Nick Claxton has recovered from a left hamstring strain he suffered in pre-season and could make his debut in Bykov on sunday Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune writes in history only for subscribers. The team was cautious with Claxton, who was acquired from Brooklyn in the offseason, giving him plenty of time to fully heal. He practiced with the organization’s G League affiliate on Thursday and worked with the Bulls’ starters on Friday.
“I’m ready” he said. “I’m feeling great. Obviously, I’m not in any pain right now. I haven’t been bumped in games. I’m ready to go through the wall. I’m ready for anything.”
Claxton will start with a minutes limit, and although the coach Tiago Splitter didn’t specify what that would be, saying the center’s playing time would be “small” for a few games.
Poe notes that Claxton’s return will drive lineup decisions for Splitter. Jalen Smith was effective as a starter while Claxton was sidelined, and even though Smith hurt his hand in Wednesday’s game, he was able to participate in Friday’s practice. Splitter said he would “definitely” use them together in doubles, possibly as part of the starting five, once Claxton returns to regular minutes. This can lead to relocation Matas Bouzeliswho had a bad start this season, to the role of substitute.
“Nothing is set in stone here at the start of the season” said Splitter. “We’re going to try different things. We’re going to give them some time to be on the court together and have a sample size there. Jalen can start with Nick — we can do different things.”
There’s more from Chicago:
- With the Bulls off to a 1-7 start, it’s not too early to start exploring trade options, according to Joe Cawley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required). He believes that the priority is to move on Norman Powellwho came to Chicago as a free agent this summer and has a $22.6 million team cap next season and then Isaac Okora, Three Joneses and Smith.
- Best fix for Bulls’ struggling offense could be better defensive play, Cowley adds a separate story. They have the third-lowest offensive efficiency in the league, the second-worst field goal percentage (41.2%) and the lowest three-point percentage (27.2%), but a lack of transition opportunities makes good shooting difficult. “It’s tough when we’re pulling the ball out of the basket every possession, having to play in the half court and try to create things that way,” Powell said. “We need to stop, transition and find easy ways to put the ball in the basket.” Having Claxton to protect the edge should improve the defense, and Cowley recommends moving Okoro into the starting lineup ahead of Bouzelis.
- The starters haven’t meshed well so far, and the consequences have been clear for Bouzelis, Josh Giddy and Caleb Wilson, Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic states in the mailbag column. Lorenzi notes that Giddy, Powell, Wilson, Bouzelis and Smith are the fourth-most used lineup in the league, and they have a minus-20.3 rating per 92 minutes combined.
