Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose plans to play in Tuesday’s regular-season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rose recently had surgery to repair a fractured left orbital sustained on the first day of training camp. He returned Friday night to play 10 minutes of the Bulls’ preseason finale against the Dallas Mavericks.
Despite the limit in minutes and wearing a protective mask, Rose scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.
“I don’t want to jinx myself, but my eye is improving every day,” Rose said. “It looks like it’s a go for me. This gives me a couple days to really work on it so I’m prepared for Tuesday.”
—Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers announced Saturday that head coach Steve Kerr will not be leading his team on opening night.
Kerr is still suffering from back surgery complications, meaning interim coach Luke Walton will continue his role into the regular season, including Tuesday’s opener against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Kerr had back surgery July 28 to repair an injury he suffered while coaching in the NBA Finals. His leave of absence was prompted by a spinal fluid leak. A subsequent surgery was performed Sept. 4 to repair the issue.
—Flip Saunders will not return to coach the Minnesota Timberwolves this season while he undergoes treatment for cancer.
Saunders, 60, sat out the preseason after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June, but he was expected back at some point this season. However, he has been hospitalized since September after experiencing complications following the completion of chemotherapy.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed the news on Friday. Asked about Saunders’ return to the bench this season, Taylor said, “Not this year. I just think his illness, I mean, it’s serious. At this point, if he came back, I still think he’d have a hard time to recover all his energy and all that because he has been in the hospital for a long time.”
Sam Mitchell has been coaching the team throughout the preseason in Saunders’ absence and Milt Newton is handling the front-office responsibilities.
—The Timberwolves waived guard Lorenzo Brown, center Kleon Penn and guard Nick Wiggins.
—The Toronto Raptors waived free-agent guard Shannon Scott, guard-forward Axel Toupane and forwards Michale Kyser and Ronald Roberts.
—The Dallas Mavericks waived center Samuel Dalembert, forward Brandon Ashley, guard Tu Holloway and forward Jamil Wilson.
—The Atlanta Hawks waived center Earl Barron and forward DeQuan Jones.
Both players appeared in four preseason games.
—The Indiana Pacers waived forwards Kadeem Jack and C.J. Fair.
Jack played in one preseason game and did not score. Fair played in five preseason games and averaged 1.6 points per game.
—The Memphis Grizzlies waived forward Sampson Carter, guard/forward Yakhouba Diawara, guard Lazeric Jones and forward/center Alex Stepheson.
—The Phoenix Suns waived center Henry Sims, reducing their roster to 14 players.
Sims signed with the Suns on Sept. 16 and played in all six preseason games, totaling 10 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes.
—The Denver Nuggets waived guard Nick Johnson, center Oleksiy Pecherov and guard/forward Devin Sweetney, reducing their roster to 15 players.