Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso cleared to return against Detroit Pistons after concussion protocol, shoulder injury

Guard Alex Caruso plans to return to the Chicago Bulls lineup in Friday’s game against the Detroit Pistons after missing three games due to concussion protocol and a shoulder injury.

Caruso suffered the pair of injuries in last Wednesday game against the Atlanta Hawks after attempting to dive parallel to the court to snatch a steal out of mid-air. Instead, he crashed directly into a Hawks player. Caruso described the moment as baffling in real-time — one second he thought he had secured a flying steal, the next he was flat on the hardwood with the entire right side of his body aching.

After clearing concussion protocol Wednesday, Caruso participated in a contact scrimmage with several teammates on Thursday. Although he still described slight discomfort when his shoulder is held in certain positions, Caruso voiced confidence in his readiness to play against the Pistons.

“I don’t think there’s anything limited,” Caruso said. “Maybe just a little bit of pain at the very end-range motions, the very extremes, but you don’t really play basketball at those so it’s not too bad. I played yesterday live. We went 100%, full-speed, played pickup so I feel pretty good about it.”

Caruso said he didn’t feel concussion protocol was necessary “based on stuff that I’ve had in the past” despite the fact that he experienced “mild” symptoms. His clearance from concussion protocol was delayed several days while he was unable to participate in contact drills — the final requirement of the clearance process — due to the shoulder injury.

Injuries will always be a concern for Caruso, who missed half of last season with a fractured wrist, back spasms and sprains to his ankle and foot. He spent the offseason focused on strength training designed to make his body more durable. So far, that seems to have paid off — after his week-long absence, Caruso has missed only four of 34 games so far this season.