Caruso, Williams a ‘couple weeks' away from re-evaluation

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Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams have each been cleared to engage in limited on-court basketball activities such as dribbling and shooting — a step in the right direction as they rehab from respective wrist surgeries.

But, according to Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, both players remain a "couple weeks" away from having their injuries re-evaluated, which will add clarity as to when they'll be able to eventually return.

"He's gotta get his strength back," Donovan said of Caruso, who is recovering from a right wrist fracture, before Monday's road matchup with the Heat. "Like, he can't really even pass with that (his right hand), he doesn't feel comfortable shooting it. There's not pain. It's just stiff and it's weak. That's gonna take some time to build that up.

"I think once he gets to that point, then he'll be certainly cleared for contact. My feeling is it will probably be a couple weeks of doing this, to be honest with you."

Williams, who has appeared in just five games this season, is dealing with a similar issue in his left wrist, an area in which he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in October 2021.

"It was such a detailed surgery of what they had to do to kind of get the bone back together when he fractured it," Donovan said of Williams. "He's gotta go through a pretty extensive ramp-up of strengthening (the wrist). Hand against the wall, pushing off, all those kinds of things.

"I think there'll be, again, probably for him (Williams) a couple more weeks where he's re-scanned to see how he's progressed."

Neither player has been cleared for contact, though they've engaged in some simulated on-court action together. At Monday morning shootaround in Miami, Caruso was spotted without a brace for the first time, while, in keeping with Donovan's assessment, heavily leaning on his left hand to dribble and shoot:

Donovan said in the cases of both Caruso and Williams the re-evaluation process will involve re-scanning their wrists to ensure their bones healed properly.

Caruso is five weeks into the six-to-eight week re-evaluation timeline tied to his surgery on Jan. 24. Williams hasn't had his timeline updated since the team projected four-to-six months in October, as they take a cautious, calculated approach to the second-year forward's recovery.

So, while Donovan noted that all three of Lonzo Ball, Caruso and Williams are progressing as expected, the Bulls are far from out of the woods yet.

For now, according to Donovan, Caruso is focused on the small victories.

"The first stage was the fact that he (Caruso) could do something in terms of getting on the floor, running, cardiovascular, holding on to a bike, doing those things," Donovan said. "Then you do that for a while. Then you get kind of a little antsy and you want to do a little bit more.

"I think for him the fact that he can be on the court, he's happy about that. He's getting a chance to run up and down."

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