NBA Midday: Claxton's Hamstring Leaves Chicago's Opener in Doubt, and the Thunder Are Sitting Everybody in Tulsa

CHICAGO — The calendar says preseason, and preseason is supposed to be the part of the year when nothing matters. Try telling that to Chicago, where Nic Claxton — the center the Bulls spent the whole summer acquiring — just tweaked a hamstring in training camp and might not be ready when the games start counting.

Welcome to the NBA's annual October reality check: every team in the league is healthy until it isn't, and the morning's injury report was only the first entry on the ledger. Monday brought the newest name — plus a Thunder preseason opener in Tulsa that's about to look very different than advertised, with Oklahoma City sitting everybody, and the two-time MVP telling the world he has never felt more alive.

Claxton's hamstring puts the Bulls' opener in real doubt

The injury news nobody in Chicago wanted: new starting center Nic Claxton sustained a hamstring injury in training camp and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, head coach Tiago Splitter told reporters on Monday. That timeline — Oct. 19 — lands two days before the Bulls' season opener against the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 21, and as Sports Illustrated noted, a re-evaluation is not a return date. For a springy big man, a hamstring tweak in October is exactly the kind of thing teams handle with gloves.

Per Bleacher Nation, citing K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network, Claxton will effectively miss the entire preseason. The Bulls open exhibition play Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns at the United Center and close it out Friday, Oct. 16, against Minnesota. That means Chicago's new-look starting five — Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson — will spend the preseason auditioning a fill-in at center instead of building chemistry with the real one.

The next-man-up chart is not pretty. Jalen Smith is the likely call-up for Wednesday's opener, but Zach Collins came into camp rehabbing a quad injury and the Bulls have been bringing him along slowly. Behind them are Tobe Awaka, signed to a two-way deal after playing center in Summer League, and Orlando Robinson. As SI put it, neither Smith nor Collins is anywhere near the defensive force Claxton has been — and Claxton was supposed to be the rim-protecting anchor for Splitter's aggressive front-line defense and Giddey's most exciting pick-and-roll partner yet.

If there's a silver lining, it's the calendar: the Bulls' home opener is set for Oct. 24 against Washington, and SI suggests that's a more realistic target than the 21st. Two extra days, in hamstring world, can be everything.

The Thunder are sitting everybody in Tulsa

Meanwhile in Oklahoma City, head coach Mark Daigneault has decided the preseason opener is a fine time to let the kids cook. Per OKC Thunder Wire (USA Today), the Thunder will sit eight players for Tuesday's preseason opener against the New Orleans Pelicans at the BOK Center in Tulsa: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber.

The first six names are the usual preseason caution on the front end of a back-to-back. Topic and Sorber remain limited in training camp, so their absences were expected too. The good news for Tulsa fans: the whole group is making the 90-minute trip south, and the main rotation is expected back Wednesday for the preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks at home.

That leaves a starting five the Thunder beat writer sketched as something like Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams and Aday Mara. On paper that's a G League lineup. In reality, it's exactly the kind of laissez-faire preseason environment where a name gets made — and it's still, technically, a team with a trophy case.

Giannis on Heat Culture: "like being alive again"

Two days after his Miami debut, Giannis Antetokounmpo sat down with The Athletic's Eric Nehm and settled the debate that has fueled a decade of jokes. Heat Culture? "No, it's real," he said. "It's real."

Then he went further. For The Win (USA Today) carried the quotes: "It's real, and I love every second of it. I'm not even gonna lie. It gives me goosebumps. It's almost like being alive again." The two-time MVP described it as "togetherness," "communication" and "hard work" — and said he's felt it since the moment he touched down in South Beach.

The on-court preview backed the vibe. In Saturday's 129-105 win over Toronto in Quebec City, Giannis dished seven assists and scored nine points in about 14 minutes before resting the second half. Miami's balanced attack had seven players in double figures, and the reported starting five — Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Davion Mitchell — looked like a unit that has played together for years, not days.

Miami opens the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. If the buy-in is real, the East has a problem.

Tonight's five-game slate: LeBron's first real night as a Sixer

The preseason rolls on Monday with five games, and the headliner is obvious: Knicks at 76ers (7 PM ET / 4 PM PT), the first actual preseason game of LeBron James's Philadelphia career. Saturday's Blue x White scrimmage was a party for 10,000 fans; tonight brings a real box score against a real opponent — and the Knicks are as good a measuring stick as October offers.

Elsewhere: Pistons vs. Suns (7 PM ET) gives us the first look at the post-payday Jalen Duren, fresh off his five-year, $200 million extension, against a Phoenix team still sorting its center rotation — rookie Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro are battling for the starting job while Mark Williams is sidelined. Hawks vs. Grizzlies (7 PM ET) is the young-legs game, and the night wraps with Bucks vs. Timberwolves — underway in Milwaukee with the Wolves out to an early lead — and Kings vs. Lakers (10 PM ET / 7 PM PT).

Rookie watch: Wagler's nerve, Lendeborg's homework

Two quick notes from Sunday's Clippers-Warriors game in Hawaii, because October is when the lottery picks start showing who they are. Clippers guard Keaton Wagler, the fifth overall pick, went 3-for-15 from the field — and then buried the go-ahead jumper with 12.8 seconds left to seal the 104-101 win. "My teammates were saying to me, 'Keep shooting it, no matter makes or misses; this is preseason,'" Wagler said afterward. He finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Coach Tyronn Lue praised the confidence. That's the whole scouting report in one sentence.

On the other side, Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg — the 11th pick — knocked down the game's first shot and missed his next five, finishing with four points, nine rebounds and a block in 19 minutes. Steve Kerr was blunt: "We need him to be more aggressive." The tools are there; the mandate is now.

Five games tonight, a hamstring to monitor in Chicago, a B-squad getting its close-up in Tulsa, and the Greek Freak feeling alive again. The regular season is 16 days away, and October is already doing October things. More NBA coverage at Previously's news hub.