The 2015–16 NBA season has not started yet, but this early, the Chicago Bulls may need to make necessary adjustments with Mike Dunleavy Jr. likely out until 2016.
Dunleavy, a known shooter who could make life easier for the ones who operate in the middle, recently underwent a low back microdiscectomy procedure that would keep him out of action for about eight to 10 weeks.
The 13-year NBA veteran was re-signed last July despite growing interest from other teams, mostly because of his outside sniping that could spread the defense of opposing teams. The Bulls will now have to look for other options within their ranks to fill up the slack.
The timetable for Dunleavy's return depends largely on his recovery. He could return by Nov. 20 at the earliest or Dec. 4 at the latest. Those are, however, dates that would rely heavily on whether or not he recuperates as scheduled.
If not, the safest estimate would see him return in 2016.
There are two players who could possibly fill in the void — Doug McDermott and Jimmy Butler.
McDermott has proven that he can hit it from the outside, and seeing that he was riddled with injuries last season, he could be selected to take the place of Dunleavy in the meantime. McDermott owns a 40.2% average from the field and 31.7% from the three point region.
Another option could be Jimmy Butler. While he is expected to go to the basket more, he does have a decent outside shot to go with that. With all the issues surrounding how he and Derrick Rose could share the ball, it remains to be seen if new head coach Fred Hoiberg would relegate Butler to that role at least only when needed.
Between the two, it is likely that McDermott would be a wiser choice seeing that Butler is expected to do a whole lot more than be a shooter waiting in the wings.
