How Billy Donovan Should Manage Bulls' Rotation Across Four Games in Five Days

The Chicago Bulls are about to navigate one of their toughest scheduling gauntlets of the season: four games in five days, a consequence of the rescheduled Miami Heat home game following the wet-floor saga at the United Center earlier this month.

The stretch includes two back-to-backs. The first features tonight's road game in Indiana, followed by the rescheduled Heat matchup at home. The second is a Heat doubleheader in Miami on January 31 and February 1.

Simply put, the Bulls will face the Heat, their likely Play-In opponent this season, arguably their most familiar adversary, having eliminated them in the Play-In tournament in the previous three seasons, three times in a row. This three-game series will also be the first time since 1972 that two teams have played three consecutive regular-season games against each other, a matchup between the Baltimore Bullets and Houston Rockets.

Josh Giddey has returned from his calf strain under minutes restrictions, averaging around 26 minutes across his first three games back. Against the Lakers on Monday, he logged a higher 28 minutes despite Chicago's loss, snapping their four-game winning streak. Giddey said he felt good afterward, signaling readiness for increased responsibility.

Expecting Giddey to return to the starting lineup Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT against Indiana, the Australian point guard is also expected to pair with Coby White in the backcourt for the first time this season, according to K.C. Johnson. Whether the duo repeats that arrangement through the Heat doubleheader remains uncertain, as managing their workload might prove burdensome, particularly since both recently returned from injuries.

Resting one of them out for one game, respectively, would be a conservative but wiser approach. But if Billy Donovan found their impact important, separating Giddey and White from the starting lineup could be another option. Starting Ayo Dosunmu, who's enjoying a career-best season and is always ready no matter what the mission, while bringing Giddey or White off the bench to switch gears makes strategic sense. Both would still receive significant minutes given a depleted roster, and this transition shouldn't feel foreign for a Bulls team that routinely leans on its league-leading bench production.

With Tre Jones sidelined by a left hamstring injury, Dosunmu and Giddey could share ball-handling duties to orchestrate the attack, replicating what White provides with the starters. The Bulls' depth of fringe starters makes rotation flexibility a genuine strength rather than a desperate measure.

On the frontcourt, Zach Collins' ongoing injury has thrust Jalen Smith into an essential starting role, and he's responded admirably. Facing Miami three times in a row, Donovan will likely maintain his double-big lineup to counter Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware in the Heat's frontcourt. Expect Nikola Vučević and Smith to continue their collaboration throughout this brutal stretch.

For backup options, Donovan might deploy Jevon Carter, Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips slightly more to manage rotations and rest key players strategically. Even calling up Lachlan Olbrich from the G League, who appeared against the Lakers, represents a preparatory measure to reinforce frontcourt strength during this compressed schedule.

Navigating four games in five days demands careful rotation management. Donovan's decisions over the next week could define whether the Bulls emerge intact or exhausted heading into February's crucial stretch.