Three Bulls Targeted to Return Tonight as Grizzlies Visit

0:04The host: Sellers, Jones, and Collins all have the same note on tonight's injury report: day-to-day, estimated to return today. Three bodies trying to get back in the same window.

0:14The analyst: Claxton doesn't get that note. He's out until October twenty-first, hamstring, which, funny enough, is also the day the Bulls open the actual season, in Toronto.

0:27The host: So his target return is literally opening night.

0:30The analyst: That's the plan on paper. Tonight's just about who covers center until then.

0:35The host: Memphis isn't walking in loaded either.

0:38The analyst: Twenty-five and fifty-seven last season, and they're without two bigs tonight, Micah Peavy and Isaiah Stewart, both day-to-day with ankle issues.

0:48The host: Stewart's the one who could've banged inside against whoever starts at the five for us.

0:52The analyst: Right, and that's the whole game for me. Forget the records, it's the boards.

0:58The host: Zach Edey.

0:59The analyst: Zach Edey. Eleven games last season, but thirteen point six points and eleven point one rebounds in twenty-five point eight minutes. That's a starter's rebounding rate from a guy barely playing.

1:15The host: So he just eats on the glass if nobody's ready for him.

1:18The analyst: Eleven games, I'm calling that a sample, not a trend. But if Chicago's thin up front tonight, that's the matchup that decides it.

1:28The host: Jerami Grant worries me more. Eighteen point six a night last season, that's their actual lead scorer.

1:33The analyst: Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward too, twelve and a half, thirteen point six apiece. It's not a one-man scoring load over there.

1:42The host: And Cam Spencer off their bench, eleven point one points, five point six assists. It's deep.

1:48The analyst: Both of these teams were bottom of the league on defense last season. Grizzlies gave up a hundred eighteen point four per hundred, Bulls gave up a hundred seventeen point four. Neither defense was good.

2:04The host: So who's actually on the floor for Chicago tonight.

2:06The analyst: If Collins clears, he's your five. If not, it's Jalen Smith, maybe Orlando Robinson. Giddey runs it, Powell and Buzelis on the wings, Okoro in the mix.

2:20The host: And if Jones is actually back at the point.

2:23The analyst: Then Giddey gets to play some off the ball, which is the whole reason you want Jones healthy in the first place.

2:30The host: Hield's in that mix too, off the bench, after the trade that sent Dillingham to Charlotte.

2:35The analyst: Thirty-three years old, tenth year in the league, a different kind of scorer than what we had there.

2:42The host: Give me the number of the day.

2:44The analyst: Patrick Williams. Last season, in his three games with a teammate out, he averaged thirty-four minutes a night, fourteen more than his season mark of twenty point five.

2:56The host: And Claxton's the teammate out tonight.

2:59The analyst: Right. Three games isn't a pattern, I'm not promising it repeats. But if Collins is managed too, Williams is the one who inherits those extra minutes.

3:10The host: We said two nights ago Collins was a game-time call against the Suns. Same read tonight, day-to-day, toe, targeted to return.

3:18The analyst: Whatever happened with Collins, Smith scored nine that night, Powell had eight, and Chicago won it a hundred twenty-four to a hundred seventeen.

3:29The host: First live look at this roster together. Preseason or not, that matters.

3:34The analyst: It's still zero and zero on the books, preseason doesn't count. But it's one rest day, no back-to-back, and two days until Denver on the eleventh.

3:44The host: Memphis doesn't have that same rest. One day off, but they've played twice in the last seven, and this is a road trip for them before a week away.

3:52The analyst: So Chicago's the fresher team walking in, at least on paper.

3:56The host: Tip-off's tonight, right here in Chicago, on NBA TV.

4:00The analyst: No travel for this one. That's one less excuse.

4:04The host: So here's the question for everybody watching tonight: if Claxton's out and Collins is still a maybe, does Williams playing thirty-plus minutes look like a real answer at center, or does it just look like camp?

4:15The analyst: We'll know a lot more once Denver's behind them on the eleventh than we know right now.

4:21The host: Watch the minutes column tonight, Williams, Smith, whoever ends up at the five. That's the whole center story in one preseason game.

4:29The analyst: Catch the final tonight, then find us in the Bulls section on Hoops Nightly before Denver.