The last time the Toronto Raptors were supposed to play against old friend DeMar DeRozan, now of the Chicago Bulls, the game, scheduled for last Thursday in Toronto, was postponed.
The reason, at the time, seemed understandable. The Bulls had 10 players, including DeRozan, ineligible to play on account of COVID protocols. Ten players seemed like a big number. Still, the key number, to a lot of observers, was eight. As decimated as Chicago’s roster happened to be last week, the Bulls still could have put forth a team with the league-minimum eight players for their game in Toronto, not to mention a game in Detroit two days previous that was also postponed.