PHILADELPHIA – It no longer feels like Jaden Ivey has a shrinking runway for a return this season.
It’s down to about a sidewalk.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan gave the latest update on Ivey on Wednesday, and it wasn’t great. Acquired from Detroit in the Kevin Huerter trade, Ivey was back practicing last week after a month-long knee strengthening program and of course collided with a teammate.
Before that setback, Ivey was expected to return to play at some point on this current four-city road trip. A trip that Ivey was no longer a part of.
“After he banged knees, he did have some swelling,” Donovan said. “That’s down now. He’s made some progress, but he’s not on this trip now, he was (left) behind and try to continue to work on his strength and get him stronger. Banging the knee gave him a little more discomfort.”
Not the only discomfort Donovan’s roster was going through.
While the one-sided 157-137 laugher against Philadelphia was bad enough, the Bulls also lost Nick Richards with a right elbow injury and Jalen Smith to his recurring calf issue in the first half. Not ideal for a team already playing undersized in the frontcourt, and 76ers center Joel Embiid made them pay with 35 points in 28 minutes of work.
“We’re not mathematically eliminated, but we’re pretty much eliminated,” guard Josh Giddey said of the latest loss. “I think the important thing (the rest of the season) is we try and play the right way.”
Basically, the opposite of what they did against Philadelphia, especially in a third quarter in which they allowed 51 points.
“It was disappointing,” Donovan said. “Even before Jalen got hurt, Nick got hurt, we didn’t start off the game shooting the ball well.”
Donovan thought that poor start bled into all aspects of the game and there was no recovery.
Meanwhile, the Bulls (29-43) at least have some immediate clarity with Smith and Richards. Smith has one more year left on his deal, while Richards is a free agent. The challenge of the Ivey situation is he’s a re
