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Taj Gibson: The Forgotten Man In The Bulls’ Equation

By Michael Whitlow

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During this summer, there have been countless headlines for Chicago Bulls. Everyone from Derrick Rose to Fred Hoiberg have been featured by many this summer. But, what about a guy who has been forgotten all summer?

Two seasons ago, you could have made a legitimate argument that the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award should have gone to Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson.

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In an rough and rugged, injury-filled season for the Bulls during the 2013-14 campaign, Taj Gibson played in all 82 games for the Bulls, while averaging 13 points a game on 47.9 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per contest.

Despite lingering ankle issues throughout last season and missing 20 games, Gibson still averaged 10.3 points per game, while shooting 50.2 percent from the field.

Gibson’s role seemed diminished due to injury, along with the rise of Jimmy Butler and the increased playing time of Nikola Mirotic later in the year.

Along with a decrease in a prominent role for the Bulls, Gibson’s game seemed off all season long. In the offseason, it was brought to the light why Taj Gibson didn’t seem like the same sixth man of the year candidate he was the year prior.

The surgery on Gibson’s ankle was done on June 19 in Indianapolis. Along with the ankle surgery on the same left ankle he rolled during the ’14-15 campaign, Gibson also mentioned back in February that he was playing with a stage 2 ligament tear in his hand.

The timetable for Gibson’s return to action is a 3-4 month span, which would bring him back towards the end of the the preseason slate for the Bulls, and the start of the 2015-16 regular season.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman spoke roughly 10 days after Gibson’s ankle surgery by saying,

"“The prognosis is good,” Forman said. “Anytime there’s surgery, there’s seriousness to it, but from what the doctors have told us, though it’s a three-to-four-month rehab process, once he comes back, the ankle’s going to be like new again, which is going to be a real positive. Because it was obvious the ankle bothered him some this past year. Really, Taj felt, we felt, his agent felt that it was something that needed to be done, and we anticipate he’ll be 100 percent come October.”(CBSChicago.com)"

Many put Taj Gibson on the trading block before the offseason truly began, but with the ankle surgery, there’s no telling what Gibson’s role is going to be towards the beginning of the year and beyond.

Gibson will obviously going to be ease backed into a bench role for the Bulls, but if he shows signs of his old productive self, along with the Bobby Portis draft pick this summer, putting Gibson on the block may be a move for the Bulls to consider.

There’s only so many minutes to go around, and when Gibson returns to action in October, the Bulls will realistically have six(!) big men (that includes last year’s second-round pick Cameron Bairstow) that could see a fair share of minutes in 2015-16. (That group doesn’t include the training camp signing of Cristiano Felicio.)

(Photo via ESPN.com)

The Bulls roster is getting a tad-bit crowded, and Taj Gibson could be a fatality of the deep pool of big men because of his experience and value in the trade market compared to others.

But, until the Bulls see what post-surgery Taj Gibson can do, there’s nothing for the Bulls to do other than make sure to not to rush Gibson back from the summer surgery. Joakim Noah‘s “minor” knee procedure turned into a disastrous 2014-15 season for the former defensive player of the year. The Bulls have to be careful with Taj Gibson’s ankle.

Next: Team USA mini-camp was pointless for Derrick Rose to attend anyway

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