Gibson to rejoin Bulls but unlikely to play in near future

Taj Gibson is back ... at practice.

The injured power forward was expected to re-join the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, though the status of his injury remains up in the air, reports Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Gibson has been sidelined since spraining his left ankle Nov. 21, subsequently keeping him out of two games and all practices.

Gibson will not play Friday, which is no surprise considering he hasn't even been practicing. This recent injury marks the third time in seven months that Gibson has sprained his left ankle, so the Bulls playing this cautiously is probably the right move.

In the two games Gibson has missed - the second with the team also short one Joakim Noah - there have been additional minutes for Nikola Mirotic and Cameron Bairstow. Neither can replicate Gibson's defensive value, but they've also struggled on the offensive end, with Mirotic shooting 5-of-14 for 14 points in 49 minutes in those two games, and Bairstow registering as a total non-factor.

In 12 games before the injury, Gibson was averaging 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 29 minutes, shooting 54.6 percent from the floor and keeping himself firmly in the early Sixth Man of the Year discussion.