Bulls get good news on Hinrich

The Bulls got some encouraging news about Kirk Hinrich’s left thumb injury. An MRI showed that it’s a sprain and not a torn ligament.

Remember, Hinrich missed two months early last season with a torn ligament in his right thumb. So the Bulls are optimistic that this will be a minor issue, though they don’t know yet if he’ll be available to play Monday in Milwaukee.

Hinrich was injured during Wednesday's practice and sat out Thursday's loss to Utah.

“He has a mild to moderate strain to the ligament of his thumb, so he’s going to see the specialist on Monday and then we’ll get a better evaluation,” coach Vinny Del Negro said at Saturday’s practice, the first at the Berto Center in 12 days.

Del Negro suggested the Bulls will think hard about adding a player if Hinrich is sidelined more than a few days.

“We’ll evaluate that,” he said. “I’m just hoping the doctor will give us some good news. We need some more bodies probably.”

--Guard Jannero Pargo, whose playing time should rise significantly if Hinrich can’t play Monday, has a sore right shoulder problem, but did practice Saturday.

“Right now, it’s bothering me a lot. I can barely lift it up,” Pargo said. “But I practiced today. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

--Tyrus Thomas watched practice with a splint on his broken left arm. He’ll likely get checked out by the doctor on Monday. Del Negro felt it might be another two weeks before Thomas is ready to play in a game.