BOSTON – The questions surrounding Coby White and his calf issues aren’t going away anytime soon, and until they do neither are the minutes restrictions.
The Bulls guard was able to return for the game against the Celtics on Monday, but did so coming off the bench and under orders from medical to get no more than near the 24-minute mark of work.
Overcautious? Maybe, but considering this season’s calf saga White has been dealing with, definitely warranted.
White first injured his right calf in August and missed the rest of the summer workouts, training camp, the preseason, and the first 11 games of the regular season. He finally returned but then felt tightness in the left calf and again backed up the playing time, missing three games.
It appeared that White was getting back on track, even playing in his first back-to-back games of the season against Philadelphia and Milwaukee, but minutes into the opening quarter against Minnesota last week, felt tightening in the right calf once again.
That put him in street clothes for three more games, leaving the Bulls medical staff searching for the right mix of playing time and rest for the unrestricted free agent.
“It’s a hard thing for the medical guys because when it does get tight, everything is fine,” Donovan said. “Like his strength is fine, there’s no issue. It’s happened a few times, I don’t know if anyone can figure out why it happens.
“I do know that the occurrence of calf injuries and hamstrings are recurring around the league. I don’t think it’s at a place where, ‘OK, this happened and now he’s setback for weeks.’ We’re trying to eliminate that. Yeah, but I think just trying to figure out what are the number of minutes that trigger it? What about the back-to-backs, the density of games? I think the medical guys are trying to take a deep dive into all that stuff, and looking at why does he get to this place that he gets to?”
The Bulls don’t have a lot of time to figure out his schedule with back-to-backs, with the next one coming this week playing at Detroit and then hosting Miami. According to Donovan, it will be a pending decision.
“I don’t want to say that he’s definitely ruled out right now, but I think one of the things the medical guys have tried to do is say, ‘OK, when this was hurt again, the one difference was it was (after) a back-to-back.’ “ Donovan added. “It’s certainly on the table for him not to play in the back-to-back. I will definitely say that.”
Medical tent
While White was back, the same couldn’t be said for Jalen Smith and Josh Giddey.
Smith had to leave the game against Charlotte, going into the concussion protocol, where he remained as of Monday.
Meanwhile, Giddey was still slowly trying to come back from a hamstring strain that happened one week ago.
“He still feels it,” Donovan said of Giddey. “It’s going to be a little bit of time before they let him run, but he’s progressing. I do think there are things he’s doing where he can feel it.”
Zach Collins (big toe) was expected to be re-evaluated later this week, so a timetable could be coming for the reserve big.
East bound?
Now that reports confirm that the Hawks are looking to work with guard Trae Young on a trade, one of the real possibilities is Young going to the Western Conference and the Sacramento Kings, meaning Zach LaVine returns to the East, joining the Hawks. Stay tuned.
