This season hasn’t been the smoothest for the Chicago Bulls, who, after starting the season hot, have cooled off significantly and currently sit in the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 15-17.
Despite this uneasy run of games, there have been a few bright spots in the Windy City’s team, including Coby White, who has been off to quite a hot start after missing some time due to an injury, as well as Josh Giddey putting up career-high numbers across the board.
With the ball in his hands, Giddey is averaging 19.2 points per game on an efficient 46.6 percent shooting from the field, while dishing out nine assists and securing 8.9 rebounds. But just as things were looking up for Giddey, he and the Bulls received a concerning update regarding his left hamstring on Tuesday night.
As reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, Giddey will miss ” a few weeks” due to a left hamstring strain. The Australian guard was a part of the Bulls’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night – putting up 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists before leaving the match in the third quarter, ending the night with 18 minutes to his name.
Just as Giddey has been consistently producing for Billy Donovan on the court, he’s been fairly reliable when it comes to staying healthy as well, only managing to miss out on two games up until the news of his recent injury setback.
Not only will this put a damper on the Bulls’ offensive numbers, given the Australian’s aforementioned production, but it could also impact his All-Star voting numbers, with the first return of the fan votes showing Giddey ranks 14th in the Eastern Conference with 115,000 votes.
While All-Star weekend isn’t for a month and a half, Chicago will have to move on without Giddey for the time being, with Tre Jones, Ayo Dosunmu, and Jevon Carter being options for the aforementioned Donovan to pick from. The Bulls’ first game without their starting guard will come on Wednesday night when they welcome the New Orleans Pelicans to the United Center, with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.
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