Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan gives an update on Javonte Green's status

Bulls fans will not be seeing Javonte Green back on the floor anytime soon.

The Chicago Bulls have had some rotten luck with injuries of late. On Sunday, that continued as head coach Billy Donovan shared the news that forward Javonte Green will remain on the sidelines for the foreseeable future as he continues to rehab after undergoing knee surgery on January 11.

Still not doing any lateral movements

Any hope of Green rejoining the Bulls soon and giving them some much-needed bench help has been dashed, as Donovan told reporters that the 29-year-old isn't doing any lateral movements at this point. He said Green has been doing more of the same movements—forward and backward—as the medical team restricted him from doing more.

"Different stuff that they try to push him towards, they have to go off of his tolerance," Donovan said. "We've been kind of at the same thing where I think the linear, straight-ahead running has been pretty good. But they've not been able to progress him yet to any lateral stuff."

Billy Donovan said Javonte Green has not been able to advance past straight-ahead running. He experiences discomfort when he attempts lateral movement.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) March 5, 2023

While Donovan reports that Green has not had any setbacks on his road to recovery, he confirmed that the energetic forward has experienced discomfort in his knee every time the training and medical teams tried transitioning to doing cuts or lateral movements. This led them to decide to keep Green on the same path until he's ready to take the next step in his rehab.

"He'll receive treatment and continue to do the same stuff they've been doing until they can try to progress him," Donovan said.

Not enough time?

The Bulls only have 17 more games left on their regular season schedule, and there's no telling when – or even if – Green will return this season. With time running out, it will be interesting to see how the Bulls handle Green's recovery process as they try to make a late push for the playoffs. Could we see him back sooner than expected? Only time will tell.