The Chicago Bulls will try to rinse the bad taste of their opening night loss out of their mouths on Friday afternoon.
Toronto dominated Tiago Splitter's squad to start the year, handing them their worst loss in a season opener in franchise history. Chicago will now get a considerably easier matchup, on paper, against a rebuilding Milwaukee Bucks team. And they will also welcome back a pair of players who didn't travel across the border.
Both Dailyn Swain and Jordan Hawkins were sidelined with an illness for Wednesday night's matchup. Both players have now been upgraded from questionable to probable in the hours leading up to game time. For what it's worth, most eyes will be on Swain, the No. 15 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. While it's unclear exactly how many minutes Splitter plans to give him on a nightly basis, preseason action suggests that he should be part of the rotation on most nights.
Swain has appeared to struggle with NBA defenses thus far, but having him back could still help this Bulls team quite a bit. They looked lost handling any kind of ball pressure on opening night. Swain at least gives them another option who – in theory – can initiate some offense and bring the ball up the court.
As for Jordan Hawkins, it's anticipated that he will not see much playing time, but it's worth noting that Splitter wasn't shy about playing his two-way talent earlier this week. Both Tobe Awaka and Jaylin Sellers got into the game and provided a spark in Toronto, albeit in a blowout.
In the less exciting injury news, Josh Giddey was added to the injury report after revealing a wrist issue in Toronto. The lead guard was said to have his wrist wrapped after the game, leading to questions from the traveling reporters. Giddey divulged that he suffered an injury during the first preseason game and received an MRI.
Giddey admitted that the issue is something the Bulls will have to manage, though there appear to be no plans to sit him for the time being. After a 1-10 showing in Game 1 with some ugly turnovers, we will want to keep a very close eye on how comfortable Giddey looks with the ball in his hands. At the end of the day, he is incredibly important to what the Bulls are trying to do offensively.
Chicago Bulls Injury Report
Tobe Awaka – PROBABLE (knee)
Zach Collins – PROBABLE (quad)
Dailyn Swain – PROBABLE (illness)
Jordan Hawkins – PROBABLE (illness)
Josh Giddey – PROBABLE (wrist)
Nic Claxton – OUT (hamstring)
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