CHICAGO _ As Tuesday's morning shootaround at the United Center ended, Zach LaVine threw down a windmill dunk and Nikola Mirotic followed with an alley-oop to himself off the glass.
Too bad such baskets won't count for a while.
Mirotic and LaVine won't travel to Denver on Wednesday but instead will practice with the Bulls' G League Windy City team.
"We just don't have a lot of practice time with all the games we're playing on top of each other. So we'll utilize the Windy City situation as much as possible," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They should be able to get quality workouts."
The Bulls have been stressing a conservative approach regarding LaVine's return from left ACL repair. But news of LaVine getting cleared for contact and performing highlight-reel plays in workouts raised excitement.
Hoiberg tapped the brakes by saying a late-December return is more likely, and a source said early January hasn't been ruled out.
"A plan was put into place," Hoiberg said. "He didn't do a lot (Tuesday). He was really sore, especially in the hamstrings and quads. He's itching to get back. He's a competitor. But we have to be really careful about not overloading him."
Hoiberg said Mirotic, who still hasn't spoken to Bobby Portis, had general body soreness after his first practice since Portis punched him on Oct. 17. His return could be late this week or early next. During the Suns game Tuesday night, Mirotic sat on the bench in street clothes for the first time this season.
