Guard Kevin Huerter’s tenure with the Bulls began with a five-game losing streak last season.
Not that he was much at fault, considering he just had been acquired in the three-team trade that sent guard Zach LaVine to the Kings and brought Huerter to the Bulls. Plus, there were some growing pains with the new-look rotation, as fellow acquisitions Tre Jones and Zach Collins also were finding their way.
After the Bulls’ loss to the Suns on Feb. 22, however, they went 17-8 before the Heat slammed the door on their season in a humiliating 19-point rout in the play-in game.
So the Bulls preparing to head out on a western swing on a four-game losing streak isn’t sitting well with Huerter or his teammates.
‘‘I hope not,’’ Huerter said when he was asked whether he was concerned the rough patch could continue. ‘‘I hope guys are frustrated right now. A game [such as the one Wednesday in Detroit] can’t happen. The way we lost just can’t happen.’’
But it did.
Losing to teams with elite players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell and Victor Wembanyama isn’t ideal, but it at least can be explained and understood. But losing to the Pistons, who were without four regular starters, is inexcusable.
‘‘We’ve got to come into games with the right mindset,’’ Huerter said. ‘‘Our identity is playing fast, playing physical [and] wearing teams out.’’
And having the available bodies to do so. It now sounds as though they will.
Guards Coby White (strained right calf) and Josh Giddey (sprained right ankle) went through full-contact practice Friday, with Giddey possibly expected back for the game Sunday in Utah and White likely set to make his season debut at some point on the trip.
After visiting the Jazz, the Bulls are at the Nuggets on Monday and at the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
What that means is reincorporating Giddey, who averaged 21.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 9.3 assists in the Bulls’ first nine games this season, and adding White, who averaged 25 points in the last 25 games of last season.
That also means adding some firepower to the bench, with Jones and Huerter expected to go back to the second unit.
Those are all good things, Huerter said.
‘‘It will be great,’’ Huerter said of the injury returns. ‘‘They’re talented guys, but we’re 11 games in, so I think there’s been a chemistry with the lineup so far that [a game such as the one against the Pistons] can’t happen. It’s not an excuse, but when those guys get back, it will be great.’’
That’s not the only help that will be on the way, either.
Besides giving the updates on Giddey and White, head coach Billy Donovan also said a CT scan on Collins’ left hand came back clean, which means the reserve center will start rehabbing to build the strength back up.
Don’t expect Collins to be on the court anytime soon, but the Bulls now seem to have some clarity on his timetable.
When Collins eventually returns, it will give Donovan options. Opposing teams have been throwing multiple big men at the Bulls during the last week, and while Donovan tried to team Nikola Vucevic with Jalen Smith to counter it, the 6-8 Smith is more of a power forward than a force in the middle.
Collins is a legitimate big man who was playing well before suffering the injury during the preseason. He had scored in double figures in four of five games, grabbed 21 rebounds and shot 3-for-6 from three-point range.