Bad news for Bulls fans: Luol Deng, who hasn't played since Feb. 28 due to a stress fracture in his right tibia, may not play again this year. Technically speaking, he hasn't yet ruled out a return in the postseason, but after suffering "a great deal of pain" following a recent workout, there's no chance he'll return before the regular season ends next Wednesday.Because Deng's injury is in his leg, he hasn't been able to do much activity to maintain his conditioning, so even if he does return for the postseason he'll likely be limited to playing short stretches. As he told reporters, that's fine with him. From the Chicago Tribune:
"Even if I'm capable of just being back for 5-10 minutes, I can give guys some rest," Deng said. "Those guys are playing a lot of minutes so I want to help out."That's admirable of him, but is it the smart thing to do? It'd be one thing if the Bulls had legitimate title hopes, but they don't. Instead, they're destined to enter the playoffs as either the seventh or eighth seed, meaning they'll draw a first-round matchup against the Celtics or Cavaliers, respectively.
Realistically speaking, what's the best-case scenario? A six-game series? Even that might be too generous. Is it worth it for Deng to risk further injury by rushing back for that? I don't see it, especially considering another setback would put the nail in the coffin on his hopes to represent Great Britain in September's EuroBasket tournament.
