Life without Caleb Wilson carries on for Bulls, evident by a second win

MINNEAPOLIS – There’s a next-man-up mentality that most professional franchises need to have.

At least the ones that have any hopes of surviving a significant injury to the roster.

The Bulls displayed that in the wake of prized rookie Caleb Wilson being lost for up to six weeks because of undergoing right hand surgery, beating Atlanta in overtime on Friday and showing up a night later with by far their best basketball of the season in upsetting the Timberwolves 117-106.

Not a bad response at all.

“Our jobs are on the line too,” reserve guard Buddy Hield said very matter-of-factly after the latest win. “The organization is in the position where they’re trying to figure out where they are moving in the next direction. No disrespect to Caleb, but we have guys that have been in the league for more than four or five years and we understand what it takes to win. Putting all the BS aside and being a good teammate, going out to compete, making winning plays and that translates into wins.”

Words that followed up actions from Hield, as it was the likes of him, Patrick Williams and Tre Jones that came off the bench, withstood a third-quarter rally by the home team, and helped the Bulls to a 3-9 record.

Hield and Jones each had 16 points, while Williams added 15 points and was a plus-10 in plus/minus.

“We’re winners,” Williams said of the bench mentality. “That’s what winners do. Do whatever you need to when your name is called. Whatever it looks like, whether it’s scoring, rebounding, whatever it is.”

That was the latest known for the Bulls.

The unknown is how will the 20-year-old Wilson handle being a spectator and not a key foundation piece until possibly Christmas time?

If it’s up to the Bulls, it won’t be him overthinking the setback on his own.

Coach Tiago Splitter went into a bit more detail on Saturday about the plan surrounding Wilson and how the organization wants to handle his rehabilitation. It involves being around the team as much as possible, likely starting after this three-city road trip.

“He’s not traveling right now because he still has stitches and he can’t sweat yet, so a couple days off, but once we come back (from this road trip) he’s going to be around the team and travel with the team,” the coach said.

Which Splitter, the medical staff and the front office all deem key in his comeback.

“I think it’s extremely important just to be a part of the film sessions, the meetings, be on the bench, be part of the goods and bads of the team throughout those games,” Splitter said. “It’s also going to give him a different perspective on not having the pressure of the game and the open mind to just watch everything, try to learn and absorb everything from those situations.”

Considering the Bulls were near the bottom of the league in offensive efficiency and at the bottom in defense, it’s not like life without Wilson would do damage to either of those statistical categories.

The two major gut-punches specifically center around Wilson.

First and foremost, it’s a month to six weeks of development that every rookie needs, especially one that was being counted on as heavily as Wilson was. The other slap is Wilson’s Rookie of the Year candidacy and how important it was to him.

Since first being drafted back in June, Wilson has not been shy in admitting that he not only wanted to win the Rookie of the Year trophy of a very talented 2026 draft but wanted to personally outperform any rookie in the class whenever he faced them.

This setback puts him near the back of the line behind the likes of Cameron Boozer, Darius Acuff Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa.