Eastern Notes: Gibson, Raptors, Jackson

Bulls power forward Taj Gibson was suffering from a torn ligament in his ankle toward the end of the 2014/15 campaign, which explains his lackluster playoff showing during the postseason, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com writes. The true extent of the damage in Gibson’s ankle was discovered when the forward went under the knife in June for routine surgery, Goodwill adds. “I didn’t know I could play with that much pain but I just tried to help my team win,” Gibson told Goodwill. “I think it was a good thing for me to do the surgery. I’ve never been hurt this much. It was good for my career and for myself.”

“We didn’t know it was a torn ligament. It was on the completely opposite side of the foot,” Gibson continued. “When he finally went in during surgery, he was astounded how I was able to still play. He said he never knew anybody who could play through so much pain. I just thought it was normal. He was surprised I was even able to run or lift off it. That’s how bad it was.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

• Reggie Jackson enters his first training camp with the Pistons feeling much more comfortable in the team’s system and more entrenched with the franchise, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “I feel like I’ve been here. I feel like the guys know who I am and for the most part I know them,” Jackson said. “Even though it was short, I was extremely blessed and privileged to come over here [for the remainder of the 2014/15 season]. It was a tough struggle, but I think it’s going to pay off in the end. I truly believe that. Teammates are all ready to get into camp. It feels like we know each other more than if I was traded in the summer or signed and not coming in new. We did the whole [team-bonding trip] thing in Vegas, I got there and knew everybody vs. trying to meet everybody. I could arrange dinners and didn’t have to worry about knowing a guy’s phone number, what you like, don’t like. It’s already established.”
• The Raptors have officially named Tim Lewis, Nathaniel Mitchell, and David Gale as assistant coaches for their D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, the team announced (via Twitter).
• The deals that Sam Thompson and Jason Washburn inked with the Hornets are both non-guaranteed, minimum salary training camp contracts that cover one year, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).