The Chicago Bulls still have just one win on the season—but what we saw last night against the San Antonio Spurs, at the very least, was an encouraging performance.
With one of their primary scorers out in Norman Powell, the Bulls took control of the game in the first half, surging on the back of 66.7% shooting from beyond the arc to take a commanding lead over a formidable San Antonio team. Of course, as Victor Wembanyama started to get to his spots and the Spurs' rebounding started to set in, Chicago lost control of the game and suffered a 124-119 defeat.
There are, obviously, still concerns with this team. Neither Josh Giddey nor Matas Buzelis have truly gotten activated as scorers, and Caleb Wilson exiting the game with a hand injury certainly doesn't bode well for their chances at finding any sort of consistent identity moving forward.
But if there's one silver lining to take away from this game, it's that both Jalen Smith and Nic Claxton looked viable in their minutes at the five-spot against a team as physically imposing as the Spurs. And even though Claxton came off the bench again, Smith's continued emergence as a real starting option only makes him more valuable for Chicago as the season wears on—both as a player and as a potential trade asset.
The Bulls need both centers at the top of their games—and Jalen Smith is doing everything he can to meet that mark
From a simple perspective of competitiveness, the center position was likely the largest concern for Chicago heading into the season.
They dealt Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline last year, and even though they added Claxton this offseason via a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets, his injury history and lack of extensive minutes over the past couple of seasons cast some doubt onto his status as a consistently viable solution at the position. That came to fruition when Claxton was forced to miss the start of the season with a hamstring injury—and their other backup center, Zach Collins, seems to still be recovering from the foot injury that ended his season last year.
Thankfully, Smith—who normally represents a small-ball option at the position—has emerged as much more than that in 2026-27. Sure, he's not going to provide the rim protection that Claxton does on a nightly basis, but he's been an impressive interior scorer and floor spacer to this point in the season, averaging 12.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while knocking down 36.7% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
The Golden State Warriors have already registered trade interest in Smith, and given the fact that he's on an expiring contract, Chicago should be able to move him before the end of the season relatively easily if they so wish.
Even against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, Smith looked like a viable starter—and that's a huge development. Although Wembanyama went for 15 points in the first half (12 of which came on the interior), Smith was still able to get to his spots and make an impact offensively for Chicago, sinking three first-half field goals from inside the arc and finishing the game with 23 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
That's not something that's going to work in a playoff matchup with a team like San Antonio, but the Bulls (obviously) don't need it to. They simply need Smith to give them the flexibility to use Claxton how they see fit—and against the Spurs, that was in the form of minutes off the bench matched up against Luke Kornet. Claxton finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds, and one assist in 14 fewer minutes than the starter.
The only way both players still have ample value at the trade deadline is if Claxton can stay healthy and available, and it's hard to anticipate that him coming off the bench in certain matchups—especially when he plays how he did last night—will be a serious draw on that. Instead, Smith's emergence as a truly viable center option gives Chicago the option to rest Claxton more often while also elevating Smith's trade value.
Even though the Bulls didn't come away with a win, that's about the best possible outcome for that pairing of big men.
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