Chicago Bulls Injury Report: Josh Giddey's Workload, Austin Reaves Still Out for LA?

All things considered, the Chicago Bulls are the healthiest they have been in a while.

With the Los Angeles Lakers coming into town on Monday night, the Bulls will only be without Zach Collins and Tre Jones. The former has been sidelined since December 27 after suffering a toe injury. Few updates have been provided on the big man, who has been limited to only 10 games so far this season.

As for Jones, he will be stuck in street clothes until potentially after the All-Star break in mid-February. The guard suffered a hamstring strain last week, leading to the Bulls announcing a two-week timeline for re-evaluation. For what it's worth, playing extremely well in both a reserve and starting role this season, Jones does feel like a name to watch as the February 5 trade deadline inches closer. While it's possible that this injury news shrinks his trade market, he is at least expected to return at some point next month.

Aside from those two extended absences, the Chicago Bulls have a clean report on Monday. The only other factor to consider is that Josh Giddey will likely remain on a minutes restriction early this week. Returning from an 11-game absence against the Clippers, Giddey is set to play his third straight contest. He clocked just 26 minutes against Los Angeles before playing slightly less than 24 minutes against the Celtics on Saturday night. Giddey also came off the bench for precautionary reasons in both games.

For what it's worth, Giddey's two performances could not have been more different. He picked up right where he left off against LA with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists on a 7-13 shooting effort. The jumbo guard's strong all-around play served as a key piece of the winning puzzle. Taking the floor one game later, he looked far more rusty against Boston, scoring only 4 points on 1-6 shooting with 5 turnovers. With that said, he did at least dish out 10 assists and grab 8 rebounds.

The Bulls are surely hoping that Giddey can re-find his footing offensively tonight. Los Angeles may not be the most explosive offense, but they do have arguably the most intimidating scorer in the NBA. Luka Doncic is averaging 33.4 points per game this year to lead the league. Yeah ... but did he hit a halfcourt game-winning buzzer-beater the last time these two played?

Speaking of the Lakers' backcourt, this is where the biggest injury news of the night comes into play. Los Angeles continues to be without secondary playmaker Austin Reaves due to a calf strain. The guard has missed the last 15 games after averaging 26.6 points and 6.3 assists to start the season. Los Angeles has gone just 8-7 without him, though three of those wins have come in the last four games. Reaves appears to be on the brink of a return, but the Bulls will dodge him as the Lakers reportedly eye later this week as a return date.

The Lakers were also on the brink of missing Jake LaRavia, who has seen his workload increase significantly with Reaves on the sideline. Fortunately for JJ Redick, however, the latest official injury report has named LaRavia as available despite a quad contusion.

Chicago Bulls Injury Report

Zach Collins – OUT (toe)
Tre Jones – OUT (hamstring)

Los Angeles Lakers injury Report

Jake LaRavia – AVAILABLE (quad)
Austin Reaves – OUT (calf)
Adou Thiero – OUT (knee)