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A healthy miss by the ‘big three’ as Bulls lose to the Nuggets

Matthew Stockman/Getty

Coach Billy Donovan sat his big three of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic in Sunday’s loss to Denver, but it allowed the likes of Patrick Williams to score 20 points.

Transparency hasn’t always been a strength of this Bulls regime.

Case in point: At this time last season, there was absolutely no indication of a load-management program for guard Zach LaVine’s knee that would keep him out of the regular-season opener against the Heat, as well as out of several early back-to-backs.

Not a peep.

Maybe things are changing.

Coach Billy Donovan usually keeps starting lineups close to his vest, but he was fairly certain Saturday that his big three of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic wouldn’t play in the Bulls’ preseason game Sunday in Denver.