Thin Up Front: Claxton Out, Collins a Game-Time Call vs Suns

0:04The host: Jordan Hawkins signed his two-way Monday, officially joined the roster Tuesday, and he could play his first minutes in a Bulls uniform two hours from now. That's where I start.

0:15The analyst: If he plays. Splitter hasn't confirmed it. But with the frontcourt thin tonight, there's more room than usual for a guy like Hawkins to get a real look.

0:25The host: Thin how? Walk me through it.

0:28The analyst: Nic Claxton's out, hamstring, and the target return is October 21, the opener in Toronto. He's not suiting up for any of these preseason games.

0:38The host: And Zach Collins?

0:39The analyst: Day-to-day, toe, and his estimated return is listed as today. That's a game-time call, not a scratch.

0:47The host: So Chicago could be down to Jalen Smith and Orlando Robinson at center if Collins doesn't go.

0:52The analyst: Right. And on the other side, Phoenix is missing Mark Williams, shoulder, left arm. Both teams could be playing center-by-committee tonight.

1:04The host: Tell me about the Suns. They're 0-0 same as us, so what are we actually looking at?

1:09The analyst: Last season they went 45-37, net rating plus 1.4, which is playoff-caliber math even if they didn't finish like it. Devin Booker averaged 26.1 points.

1:23The host: Dillon Brooks is still there too.

1:25The analyst: 20.2 points a game last season, and he guards. Miles Bridges at 17.1, Collin Gillespie running the point at 12.7. Jalen Green only logged 32 games there, 17.8 points when healthy.

1:44The host: That's a deep roster for a preseason opener.

1:46The analyst: It is, and Phoenix is also on the road for a second straight night, one day of rest. That's a real factor in October minutes.

1:55The host: Okay, give me the number of the day. What do you actually believe right now?

2:00The analyst: Leonard Miller. Over his last 10 games last season, 28.8 minutes a night, up 13.1 from his season average. With Claxton out, that role doesn't disappear tonight.

2:13The host: And if that's just a 10-game stretch at the end of a lost season, bench minutes in garbage time?

2:19The analyst: Fair, some of it was. But Splitter's frontcourt tonight is Smith, Robinson, maybe Collins, and Miller. The math points one direction whether the sample's clean or not.

2:30The host: I'll believe it when I see his minutes column tomorrow morning, not before.

2:34The analyst: That's exactly why we're having this conversation before the game and not after it.

2:40The host: Fine. What's camp actually looked like heading into tonight, since there's no last game to talk about?

2:47The analyst: Turnover. Dillingham-for-Hield became official October 2. Isaiah Stevens signed, Marquel Sutton and Peter Suder are both gone. Now Hawkins on a two-way.

3:00The host: That's a lot of new names for one preseason opener.

3:03The analyst: It's why tonight matters more than a normal preseason game usually does. Splitter needs to see who's actually earning minutes before the roster settles.

3:13The host: And Giddey's still the engine regardless of who's around him.

3:17The analyst: At $25.0 million he'd better be. He's the one piece Graham isn't rotating through camp.

3:24The host: Tips off in about two hours at the United Center. No national broadcast on this one, unlike Friday's Grizzlies game, that one's on NBA TV.

3:33The analyst: So catch this one locally, or wait for the box score.

3:37The host: Watch Collins' status when the lineup actually gets posted, and watch how many minutes Miller plays if he's out there. That's the whole frontcourt story in one night.

3:46The analyst: We'll know by tomorrow morning whether Collins actually played, and what his minutes column looked like if he did. That's the first thing we check.

3:56The host: That's Bulls Nightly. We'll be back with the box score.