Bulls' Coby White returns from injury under watchful eyes

BOSTON — Questions about Bulls guard Coby White’s calf issues aren’t going away anytime soon. And until they do, neither are the restrictions on his playing time.

White, who missed three games after tightness in his right calf caused him to leave the Bulls’ game against Timberwolves on Dec.  29, was back Monday night against the Celtics in a bench role, with orders from the medical staff not to exceed 24 minutes. (He played 25½.)

White first injured his right calf while working out in August, missing the rest of the summer workouts, training camp, the preseason and the first 11 games of the regular season. After finally making his season debut in mid-November, he felt tightness in his left calf shortly after Thanksgiving and missed an additional three games.

It appeared he was getting back on track until minutes into the Timberwolves game, when he felt the right calf acting up again. That landed him in street clothes for three more games as the medical staff tried to determine the right balance of playing time and rest.

“It’s a hard thing for the medical guys because when it does get tight, everything is fine,” coach Billy 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 don’t think it’s at a place where, ‘OK, this happened and now he’s set back for weeks.’ We’re trying to eliminate that. [We’re] just trying to figure out what are the number of minutes that trigger it? What about the back-to-backs, the density of games? 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 whether White can handle a back-to-back set. The next one is this week, with a visit to Detroit to face the Pistons on Wednesday, followed by the Heat coming to town Thursday. Donovan said White’s availability hasn’t yet been decided.

“I don’t want to say 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 [calf] was hurt again, the one difference was it was [after] a back-to-back,’ ” Donovan said. “It’s certainly on the table for him not to play in the back-to-back — I will definitely say that.”

Still sidelined

White was back Monday, but the same couldn’t be said for big man Jalen Smith and guard Josh Giddey. After a collision with LaMelo Ball during the third quarter of the Bulls’ loss to the Hornets on Saturday, Smith was put in concussion protocol, where he remained Monday. Giddey is still slowly trying to come back after straining his left hamstring against the Timberwolves.

“[Giddey] still feels it,” Donovan said. “It’s going to be a little bit of time before they let him run, but he’s progressing.”

Reserve big Zach Collins (big toe) was expected to be reevaluated later this week.

Eastbound?

Now that reports confirm the Hawks are looking to work with guard Trae Young on a trade, one of the possibilities is he’ll go to the Kings in the Western Conference in exchange for former Bulls guard Zach LaVine, who would return to the Eastern Conference to join the Hawks. Stay tuned.