Bulls' Wendell Carter: Has pin removed

Carter had a pin removed from his surgically repaired thumb Friday, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The news means that Carter's recovery from surgery has gone as expected up to this point, but the rookie center is still expected to require a splint for the thumb for at least three more weeks. With that in mind, Carter looks on track to be sidelined until the latter half of March, if not the rest of the season. Robin Lopez has stepped in for Carter as the Bulls' new starting center and hit double figures in scoring in seven straight games, averaging 16.9 points (on 67.6 percent shooting from the field) during that span to go with 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 rejections in 27.0 minutes per contest.