Bulls sign Lucas, Pargo; Boozer practices

Share

Sunday, March 20, 2011Posted: 2:30 PM

By Chris Cason
CSNChicago.com

The Bulls announced the signings of John Lucas III and Jannero Pargo Sunday. Both guards took part in Sundays practice and Chicago's roster now stands at 15 players.

The two point guards were signed as mainly injury insurance and practice bodies to ease some of the toll on Derrick Rose.

Both John and Jannero will be on the inactive list but its good to have extra bodies in practice," said Tom Thibodeau after practice concluded. "As we prepare for the playoffs, I think its important to have that.

We think theyre a great fit for us. Both are high-character guys, both shooters and it's insurance for us. It also gives us an opportunity to rest some guys in practice if choose to do that.

Luol Deng and Taj Gibson sat out practice as precautionary reasons. Deng is nursing a bruised left thigh and while it was believed Gibson was suffering from a sprained right ankle, he stated that he's suffering from a jammed big toe on his right foot.

Gibson, who wore a protective boot on the foot, was at the practice facility to lift weights and receive treatment on the foot and said he'll most likely play tomorrow as the swelling in the toe has gone down.

"I jammed my toe when I fell on that charge from Brandon Rush," said Gibson about how he sustained the injury. "They just want me to wear the boot for precautionary reasons."

Carlos Boozer, who has missed five straight games because of a sprained left ankle participated in a full practice and will most likely be a game-time decision for Monday's game against the Sacramento Kings.

The team has won four out the five games without Boozer and it's obvious that both the team and the power forward want to make sure he's 100 percent ready to go than to rush him back.

"Just making sure it's right. The pain is still there," said the Boozer. "You don't want to be stupid and come back too soon and have a nagging injury. At the same time, if it's ready tomorrow, I would like to go so we'll see how it goes.

"I'm looking forward to playing and my ankle is feeling better every day. I was happy that I was able to go through practice today, which was a great sign."

Contact Us