Here are the times to watch Bulls players play in the Olympics
The Olympics kick off today, and the Chicago Bulls are involved!
Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic, and Cristiano Felicio are the Bulls representing their respective countries. It's Jimmy Butler's first competition with TeamUSA. Felicio is playing for host country Brazil. Mirotic is a native of Montenegro, but is eligible to play for the more powerful basketball nation of Spain.
For group play, USA is in Group A while Brazil and Spain are in Group B).
Here is the full schedule (all times Eastern). For our Bulls:
Saturday, August 6th 6:00 PM : USA vs China
Sunday, August 7th 1:15 PM : Brazil vs Lithuania
Sunday, August 7th 6:00 PM: Spain vs. Croatia
Monday, August 8th 6:00 PM : USA vs Venezuela
Tuesday, August 9th 1:15 PM : Brazil vs Spain
Wednesday, August 10th 6:00 PM : USA vs Australia
Thursday, August 11th 1:15 PM : Brazil vs Croatia
Thursday, August 11th 6:00 PM : Spain vs Nigeria
Friday, August 12th 6:00 PM : USA vs Serbia
Saturday, August 13th 1:15 PM : Brazil vs Argentina
Saturday, August 13th 6:00 PM : Spain vs Lithuania
Sunday, August 14th 1:15 PM : USA vs France
Monday, August 15th 1:15 PM : Brazil vs Nigeria
Monday, August 15th 6:00 PM : Spain vs Argentina
(you can go here for the TV listings and streaming options)
What can we expect?
Butler, who will be a main option on offense for Chicago this upcoming season, will be relatively limited when it comes to scoring for Team USA. In Team USA's first three exhibitions, Butler had only scored a combined eight points on nine total shots. With stars like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Carmelo Anthony leading the team, Jimmy Butler has to make do with the times he touches the ball. Due to that, Butler will likely have a bench role and play limited minutes with Team USA. He is basically a rookie when it comes to this so he will take a backseat to the veterans in Rio.
Felicio, on the other hand, will probably have a more active role. He was a late replacement for the injured Anderson Varajao on Team Brazil and will be likely coming off the bench for them behind Nene. Felicio has shown that he has some great potential on offense finishing around the rim, and his passing is an underrated part of his game. The Olympics may be the only time where Felicio gets some big-time minutes this season. In Chicago, there is a logjam of big men with Felicio, Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, and Robin Lopez all vying for big man minutes. Felicio will likely be the backup center as he is looking like a solid rotation player for Chicago. This will serve as a great experience builder for Felicio as he looks to solidify his role with the Bulls.
Mirotic should factor in as a prominent member of Team Spain, who are back-to-back silver medalists but now have an aging roster that still features stalwart (and former Bulls teammate) Pau Gasol, but his younger brother Marc is not playing in these games. It'll be interesting to see how much freedom Mirotic will have on offense this week, as you'd expect he may be more relegated to a spot-up role with the Three Alphas this upcoming season.