Bulls’ Nic Claxton (Hamstring) Out At Least Two Weeks

Bulls center Nic Claxton recently tweaked his hamstring and will be sidelined for at least two weeks, which is when he’ll be reevaluated, head coach Tiago Splitter told reporters on Monday (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network).

Based on Splitter’s update, Claxton will miss all five of Chicago’s preseason games (from October 7-16) and his status for the Bulls’ regular season opener on Oct. 21 (at Toronto) could be in jeopardy. Being reevaluated in two weeks doesn’t necessarily mean Claxton will be ready to play at that point, as teams often take a cautious approach to soft tissue injuries.

The 31st overall pick back in 2019, Claxton spent his first seven NBA seasons with Brooklyn, the team that drafted him. The Bulls acquired the 27-year-old big man this offseason using cap room.

Claxton averaged 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, a career-high 3.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 27.8 minutes per game across 69 appearances last season. The 6’11” center shot 57.1% from the field and 61.6% from the free throw line.

Here are a few more notes on the Bulls:

• According to Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link), Splitter said the Bulls will start Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson and “a big” during this week’s preseason games. Chicago’s other options in the middle include Jalen Smith and Zach Collins, though Collins was said to be dealing with an unspecified soft tissue injury last week.
• Splitter also indicated that he plans to utilize a regular season rotation ranging from 9-11 players, tweets Lorenzi, because running an eight-man rotation would be “impossible” at the pace the team wants to play.
• Giddey praised two-way big man Tobe Awaka on Monday, calling the former Arizona standout “maybe the best offensive rebounder I’ve ever seen,” per Johnson (Twitter link). “He plays so, so hard, both sides of the ball,” Giddey said of Awaka (Twitter link via Lorenzi). “He makes the simple play when he gets an O board. A lot of bigs first look is to go back up and score. He’s smart. He knows he’s not the tallest guy in the world and he’s always trying to find shooters.”