Hutchison had a scan on his foot earlier this week that revealed “good bone healing” of his sesamoid bone, head athletic trainer Jeff Tanaka said, but he will be sidelined for two more weeks before being re-evaluated. With just more than a month left in the season and the need for Hutchison to get back into game shape once he’s medically cleared, that leaves a return this season unlikely.
“We may run out of season, but we’ll just take him step by step and stage by stage,” Tanaka said.
Friday marked the 18th straight game that Hutchison missed. He suffered the injury in a loss to the Hawks on Jan. 23 and actually played 41 minutes in the following contest with the ailment, a development that caused the Bulls to come under some outside scrutiny. Hutchison initially raised no fuss about the injury.
Hutchison isn’t yet running and is still feeling pain “occasionally,” Tanaka said.
“We want to make sure he has a long-term healthy result from it,” Tanaka said.
Hutchison, 22, has averaged 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 44 games, including 14 starts. He understands he may be done for the season but is holding out hope to return to the floor if everything goes ideally.
“You got to let it heal,” Hutchison said. “That’s going to be another two weeks, get me up to that eight-week period and then get re-evaluated. In order to get cleared on the court, it will probably take another week or so.
“There’s really nothing you can do about it when it comes to healing. It’s not just something that you can speed up or just wish that it goes away. You got to respect your body and what it’s telling you. If I get back, I get back. If not, then I’ll start taking steps toward preparing for the offseason and next year.”