While coach Billy Donovan couldn’t promise Javonte Green a defined role, they did bring the veteran wing in to help with the short-handed wing position.
Alex Brandon/AP
Javonte Green has a very specific job description.
One that the wing is very familiar with.
“He’s got a motor, he’s got energy,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of Green on Saturday. “I talked to him about this; he’s just got to be ready to go out and play, do what he does.”
That also doesn’t mean that Green was promised a certain number of minutes or any playing time at all. The Bulls signed him to a 10-day contract as a hardship exception because of all the injuries they’ve been dealing with, and because there’s a certain amount of familiarity they have with Green, who was a Bull for the previous three seasons.
“Just be myself,” Green told reporters of getting his latest opportunity. “Obviously, the Bulls know what I bring to the table.”
That they do, as Green played 113 games with them after he was acquired from Boston in that 2020-21 season, including 46 starts.
He suffered a knee injury last year, however, and it took a much longer time to recover than first thought. That’s why he found himself without a team in free agency, eventually ending up with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League.
Green did come to the game between the Bulls and Warriors earlier this month, surprising his former teammates afterward in the locker room, and now he’ll no longer have to make unannounced visits.
“Having another body with some of the things we’ve had to deal with, especially at that wing spot, just to bring him in,” Donovan said of the move. “Obviously, he was coming off dealing with his knee last summer and the familiarity piece with the players, with the staff. Things have changed some, but he’ll be able to pick those things up. I trust his energy as far as throwing him in there.
“Like I told him, it’s not a situation where I carved out a role for him. He just needs to be ready when an opportunity calls.”
Foot work
The Bulls haven’t had the best of luck with injured feet and walking boots this season, already losing Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams to surgeries.
Now, they find themselves playing the guessing game with rookie Julian Phillips, who was still in a walking boot with a sprained right foot.
He was expected to be re-evaluated soon, but with no promises.
“A lot of it is going to be where the pain level is at,” Donovan said. “He’s been in a boot to take away some of the discomfort. I think that’s kind of gone away. From where it was it’s gotten better, but we’re not going to know anything until he can actually get back on the floor and see what happens with him physically. There’s still some uncertainty on OK, how does he respond once he gets out of the boot? Does he have setbacks? We don’t know that.”
Phillips has played in 40 games this season, getting just over eight minutes per game.
Next man up
With the Bulls still playing short-handed and Jevon Carter barely getting playing time, second-year guard Dalen Terry has seen his minutes continue to get a bump.
Terry started the month playing single-digit minutes the first four games, but since then played 13 against the Clippers, 19 against the Wizards, 15 against Portland and then 17 in Houston. He saw 10 minutes in the first half against Boston.