National Basketball Association

Valentine Set to Miss Two Weeks with Ankle Injury

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The abnormally healthy start to the 2016-17 season has ended for the Chicago Bulls with Denzel Valentine set to miss two weeks with ankle injury.

Denzel Valentine, the highly-touted first-round pick in this year’s draft, picked up an ankle injury in last night’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Today, head coach Fred Hoiberg told the media that Valentine is going to be sidelined for two weeks due to that injury, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

The injury appears to be minor and the hope is that Valentine will be back in time to play at least a couple more preseason games before the regular season kicks off on Thursday, October 27, against the Boston Celtics.

Right now, that seems realistic. Valentine isn’t seriously injured, but the ankle is “pretty swollen” per Sean Highkin of The Athletic:

Valentine managed just over 11 minutes and scored four points in his preseason debut, shooting 0-for-2 from 3-point range.

The injury isn’t good news for anyone, but now the Bulls can get a bit of an extended look at both Jerian Grant and Spencer Dinwiddie. Both players saw action in the opener against the Bucks and will look to build off of that game to get some momentum heading toward the regular season. Dinwiddie in particular is fighting for a spot on the NBA squad as he doesn’t have a guaranteed deal.

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If the timeline for Valentine is correct, he should be back in time to face the Charlotte Hornets on October 17. If the ankle problem lingers, he might miss that game as well, leaving just one final preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks in Omaha on October 20.

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