On December 13, Beijing time, according to US media reports, Bulls players Zach Lavin and Troy Brown triggered a health and safety agreement, and White, who was previously quarantined, has resumed training, which means that the number of players quarantined by the Bulls has reached 8. In addition to Lavin and Brown, DeRozan, Jawant Green, Matt Thomas, Jones Jr., Dorsham and Stanley Johnson are also in quarantine.
According to the league regulations, they must quarantine for at least 10 days, or test negative twice in a row for 24 hours before they can pass the NBA's approval and return to the team. With Patrick Williams sidelined due to a wrist injury, the Bulls don't have many players available, and their next game is at home against the Pistons on Wednesday. Before White went to training, reporters listed the Bulls' current list of nine players available: Vucevic, Ball Brother, Caruso, Bradley, Johnson, Dotson, Cook, Simonovic, McKinney. Counting White, that's 10.
ESPN reporter Warnaroski reported that by the time of the game against the Pistons, Green's quarantine period has also reached 10 days, but whether White and Green can play in Wednesday's game is still unknown.
The NBA requires a team to have at least eight players to play. So far, the league's position has not changed, in other words, it is the number of healthy players, not the identity of healthy players, to decide whether the game is played or postponed.
The Bulls have passed the league's difficult regulations and signed two players to a 10-day contract, and unless White and Green return, they have the option of adding more players. Stanley Johnson was one of their new signings, but he was quarantined two days after signing, with another new signing, McKinney, playing 29 minutes against the Heat and scoring six points.
The Bulls are a fully vaccinated team, and Vucevic said most of the team's members have been given booster injections and that they are being tested daily. Obviously, the team's situation is still a bit out of control. Coach Donovan said he had not heard of the league postponing any games for the Bulls, and last season, the NBA postponed 31 games due to the pandemic, but since the start of the 2021-22 season, no game has been postponed.