Nic Claxton's Hamstring Tweak Brings a Two-Week Re-Evaluation Before Bulls Opener
Tiago Splitter says the Bulls' new starting center will be re-evaluated in two weeks, on Oct. 19, two days before Chicago opens in Toronto. Opening Night remains possible.
Photo: NBA.com. Official Nic Claxton headshot.
Nic Claxton tweaked his hamstring in Bulls training camp and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, coach Tiago Splitter told reporters after Monday's practice.
Two weeks from Monday is Oct. 19, so Chicago will sit its new starting center through the preseason and decide on Opening Night after that check, two days before the Bulls tip off in Toronto on Oct. 21. Sportsnet noted he still could play that opener. CBS Sports listed Opening Night as questionable.
Start with the calendar, because it is tighter than it looks. Chicago opens the preseason Wednesday against Phoenix at the United Center. Splitter already named four starters for that game, Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson, and left the fifth spot as "a big." A re-check is not a return. Even a clean Oct. 19 exam leaves Claxton with zero preseason minutes next to four teammates he has never played a real game with. The Oct. 24 home opener against Washington looks like the more honest target date.
Those missing reps hurt more on this roster than they would on most. Chicago traded for Claxton in June, in the three-team deal that sent Julius Randle from Minnesota to Brooklyn, and the whole defensive plan was built around him. Splitter has talked up a frontcourt of Claxton with Wilson and Buzelis that can switch across positions, per the Chicago Sun-Times. That scheme only works when the last line of the defense can slide out on a guard and still get back to the rim. Claxton is 6-foot-11 and 215 pounds, and he finished ninth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2022-23, when he blocked 2.5 shots a game. Take him out and Buzelis and Wilson have to decide on every switch whether someone is home behind them.
The offense takes a hit too. Claxton averaged 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 69 games last season, and that assist number was a career high by a wide margin. He averaged 2.2 the year before. His assist rate nearly doubled, from 13.7% to 21.8%, per Basketball Reference. A center who creates for teammates at that rate is a different piece next to Giddey than a rim-runner who only finishes. Those reads take repetition. The two of them lose the two weeks of preseason when that timing gets built.
The backup plan looks thin for a team that wants to switch everything. Jalen Smith is the likely fill-in at the five, and Smith tends to stretch the floor more than he protects the rim. Zach Collins came into camp working back from an injury of his own, so the Bulls have been careful with him. Behind those two are Orlando Robinson and Tobe Awaka, who is on a two-way contract and played a lot of center for Chicago in Summer League. None of them gives Splitter the same switch-and-recover coverage, which means the preseason film on Wilson and Buzelis will come from a defense playing a different way than the one Chicago plans to use in November.
Hamstrings also have a habit of coming back slower than the first timeline. A tweak is the mild end of the scale, and two weeks is a short window, but this is a springy big who plays off his legs on both ends. Expect the Bulls to be careful with a player they just traded for and who started 68 games for the Nets last year.
The date to circle is Oct. 21 in Toronto. If Claxton suits up, Chicago gets its planned starting five together for the first time in a game that counts. If he sits, the first week of the regular season turns into extra preseason for the frontcourt, and the switching scheme gets its first real test without the big it was designed around.
Sources
- Sportsnet: Bulls' Nic Claxton out two weeks with hamstring injury. Oct. 5, 2026. Splitter on Monday. Out at least two weeks. Still could play Oct. 21 in Toronto. June three-team trade with Randle to Brooklyn. 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 blocks in 69 games. Ninth in 2022-23 DPOY voting.
- On SI (Bulls): Bulls lose Nic Claxton for multiple weeks with injury. Oct. 5, 2026. Re-evaluation Oct. 19. Preseason opener Wednesday at United Center. Oct. 24 home opener vs. Washington. Depth: Jalen Smith, Zach Collins, Tobe Awaka (two-way), Orlando Robinson.
- CBS Sports / RotoWire: Bulls' Nic Claxton tweaks hamstring. Oct. 5, 2026. Re-evaluated in two weeks, per Chuck Swirsky. Out of preseason. Opening Night listed as questionable.
- K.C. Johnson on X and starters post. Oct. 5, 2026. Splitter quotes. Giddey, Powell, Buzelis, Wilson and "a big" start vs. Suns.
- Chicago Sun-Times: Bulls excited to see what Matas Buzelis-Caleb Wilson team-up looks like. Oct. 4, 2026. Splitter on Claxton, Wilson and Buzelis switching.
- Basketball Reference: Nic Claxton. 6-11, 215. 2025-26: 69 games, 68 starts. 2.2 assists in 2024-25. Assist rate 13.7% to 21.8%. 2.5 blocks in 2022-23.
- Photo: NBA.com. Official Nic Claxton headshot.
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