Josh Giddey will play in the Chicago Bulls’ first game of the play-in tournament.
Coach Billy Donovan didn’t want to make any promises after Giddey participated fully in practice Tuesday at the Advocate Center, saying he was “optimistic” about the guard’s availability for Wednesday’s home game against the Miami Heat.
But Giddey was less hesitant.
“I’m good to go,” Giddey said. “Play-in game, must-win game — there’s no way I’m going to sit it out.”
Giddey missed three of the final four regular-season games with an injury to his flexor carpi ulnaris, a muscle extending down the exterior of his right forearm. The pain is concentrated in his pinkie finger, the outside of his hand and his wrist. He began to notice discomfort in the area after the All-Star break, and the injury worsened with each passing week.
Even at its worst, Giddey said he didn’t feel the injury affected his 3-point shot, crediting adrenaline for somewhat numbing the pain during games. But after shooting 51.7% in the first 13 games after the break, he saw his 3-point percentage drop to 30.4% in his last six regular-season games as the pain intensified.
The pain has been frustratingly inconsistent. Giddey underwent a series of scans and X-rays in an attempt to pinpoint the specific cause. Pain and stiffness vary from day to day, giving him little insight into what to expect Wednesday.
Giddey said the team doesn’t anticipate he will require offseason surgery, although that option hasn’t been fully ruled out. He intends to play through the injury until the Bulls are finished in the postseason before pursuing potential treatment.
“I’ll be able to play through it,” Giddey said. “I hope it’s to a high level. It’s all about managing the pain. We’ll do everything we can — tomorrow, today, tonight — to reduce it as much as possible, but I’ll deal with it and play through it.”
If the Bulls are going to advance out of the play-in tournament for the first time, Giddey could be the key.
Alongside Coby White in the backcourt, Giddey has been a motor for the Bulls since the All-Star break, propelling the offense while nearly averaging a triple-double with 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists over 19 games.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, center left, and forward Dalen Terry, center right, watch from the bench in street clothes against the Wizards on April 11, 2025, at the United Center. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Although Giddey wasn’t with the Bulls for their play-in losses to the Heat the last two years, he said the team’s new additions are just as eager to break that streak of postseason endings.
“We understand the magnitude of it,” he said.
And there’s more on the line for Giddey. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer — and every play-in or playoff game represents an opportunity to raise his price.
For the first 50 games of his debut season with the Bulls, Giddey seemed on track to earn a middling rate in the market. He was averaging only 12.1 points with 7.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists and was shooting 33.7% from 3-point range, relying too heavily on a funky midrange floater.
His impact was modest and didn’t jump off the page — and it failed to outweigh the poor impression left by his defensive inadequacies and too-frequent turnovers.
But his last 20 regular-season games showcased a different version of Giddey. His scoring average jumped to 20.9 and his assists to nine per game, while his turnovers remained relatively stable. And his 3-point shooting ignited to a scorching 47.1%, the best on the roster in that span.
This summer, the Bulls front office will have to decide which version of Giddey is real.
Is he truly this efficient of a scorer? Can he maintain this level of 3-point shooting? Does he have the poise to helm an offense through an elimination game? And has his defense improved enough to remove the “liability” label? These questions can only be answered in postseason competition.
The playoffs are an important frontier for Giddey, who came to Chicago defined by his poor play in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s run to the 2024 Western Conference semifinals. Giddey was benched midway through that series against the Dallas Mavericks after shooting 2-for-11 in the first four games while getting lost on both ends of the court.
It was embarrassing and demoralizing. Giddey stewed over the loss as he returned home to Australia — stuck on a 15-hour flight without WiFi and vowing he never would be that helpless in a playoff series again. But that performance ultimately doomed his tenure in Oklahoma City, where coach Mark Daigneault determined Giddey could continue only as a bench player.
The opportunity to redeem that performance has arrived. Posting unreal statistics in March and April is a fun way to juice up a contract. But if Giddey is going to shake the doubt created by last year’s playoff meltdown with the Thunder, he has to prove this recent run is for real in games with actual stakes.
That process starts Wednesday.
Giddey tore apart the Heat defense in prior matchups this season, averaging 25.3 points in three Bulls wins. That included two triple-doubles, the last a 28-point performance last Wednesday in his final regular-season game.
Coach Billy Donovan credited Giddey’s ability to push the pace in transition and quickly create space in the half-court offense for his consistently high performance rate against the Heat.
“He does a really, really good job of reading the floor and reading the defense,” Donovan said. “When there’s space, he does a great job of trying to get to the paint and get downhill. His ability to push the ball and help us with our pace and speed.”
After a weeklong break from games, Giddey voiced confidence in his ability to repeat those performances against the Heat and lift the Bulls to the second game of the play-in tournament.
And even with nagging pain in his shooting hand, he feels the timing is right for him to perform in the postseason.
“This is the right time of year to get rolling,” Giddey said.