(670 The Score) Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky as well as a team support staffer have tested positive for COVID-19, coach Billy Donovan said Sunday evening.
Satoransky is the second Bulls player publicly known to have tested positive in recent days, as forward Chandler Hutchison did so as well. Satoransky missed Chicago’s win at Washington on Thursday and loss at Milwaukee on Friday as he was away from the team in the NBA health and safety protocols. Satoransky is back in Chicago now, while Hutchison remains in Washington D.C., the team said. News of Hutchison's positive test was revealed Friday.
Big man Lauri Markkanen and guard Ryan Arcidiacono are still in the NBA protocols as well and will also be out when the Bulls host the Mavericks on Sunday evening.
Players who test positive for COVID-19 have to miss at least 12 days of action under the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Thursday marked the first day that Satoransky was listed in the protocol process. It wasn't clear exactly which day Satoransky returned a positive test.
Chicago is set to embark on a four-game West Coast road trip soon, with the first contest coming at Portland on Tuesday. None of the aforementioned four players will travel with the team. There's an outside chance Markkanen or Arcidiacono could be cleared to join the team later in the trip, but Donovan suggested the Bulls probably wouldn't put a player on a cross-country commercial flight just to play one game.
Satoransky is averaging 6.3 points and 6.0 assists in 22.7 minutes in three games as part of the Bulls’ second unit.
Satoransky is the fourth Bulls player to be publicly known to have contracted COVID-19. In addition to Hutchison, wing Garrett Temple tested positive in late November upon reporting for training camp. Big man Noah Vonleh, who was on a training camp invite, also tested positive before being released in December.
Donovan doesn't think his team has acted irresponsibly in any way, emphasizing his players and the team have been following all NBA protocols.
“I don’t think so,” Donovan said. “I think our guys have been really pretty compliant. If there has been anything they’ve been able to do on these road trips, it’s all been league-approved as it relates to restaurants or going somewhere. I think our guys have been really, really compliant with the stuff. The thing that I can not speak to is we just finished up the holiday season. I think for our guys, all of them have been very, very conscientious, but a lot of times, it could be coming from family, it could be coming from outside people getting together. Some of these guys have kids. Some of these kids, maybe some schools are open, maybe some schools are closed. There are just a lot of different ways, but I don’t think our guys are being irresponsible in terms of going out and putting themselves in harm’s way.”
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.