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Bulls Guard Josh Giddey Details Recovery from Offseason Ankle Surgery
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- Bulls Guard Josh Giddey Details Recovery from Offseason Ankle Surgery
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The NBA offseason is the best time for players to rest and recover from any nagging ailments that bothered them throughout the season. Sometimes, that results in a player undergoing surgery for an injury that they were able to power through during live action.
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For Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, that was his right ankle. The 23-year-old has been durable throughout his NBA career, but was limited to just 54 games in 2025-26 due to various issues.
Giddey missed two games in November after twisting his ankle, then suffered a hamstring strain at the end of December. The hamstring injury caused him to miss 19 of the next 23 outings. Chicago shut Giddey down for its final five games, bringing his total to 28 games on the bench.
Shortly after the conclusion of the season, the Australian guard underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle, sidelining him for the next three months. Giddey is now back to playing five-on-five, and in an interview with DJ Siddiqi for Casino.org, Giddey said he feels good and has no restrictions.
"[It was] my first surgery, and it's obviously a challenging time whenever you're injured," Giddey said. "To go through surgery, then have to rehab, can be tough. I was lucky enough I had great people around me who made the rehab process easy. Surgery went well, so [it was] a good time to do it. You'd rather do it in the offseason than during the season. I'm back to playing, back healthy. My ankle feels strong, and I've done a ton of work on it. I'm feeling good."
Mar 8, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) controls the ball against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
Despite the injury-riddled season, Giddey had a strong year in 2025-26. In his second season with Chicago, the point guard set career highs with 17.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game. He notched 13 triple-doubles — trailing only Denver's Nikola Jokic — while shooting 44.8% from the floor and 36.4% from three.
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All of this was despite the dysfunction around him. Over the past calendar year, the organization parted ways with head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, general manager Marc Eversley and head coach Billy Donovan. The front office also dealt players like Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline, ushering the Chicago Bulls franchise into a complete rebuild.
When he returns to the court this fall, Giddey will be playing with a much different group than he did last season. No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson gives Giddey a fun lob threat in transition to pair with Matas Buzelis. Free agent signing Norman Powell should take some of the scoring pressure off of Giddey's shoulders after earning his first career All-Star nod, and trade acquisition Nic Claxton will look to provide the Bulls with stronger defense than they've had at the center position in quite some time.
Chicago's regular season begins on Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Toronto. Giddey has the potential to make another leap after last year's strong campaign and prove he belongs in the Bulls' long-term plans.
