It’s not easy to assess what kind of season Tomas Satoransky is having for the Bulls.
The back-up guard has been in the NBA’s coronavirus safety protocol twice since the year tipped off – once because of contact tracing and a second time for contact tracing that eventually turned into a positive test. And all this after showing up to camp in as good as shape as he could recall.
Unquestionably bad luck for the 6-foot-7 veteran, but equally as painful for the organization to have to maneuver.
On paper, Satoransky should be the perfect back-up for Coby White, especially when the second-year guard is struggling in that lead-guard role. Based on the last week, that’s been frequent.
But because of the multiple lengthy shutdowns for Satoransky, both his conditioning and rhythm have taken one step forward and two steps back.
“He obviously had two stints, so I mean that’s hard,’’ coach Billy Donovan said of Satoransky. “I think he’s at a much better place now then maybe he was a few games ago.’’
The minutes he’s been earning shows that.
Back in late December, Satoransky was averaging just under 23 minutes per game. His second shutdown, however, lasted over three weeks, and when he returned it was 11 minutes against Charlotte and then 12 minutes against the Lakers on Jan. 23.
Getting 21 minutes on Friday in Orlando, and more impressively, finishing with a plus-19 in the plus/minus category, were all good signs that Satoransky was moving forward as far as Donovan was concerned.
“I think he’s getting his legs back under him, he’s trying to find himself, but each game I think he’s out there playing I think he’ll be more and more comfortable,’’ Donovan said.
What’s still not in the immediate future, however, is Donovan seeing enough of a struggle for White that he moves Satoransky into that starting unit. Maybe he staggers the two a bit more, but it’s still up to White to develop into that lead guard.
“I think Coby, he has competed really well, he has shot the ball very well,’’ Donovan said. “I think the ball in his hands, point guard position he is evolving, learning, growing so to speak. I know we’re 20 or 21 games into it, and we talked about that maybe when we were 10 or 15 games into it.
“Is it a situation where maybe you bring Sato in a little bit earlier? You stagger those guys? But I’m not at a point where I just say, ‘Hey, listen we’re done with him.’ I wouldn’t do that. I think he’s too important to our team. He does compete, I trust him in that area. I just think he’s a guy that’s 20 years old, and there’s going to be some of these moments where he’s going to be up and down.’’
Otto-matic
Veteran forward Otto Porter Jr. was with the team in Orlando, but again in street clothes for both games as he continues getting treatment for back spasms that have been hampering his play for weeks.
As far as any sort of timetable for his return, Donovan had no guess.
“Listen, I know there’s been a lot of questions because he’s an important part to our team,’’ Donovan said. “When he’s been out there and playing well, I think it’s really elevated and helped our team, but at the same point I think we’re trying to figure out could this be something that will be reoccurring? Can we get it resolved? And a lot is going to depend on how he’s feeling as well.’’
