And then there were 13.
The Bulls reached tentative agreement Thursday with guard Greg Anthony on a contract settlement that will result in Anthony being waived. An announcement is expected Friday.
Under league rules, a player must be waived by March 1 to be eligible for the playoffs.
Several teams with playoff aspirations have been looking for a point guard, including Milwaukee, Minnesota and Indiana. Non-contenders Golden State and Atlanta also have been in the market for a point guard.
Anthony’s contract with the Bulls runs through next season. A settlement was reached that would reduce what the Bulls owe Anthony for this season and next. The Bulls agreed last week to allow Anthony’s agent to find another team for him and work out a settlement.
The Bulls acquired Anthony, 34, from Portland in July for a second-round draft pick. He started 34 games and led the team in assists in 22 games. He averaged 8.4 points and 5.6 assists.
Anthony partially tore his Achilles’ tendon in January and hasn’t played much since. His opportunities were reduced with the acquisition of Travis Best, whom the Bulls hope to re-sign.
In addition to leaving the Bulls’ roster at 13, Anthony’s departure gives the Bulls room to activate Jamal Crawford. The second-year point guard hasn’t played this season after surgery in August to repair a torn knee ligament. Coach Bill Cartwright indicated Crawford could be activated next week.
“He’s pretty close,” Cartwright said. “We feel he needs another practice to get his legs. At this point in the season there’s no point doing anything silly with him. When we do bring him back it will be for short minutes.”
Cartwright also said he hoped the injured Eddie Robinson would be back in about 10 days.
They’re back: It should be a lot quieter Friday night when the Washington Wizards return to Chicago for their second visit. The last one, Jan. 19, featured Michael Jordan’s return on national TV. Jordan is on the injured list after knee surgery, but Cartwright isn’t sure whether the Bulls have an advantage the way the short-handed Pistons handled them Wednesday night.
“Jerry Stackhouse wasn’t in the game and it didn’t help us,” Cartwright noted. “We’ve just got to get back to how we were playing earlier, getting after people defensively, challenging, protecting the middle, competing.”
The Bulls have yielded more than 100 points and 48 percent shooting the last two games as Cartwright benched Charles Oakley and used youngsters Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Dalibor Bagaric and Marcus Fizer exclusively up front. The result has been defensive lapses with no veteran to anticipate plays and direct the kids.
“Tyson playing with Oak is a little easier,” Cartwright said. “Even if we had a guy like Michael Ruffin to play with Eddy it would be great because he could erase the sins Eddy creates. But what’s more important, preparing for next year or winning some games this year? I think it’s to develop our guys.
“I’d like to win 30 games, but the task is to get these guys better. I still believe we can win games if we do the things defensively we should be doing. We played a few good games and got some wins and then came out and haven’t done anything right. In my mind we’re not far off. We have to get it back together and reload.”
