There was a brief moment of excitement on Monday.
As Bulls coach Jim Boylen was doing his pregame media session outside the visiting locker room of the TD Garden Arena, out walked veteran forward Otto Porter Jr., workout clothes on, not a walking boot in sight.
Excitement often fades quickly when it comes to Porter, however.
What looked to be a visit to the court was nothing more than a quick lift in the workout room. That’s why very little clarity was being offered up on Wednesday, when the Porter topic was once again brought up.
“There’s no clarity,’’ Boylen said, when asked if the timetable for Porter (broken left foot) has changed in anyway. “He’s basically where he’s at. We’ll wait to see.’’
It could be a long wait.
Porter played in just nine games to start the season, before suffering what was first diagnosed as a contusion. Further testing was done when the healing wasn’t going anywhere, and it was diagnosed again, this time as a break.
There has been very little progress updated since.
“Every day I just hope it’s a little better, he hopes it’s a little better,’’ Boylen said. “He’s very frustrated. I just try and keep him up and be positive, and ‘We’ll take you back when you come back.’ Like I’ve said before, the injury thing is very hard on the team. It’s even harder on the player. You’ve got a prideful guy that knows he can help us win and is a big part of what we’re building, and he can’t play.’’
But there has to be some reality to the situation as well.
The season is weeks away from the All-Star Break, and say Porter starts activity at that point. A big if considering he was still in the walking boot to start the week. By the time he gets reconditioned and maybe sees some practice time with the G-League Windy City Bulls, the season could very well be into March.
Why even play him then?
Porter owns the player option for next season at $28.4 million, so is likely untradeable. The last thing this rebuild needs is another setback to Porter’s foot, and then he becomes dead money next season, once again on the rehab hamster wheel.
Boylen was asked if there was any discussions about just shutting him down for the remainder of the season, and said it hasn’t reached that point yet.
“We haven’t discussed that,’’ Boylen said. “We’ll always do what’s in the best interest of him and his career, his future. I think he just wants to get out with the guys and play.
“He’s very vocal still. He’s like another coach out there in our film sessions, so he’s engaged, he’s locked in, he’s not out there.’’
Second look
The Bulls bench has had more than a few different looks this season, and with the thumb injury to rookie Daniel Gafford in the first quarter against the Wizards, will likely see yet more changes.
Whichever direction Boylen goes, that second unit knows it needs to do better. There have been too many lulls from the bench the last month, especially on the offensive end, and that was one of the reasons Boylen reinserted Ryan Arcidiacono in that group.
“For me, do whatever is needed out there,’’ Arcidiacono said. “If I can knock down a shot, or at least take some, that could open up the spacing for Coby [White] to drive. As a group, we just need to battle out there. Don’t give them easy looks and keep them away from any runs or spurts.’’
