Jaden Ivey (left knee) will not be traveling 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 at 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 make sure he’s got enough quad strength to accelerate and decelerate.
“When you’re out there playing and you’ve got fatigue and dealing with a sore knee and you’ve got some strength deficiency, then you’re putting yourself in harm’s way,” Donovan said.
Acquired Feb. 3, Ivey’s lack of explosiveness was obvious, especially compared to his form before breaking his fibula in 2025 and a knee injury during the 2025 preseason. Following a Feb. 19 loss to the Raptors when he did not play, Ivey declared the “old J.I. is dead.” He was shut down two days later.
Anfernee Simons (left wrist), Jalen Smith (right calf) and Patrick Williams (right quadricep) will travel. Donovan said there’s hope Williams and Smith could return at some point during the trip. Simons, Donovan said, is still dealing with some discomfort in the hand.
Miller time
One positive of the Bulls’ current injury plight is that it gives somewhat-overlooked players a chance to impress in relatively low-stakes situations.
Forward Leonard Miller is somebody taking advantage of that opportunity.
“I’m trying to do that right now,” said Miller, who along with Collin Sexton was one of the first two Bulls off the bench Tuesday night. “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 trade that sent Ayo Dosunmu to Minnesota, Miller scored a career-high 15 points in the Bulls’ win Sunday over Milwaukee. That followed his Feb. 26 outing against the Trail Blazers when 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, good length and passes and shoots well, and that the Bulls have gotten “really good minutes” from him the past couple games.
“He impacts the game a lot of different ways,” Donovan said. “He’s on the glass, he’s around the basket and he can make a [3-pointer]. He can put it down.”
Miller, 22, was a second-round pick in the 2023 draft and played 49 games over three seasons with the Timberwolves.
Distant but familiar
Josh Giddey began his NBA career with the Thunder, taken sixth overall in the 2021 draft. Despite his obvious potential, the Thunder dealt him to the Bulls for Alex Caruso, who proved to be a key piece of the Thunder’s 2025 NBA champion.
Busier with his own team than the Bulls, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault hasn’t had much time to watch his former player. From what he’s seen, Giddey’s shooting has improved and his body has matured since the trade to the Bulls.
“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.”