The 16-17 Chicago Bulls will be without their full starting backcourt for at least the next two weeks — during which time the team has a brutal eight-game schedule, including two back-to-back sets of bouts. Starting point guard Josh Giddey will be on the shelf with a hamstring strain. Chicago is set to reexamine him in two weeks. Starting shooting guard Coby White will be reappraised in a week, as he recovers from a tight right calf.
Backup Bulls center Zach Collins will miss the next week or so, too, with a right toe injury.
Chicago’s two best players find themselves in very different hierarchical positions, organizationally.
Giddey has leveled up as a quality starter this season after inking a four-year, $100 million deal with Chicago in restricted free agency. The 23-year-old is averaging a near-triple-double on the season, with a superlative stat line of 19.2 points on .466/.386/.761 shooting splits, 9.0 assists and 8.9 rebounds.
White missed the entire preseason and the first month of the regular season with the same right calf tightness, and seems to have not fully recovered his shooting rhythm. To wit, his usually reliable 3-pointer isn’t there, although it’s not for a lack of trying.
The 25-year-old North Carolina product has been taking 6.8 treys a game, although he’s only connecting on a career-low 32.4 percent of those attempts.
Unlike Giddey, White’s future with the Bulls is anything but secure. The 6-foot-4 pro is on an expiring $12.9 million contract this season, far below market value. What exactly that market value will be this summer when he reaches free agency is anybody’s guess. Reportedly, he and his representatives are hoping to make something in the neighborhood of $30 million a season, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. He should at least be able to fetch an ample raise over his current deal.
© Peter Creveling-Imagn ImagesA Mask-Off Moment for Chicago’s Depth
The Bulls’ 134-118 New Year’s Eve success story against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans notwithstanding, Chicago will likely be hard-pressed to tread water in even the Eastern Conference without its two primary ball handlers and scorers.
Reserve Chicago guards Ayo Dosunmu — the latter of whom is also on an expiring deal — and Tre Jones are quality backcourt pieces, but the Bulls have limited defensive frontcourt depth. Without their one-two offensive punch, the Bulls’ other weaknesses are liable to be exacerbated.
Giddey and White can captain a solid Billy Donovan run-and-gun offense. This year’s Bulls boast the second-fastest offense in the league this season, but that’s kind of where the gimmick ends. The Bulls’ 38.7 triple tries a night ranks as the 10th-most frequent in the league this season. They convert 36.3 of those looks.
Chicago sports a middling 114.9 offense rating (good for just 20th in the league), and a 118.3 defensive rating (24th). Jones and Dosunmu are better defenders than White and Giddey. Jones had a stunningly efficient turn against a paltry Pelicans defense, but I’m dubious the undersized reserve can maintain that level of production. Dosunmu isn’t even the new starter — instead, Donovan is doing what he can to plug up his size issue, and has inserted backup big Jalen Smith as his new starting power forward.
It’s Time to Embrace The Tank
Encouraging New Year’s Eve run aside, this Bulls squad could be in for a world of hurt soon.
Given that the Bulls are merely the East’s No. 9 seed, that’s not such a bad thing. Chicago has been mired in the play-in tournament muck for the past four seasons. The Bulls haven’t been particularly good for a while, in fact. Chicago has made the playoffs proper exactly once since trading away Jimmy Butler almost nine years ago.
Team president Arturas Karnisovas may not be a great appraiser of talent. But he needs to appreciate this moment for what it is: an opportunity to maximize his future draft equity. The Bulls are 2.5 games better than the No. 11-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Even if they make the play-in, their defensive limitations will likely prevent them from advancing to the playoffs. Chicago may want to look into making the most of its lottery odds. Trading the contracts of players on expiring deals — like White, Dosunmu and especially center Nikola Vucevic — could help the Bulls add significantly more draft capital.
Chicago rarely seems to know what it has in trades.
The Bulls dealt two-time All-Defensive Teamer Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Giddey straight-up in the summer of 2024, even though Giddey was seen as the depreciated asset and Caruso was the value add. The Thunder have more future picks than they know what to do with — they surrendered a first-rounder to add Gordon Hayward in 2023-24, and he was so cooked he instantly fell out of Mark Daigneault’s rotation.
This past summer, Chicago shipped (former) 3-and-D point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for small forward Isaac Okoro. Like the Giddey move, the deal wound up yielding plenty of positive on-court impact for the Bulls. And like the Giddey trade, the Bulls didn’t even get a single draft pick out of the exchange — they didn’t seem to appreciate that they were operating from a position of strength, and had the leverage in making the move. Ball has, predictably, disappointed with Cleveland.
But the Cavaliers were the good team striving to add a final championship piece, and offloading a player they no longer valued. The fact that Okoro was clearly the better player didn’t matter. The Bulls didn’t seem to understand that they could have asked for more.
Chicago needs draft picks. Here’s hoping Karnisovas doesn’t budge in negotiations until he gets them.
© David Banks-Imagn ImagesHence then, the article about josh giddey coby white injuries represent unique opportunity for bulls was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Josh Giddey, Coby White Injuries Represent Unique Opportunity for Bulls )
Also on site :