{"id":888024,"date":"2026-10-19T19:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888024\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T19:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T19:26:18","slug":"nic-claxton-chicago-bulls-center-to-miss-at-least-2-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888024\/","title":{"rendered":"Nic Claxton: Chicago Bulls center to miss at least 2 weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls will begin the season short-handed as starting center Nic Claxton remains sidelined with a hamstring injury suffered in the preseason<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coach Tiago Splitter said Monday that Claxton will be out for roughly two more weeks after the team\u2019s medical staff reevaluated him this week. The Bulls open the season Wednesday against the Raptors in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Splitter wouldn\u2019t specify whether Claxton will need an additional reevaluation after that two-week window. The Bulls are hopeful he\u2019ll be available by the first week of November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a science,\u201d Splitter said. \u201cI wish I could tell you guys, \u2018Hey, 13 (days) left and then he\u2019s going to play.\u2019 It\u2019s not like that. Everybody\u2019s different. Everybody reacts to treatment different. Everybody reacts to practice different.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn average, he should be back in two weeks. But that\u2019s all I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Jalen Smith will fill in for Claxton in the starting lineup. The 6-foot-8 Smith was projected to be the power forward in the second unit alongside backup center Zach Collins.<\/p>\n

But with Collins also sidelined by a quadriceps injury, Smith has been asked to step into a small-ball rotation that will rely on the length provided by taller forwards such as Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson. Undrafted rookie Tobe Awaka and forward Leonard Miller<\/a> also will take on increased roles in the frontcourt to accommodate the absences.<\/p>\n

Collins might return for Wednesday\u2019s opener after practicing without limitations in Monday\u2019s short session. Afterward Collins noted that he might have been held out of a more intense practice, but he voiced confidence in his physical readiness and his response to this initial test.<\/p>\n

Collins has not yet been cleared to play Wednesday and expects to be held to a minutes restriction if he does receive authorization from the medical team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d he said about his playing time. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say that (I can play) but then I don\u2019t. I do think that if I feel like I do right now (Tuesday), and if we practice again and I still feel good, then I think I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

The injuries will limit the Bulls\u2019 ability to play double-big lineups, which had interested Splitter because of the team\u2019s personnel.<\/p>\n

Rim protection is also a crucial piece of the Bulls\u2019 defensive scheme, which aims to pressure more heavily at the perimeter<\/a> and point of attack. Without a rim protector like Claxton, the Bulls won\u2019t have the same safety blanket in the low block if defenders get beat outside.<\/p>\n

Claxton\u2019s and Collins\u2019 injuries also will hamper the Bulls during a difficult opening stretch that includes games against the Raptors, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bulls will begin the season short-handed as starting center Nic Claxton remains sidelined with a hamstring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[372418,372419,7329,189330,355,56269,372417,372416,99,222193,43678],"class_list":["post-888024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-bulls-season-opener","tag-bulls-raptors","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-jalen-smith","tag-nba","tag-nic-claxton","tag-nic-claxton-hamstring","tag-nic-claxton-injury","tag-sports","tag-tiago-splitter","tag-zach-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}