in the 2021 draft. Despite his obvious potential, the Thunder dealt him to the Bulls for guard Alex Caruso, who proved to be a key piece of their 2025 title team.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is too busy with his own team to watch much of Giddey. From what he has seen, however, he said Giddey’s shooting has improved and his body has matured since the trade.
‘‘He was a guy that had a very high baseline, obviously, with us and also showed the capacity to improve,’’ Daigneault said. ‘‘Usually, the biggest predictor of future improvement is past improvement, and he’s done that.’’