Okay, our Chicago Bulls’ 2026-27 season opener against the Toronto Raptors basically could not have gone any worse, outside of someone suffering a catastrophic injury. The 43-point massacre broke some Bulls records. It’s now Chicago’s worst-ever opening night margin of defeat, and the single-worst debut game for a head coach.
So for Caleb Wilson and Tiago Splitter, it’s certainly a night to forget.
But Chicago technically remains undefeated stateside, at least!
The Raptors could be incredibly good this season, and the Bulls are deeply raw. So Chicago may get a better barometer of where it stands in the Eastern Conference when it faces off against two other projected lottery clubs, the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards, in back-to-back bouts Friday and Saturday.
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes dribbles against Chicago Bulls forward Noa Essengue.Bulls Bullets — October 22, 2025
If the Bulls are going to be this terrible anyway (at least, when it comes to playing quality clubs), Splitter should think about shifting Noa Essengue and Dailyn Swain up in his bench. On Wednesday, Essengue was Splitter’s 11th man — and he’ll be 12th when Nicolas Claxton returns from his hamstring injury. Two-way signings Jaylin Sellers and Tobe Awaka got some run starting in the third frame, with the game already out of hand. Swain and the Bulls’ other two-way piece, Jordan Hawkins, stayed in Chicago with undisclosed illnesses. Middling veterans like shooting guards Isaac Okoro and Buddy Hield and center Zach Collins are what they are at this stage of their careers. Are they better than Essengue and Swain right now? Sure, but they’re not going to swing many wins. Essengue and Swain need developmental reps. In general, Bulls point guard Josh Giddey feels like he’s trending towards being a good-stats/bad-team piece. The oversized playmaker racks up assists and rebounds, but his dubious shooting stroke and poor defensive instincts may make him a permanent postseason liability. On Wednesday, he submitted the worst game I’ve seen from him in a Bulls uniform. He was shockingly bad, scoring just two points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field and logging a brutal -39 plus-minus. Giddey was frequently caught jogging back on defense and often got lost on switches. He struggled to create much offense on drives.Josh Giddey tonight:2 PTS1/10 FGM0/4 3PM24 Minutes pic.twitter.com/y1qZHmhsO3
— NBA Tour Dates (@NBATourDates) October 22, 2026 Now, he’s blaming a wrist injury he’s supposedly had since the start of the preseason for his woes. No one knew about the ailment until after this horrific performance. K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network observes that the Bulls’ $100 million point guard was spotted wearing a wrap around his left wrist.t.co/Cj3dvpuQKm pic.twitter.com/U8bM1hHGvP
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 22, 2026 Per The Athletic‘s Joel Lorenzi, the 24-year-old Aussie claimed he’s been dealing with that injury since Chicago’s first preseason clash, and will have to grapple with the issue for the entire year. Why was this never mentioned until now? Bleacher Nation‘s conspiracy theory department is paying close attention. Giddey declined to reveal whether he had a tissue injury, according to Lorenzi. Let’s get to the Caleb Wilson of it all. According to Kalshi NBA, Wilson’s -45 plus-minus now represents the single worst such stat for a rookie debut, trouncing Jalen Green (uh oh) and Amen Thompson (huzzah!). He had a rough night on both ends of the floor, coughing up a whopping nine turnovers and struggling to contain Toronto’s bigger wings, but the 20-year-old showed off his springy vertical on several slams. Wilson scored 16 points on 7-of-21 field goal shooting, grabbed four rebounds, snatched three steals, and blocked a shot. That’s not good enough. The nine turnovers stand out, too. Per Johnson, Splitter criticized Wilson for not looking to pass out when he faced double and triple coverages. Splitter also observed that the Raptors’ strong, physical defenders are angling to create turnovers. Speaking with gathered reporters postgame in the visitors’ locker room (via CHSN), Wilson grappled with his inefficient night.“I just feel like it’s a learning lesson.” Caleb Wilson thinking about his opportunity for growth as he reflects on tonight’s game ? pic.twitter.com/53wuSHDdl8
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) October 22, 2026“I feel like, watching film, I’ll learn a lot from it,” Wilson said. “I think I had so many turnovers today… the lanes were so tight ’cause their hands were there. That’s just something I have to learn from and just making sure my moves are sharper, but everything was just more congested. That’s just something you see and learn from.”
Wilson wasn’t the only Bulls player who struggled with turnovers. Chicago also couldn’t control the ball much at all, surrendering 27 turnovers to 10 for Toronto. The Raptors scored 35 points (!) off Chicago’s 27 turnovers, by the way. Everyone had questions about Chicago’s 3-point shooting heading into the season, given the shot profiles of the Bulls’ personnel. Those questions looked justified Wednesday. The Bulls connected on just 4-of-36 (11.1 percent) of their triple tries, compared to the Raptors’ middling-but-competent 10-of-31 (32.2 percent) night. Teams were forced to cut their standard contracts to 15 heading into Tuesday’s season tip-off. We took a look at three surprising waiver wire pieces for the Bulls to consider. Now, one of them is off the board. As had been expected, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that point guard Walter Clayton Jr., the former No. 18 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, inked a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Former Chicago Sky All-Star power forward Angel Reese took full control of the ongoing WNBA Finals on Wednesday night. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year helped power her Atlanta Dream to a dominant 79-65 Game 3 victory over the Golden State Valkyries at home. Atlanta now leads the Valkyries 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 slated for Saturday at noon. For the series, Reese has been averaging 21.7 points on 56.4 percent field goal shooting and 75 percent 3-point shooting, 13.3 boards, and 2.0 steals a night. With every stat-stuffing win, the 24-year-old is cementing her place among the league’s legends. These eye-popping numbers and her stunning midseason development of a 3-point shot have helped her reach new heights as a comprehensive threat on both sides of the ball. Reese literally gets better every year, and her rising star is absolutely helping boost the Finals’ year-over-year ratings. So, uh, maybe we shouldn’t have traded her.TWO MORE. t.co/JCiGz9WtP4
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 22, 2026BULLS ON BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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