![\"Bulls](\"https:\/\/cdn.nba.com\/teams\/legacy\/www.nba.com\/bulls\/sites\/bulls\/files\/white_team_huddle.jpg\")
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Isaac Okoro was asked to do just about everything during his five seasons with the Cavaliers \u2014 start, come off the bench, guard Jalen Brunson one night, then Jaylen Brown the next.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about sacrifice for the newest Bull. It always has been.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year [with the Cavs], just like previous years, the goal was to win a championship, and if I had to dim my role down to do that, I\u2019m willing to play any role to win a championship,\u201d Okoro said. \u201cAlways the mindset I\u2019ve had coming into the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just the mindset the Bulls will need this season.<\/p>\n
After putting a bow on the preseason with their 126-120 victory over the Timberwolves, the Bulls have final decisions to iron out on a starting unit and rotation before the games actually count. Coach Billy Donovan\u2019s squad will host the Pistons on Wednesday and will use the next five days to figure out a plan of attack.<\/p>\n
Has Okoro shown enough in preseason games and practice to earn a starting nod?<\/p>\n
He was dealing with a sore knee the last few days \u2014 it was the reason he left the game against the Nuggets on Tuesday after the first half \u2014 and was held out against the T-wolves for precautionary reasons.<\/p>\n
But Donovan has seen enough. He didn\u2019t need convincing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a guy that has come off the bench, he has started, so I feel really comfortable with him in the starting lineup or coming off the bench,\u201d said Donovan, who didn\u2019t want to be pinned down just yet. \u201cOne through four, he has pretty much [guarded] every position; you feel comfortable with him doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you look at trying to match up rotations and things like that, I think we have to use the depth on this team. The one thing that\u2019s been hard and a little challenging for us is we just have not been whole [in the preseason], and I have not been able to see as many different combinations as I would have liked to. This is a group that\u2019s been pretty selfless, and they\u2019re comfortable starting or coming off the bench. I think in a lot of situations when you\u2019re dealing with first-unit guys, [Okoro\u2019s] a guy you would feel comfortable defending the other team\u2019s best player because he has done that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Translation from Billy-speak: Okoro had better be prepared to start.<\/p>\n
Donovan and his staff want versatility from this roster. It was on display against Minnesota when Donovan started a big lineup with Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith. Considering the Bulls fell behind 21-8 about seven minutes into the game, it was an experiment that went awry initially.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean the concept of different starting lineups won\u2019t be used.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to these guys about it, and it\u2019s not probably necessarily conventional just from the perspective of we\u2019ve got to get out of the old-school NBA mindset of, \u2018Here\u2019s my rotation, here\u2019s my guys that go in the game and here\u2019s how many minutes they play,\u2019\u2009\u2019\u2019 Donovan said. \u201cI just don\u2019t know if we\u2019re going to be able to do that. Probably over 82 games, there will be a consistent group that starts, but maybe some nights we have to change the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, we have to change starting lineups based on who we\u2019re playing and what the matchups look like for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
So after finishing the preseason with a 3-2 record, it\u2019ll be a waiting game until Donovan makes it official, at least for Game 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect Billy Donovan to do whatever Billy Donovan is going to do, and whatever role that is, me starting or me coming off the bench, I\u2019m willing to do that and help this team win,\u201d Okoro said.<\/p>\n
The versatile guard missed the preseason with a strained calf, but if he can get through a full-contact practice over the weekend with no setbacks, there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll be ready for the regular-season opener against the Pistons.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 126-120 victory over the Timberwolves put a bow on the exhibition season. Now it’ll be up to coach Billy Donovan and his staff to determine a starting five. Isaac Okoro likely will be in that group, but it could be an ever-changing unit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":111616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n