Nearly a month after he was forced to depart the Chicago Bulls’ doomed Dec. 29 tilt against the then-mighty (now-mortal) Minnesota Timberwolves, point guard Josh Giddey is making his long-awaited return to the lineup for a rematch on Thursday night.
Per K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network, the 23-year-old will be playing on a 24-minute restriction. It’s unclear if he will start.
The 6-foot-7 Aussie has sat out Chicago’s last 11 contests due to a hamstring strain, during which the club has gone a surprisingly decent 6-5. I’ll assert that two of those six victories came against nakedly tanking Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets squads, so that tally may be a little misrepresentative of the actual level of Bulls basketball exhibited.
K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network reported Thursday morning that Giddey was a full participant in the team’s shootaround, and had seen his status subsequently improved to “probable.” The 23-year-old and head coach Billy Donovan had been targeting this week for Giddey’s comeback, barring any health regressions.
© Nell Redmond-Imagn ImagesLife Without Josh Giddey
Coby White also didn’t survive that fateful December defeat to Minnesota intact. The 6-foot-4 North Carolina product exited midway through the bout with calf tightness — which had limited earlier in the year, too.
The Bulls had to scramble a bit without their starting backcourt. Point guard Tre Jones and power forward/center Jalen Smith were inserted into head coach Billy Donovan’s first five. The longtime Chicago head coach opted to prioritize size over guard play, shifting Isaac Okoro and Matas Buzelis each down a position. Ayo Dosunmu remained the club’s sixth man.
White has been in and out of Chicago’s lineups since Jan. 5, but he’s finally started to look like himself across the last three games. The impending free agent has been averaging 22.7 points on .533/.536/.714 shooting splits, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in that span.
Jones and Smith have stepped up with Giddey gone, but Buzelis has been probably the biggest breakout. The 6-foot-8 forward has been empowered with the ball in his hands more, and he’s also feasting off easy looks generated by the deferential, hyper-efficient Jones.
During this stretch, Buzelis has been averaging 17.9 points on .464/.347/.707 shooting splits, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 dishes and 1.5 rejections per. He’s an absolute fastbreak menace, and can also knock down a corner three. His defense has occasionally gotten him into trouble with Donovan, as when he was limited to just 19 minutes in a 128-126 win against Utah last week. But overall, his emergence has been the biggest long-term Bulls benefit during Giddey’s extended absence.
It will be fascinating to see how Buzelis — and Donovan — adjust to Giddey’s return going forward. Giddey and Buzelis are the club’s two most important future building blocks. Can Buzelis thrive in a more supplemental role?
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