Rookie Gafford soaring despite sore ankle
NEW ORLEANS — Arkansas guys just have stronger ankles.
At least that’s what Bulls rookie big man Daniel Gafford was selling Wednesday.
Gafford rolled his ankle during the game Monday against the Mavericks, stayed down for a few seconds but missed no real time.
There was still some icing going on after the morning shootaround at the Smoothie King Center two days later, but sitting out just to be cautious isn’t in Gafford’s vocabulary.
“It was a little bump in the road I had to get over,’’ Gafford said. “I’m an Arkansas guy, so stuff like that we deal with on a daily basis. We keep on rolling
“Once I came back out, it loosened up. It was real tight when I got more tape on it.
But other than that, when I came back out, it loosened up for me. As you can see, I was still jumping out of the gym.’’
Second-year center Wendell Carter Jr., who’s dealing with a sprained right ankle, is not jumping out of the gym at the moment. Obviously, Carter’s injury was much more severe than Gafford’s. Carter was out against the Pelicans and using a crutch to get around.
He’ll have an MRI exam in Chicago on Thursday, coach Jim Boylen said, but the expectation is he’ll miss more than the game in New Orleans.
So that means more minutes for Gafford, who’s still coming off the bench. With Carter sidelined, Boylen opted to go smaller against the Pelicans, starting forward Thaddeus Young instead.
“I think you could look at it a couple of different ways,’’ Boylen said. “Do you start a guy who hasn’t been starting who’s in a real comfortable role? Do you look at the matchups on the other team and figure out what’s best for him as a young player, who to match to and who to play against?’’
Both answers told Boylen to go with Young. As for Gafford, he was fine with either scenario.
“Like I always say, I’m just coming in and doing the things they ask me to do,’’ Gafford said of his growing comfort level. “I’m doing the things I’m used to doing instead of trying to be a different player. I just do the things I’m more comfortable doing instead of trying to come out of my comfort zone.’’
That means protecting the rim — Gafford leads the team with 1.3 blocks per game — and dunking anything that looks round. There’s a reason Gafford also leads the team with a 68.8 field-goal percentage.
“I’m just used to doing that,’’ Gafford said. “I tell the guys, when you throw a lob, there shouldn’t be anyone to get their hands on it but me. That lets you know you should throw it up there as high as you possibly can, and I’ll go get it for you.
“I tell them all the time, ‘Just have faith that I’m going to go get it for you. Just put your trust in me, and I promise you it will come out right in the end for us.’ ’’
On the ‘Mark’
There was some concern about Lauri Markkanen’s availability for the Pelicans game. He’s still dealing with a sore left ankle despite playing 36 minutes against Dallas with the bad wheel.
He did start after being limited in the shootaround, but the team will continue to monitor him, Boylen said.