Bulls’ Caleb Wilson to have surgery on broken hand, will miss 4-6 weeks

· Yahoo Sports

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The Bulls can’t catch a break.

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Caleb Wilson fractured his right hand in Wednesday night’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs and will be out four-to-six weeks.

Early in the third quarter, Wilson tried to reach and steal away the ball from Victor Wembanyama, but caught mostly his elbow, causing the break.

Through nine and a half games, Wilson is averaging 18.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.7 combined steals plus blocks, shooting 42 percent from the field, 32.4 percent on threes and 73.2 percent from the line. His efficiency across the board has underwhelmed, but given his workload and shot selection, that is to be expected.

Missing four weeks would cost Wilson 13 games, while six weeks would cost him 20 games.

They finally seemed to be figuring some things out, building up a 22-point first-half lead against San Antonio. Now, they will be without Wilson, who has been the team’s best player so far, for over a month weeks.

It’s been a challenging season for the Bulls (1-9), who have been losing by a margin of 15.4 points per 100 possessions this season. They’ve been one the unluckiest teams in the league, shooting 7.6 percent below their expected shot quality, which has led to league’s 25th ranked offense.

With injuries comes opportunity. Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue, Leonard Miller, and Dailyn Swain, among others, will have a chance to step into more of a primary role, and be tasked with larger share of the workload. Ideally for the Bulls, they can step up to the challenge.

Buzelis’ struggles continue for Bulls: “I feel like I lost that game for us”

The Bulls could also look into a dual-big approach with Jalen Smith playing alongside Nic Claxton. Smith has been fantastic for the Bulls so far, and his combination of shooting and rim protection next to Claxton’s interior defense and facilitation could make for a formidable combination.

Not only is this a big gut punch for Wilson’s development, it presents a tricky scenario for the Bulls, who are among the league’s bottom-feeders. If the Bulls are concerned about finishing the season in the relegation zone, this injury may force them to retain some of their tradeable veterans. However, they could consider leaning into being a bottom-three team as the punishment of having two lottery balls instead of three might benefit them given the lack of high-end talent atop the 2027 draft. Since the Bulls had a top-five pick last season, and cannot draft top-five in three-consecutive years, drafting between 6 and 12 this season will allow them to get back into the top five for a much stronger 2028 draft.

Things aren’t getting much easier for the Bulls, who play the Atlanta Hawks (7-5) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (8-3) in their next two games.

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