Bulls, Pistons confident Jaden Ivey can come back from injury

According to the Pistons and coach J.B. Bickerstaff, there was no doubt guard Jaden Ivey would recover from his horrific leg injury. The timeline was the only question.

That question is still relevant, especially after the news Saturday that the Bulls have shut him down for at least two weeks because of concerns about how he has looked since they acquired him from Detroit.

“We expected a full recovery, but the timing you never know; it’s something you can never know,” Bickerstaff said. “And then the part for him is believing and trusting in it. That happens with the injury, too, especially when you’re explosive and your athleticism is so unique. You’ve got to find that trust back in it.”

Ivey has struggled with that aspect.

In his first 30 games before the injury last season, Ivey was rolling, averaging 17.6 points and shooting just under 41% from three-point range.

In his return this season, Ivey was averaging 17 minutes and 8.2 points for Detroit and shooting 37% from long range with obvious drops in his playmaking and explosiveness. In his first four games with the Bulls, he was getting the minutes before sitting out against the Raptors but looked sluggish.

There was a lot of controversy after his DNP, which wasn’t helped when he declared “old J.I. is dead” afterward, but Bulls coach Billy Donovan said it was decided before the game Thursday that Ivey would not play because he was getting the soreness in his knee checked out a day later.

“Certainly, it was our decision coaching-staff-wise that he did not play, but I think medical guys saw that he was not moving great,” Donovan said. “They had something scheduled [Friday] to get him looked at. Clearly, we’ve got to remove some soreness to get him better, but he has to do some strengthening, too, with a lot of the muscles around his knee.”

That will be the immediate plan: two weeks of strengthening and getting the leg stronger, then a reevaluation. That doesn’t mean he’ll play again this season, but the hope remained.

“Being able to come back from that type of injury isn’t easy,” Bickerstaff said. “Having to do it in a situation where the team has kind of established itself when you were away, and now you’re trying to find your rhythm and not step on anyone’s toes . . . he wasn’t in an easy situation.”

Toe bad

The Bulls also announced that Zach Collins will miss the rest of the season. Doctors decided that his toe injury required surgery.

The oft-injured big man only played 10 games this season and will be a free agent, but Donovan was in favor of bringing him back.

“When a guy is in free agency, there’s the financial piece of it and then there’s the part of the player, the makeup, the character,” Donovan said. “It’s hard for me knowing what a guy’s value is financially, but from my perspective as it relates to winning, when he’s out there and healthy, he’s a very good player for us. From that standpoint, I would hope it would all work out for him to be back here next year.”

Happy return

The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons got reinforcements back against the Bulls as Jalen Duren’s two-game suspension for a Feb. 9 fight against the Hornets ended. The Pistons were still without Isaiah Stewart, who was suspended seven games for his part in the altercation.