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The illness that sent RJ Barrett to the locker room in the second quarter of the Knicks’ loss Tuesday night at Brooklyn also kept him sidelined Thursday night.
Barrett, the only player to appear in all 72 games for the Knicks last season, sat out for the first time this year in the home game against the Bulls with what the team called a non-COVID related illness. Rookie center Jericho Sims also was ruled out for the same reason.
Nerlens Noel also was sidelined again with a sore right knee after playing in the previous five games. The 6-foot-11 center also had missed 12 of the team’s first 16 games in two stints with knee issues. Taj Gibson, who also missed time last week with a groin issue, was expected to take Noel’s second-unit minutes.
The Bulls must forfeit their next available second-round draft pick due to having “premature discussions” with representatives of guard Lonzo Ball ahead of the opening of free agency on Aug. 2, the NBA announced Wednesday. The Heat were similarly docked due to their offseason recruitment of free-agent guard Kyle Lowry.
“I’m happy it’s over with, personally,” Chicago coach Billy Donovan said before the Knicks and Bulls played Thursday night. “I obviously had heard about it when it first happened. The front office kind of made me aware of it.
“I think because it was a private matter, I was not included in any of those discussions or talks that went on between the organization and the league. So, I’m happy for our organization to just get back to playing basketball.”
The Bulls were without guard Coby White, who entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday, and forward Patrick Williams (wrist). Two-time All-Star forward Nikola Vucevic had missed five games for Chicago last month after testing positive for COVID-19. extra
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