Caleb Wilson Out 4-6 Weeks After Surgery on Fractured Right Hand

Chicago Bulls rookie Caleb Wilson had successful surgery on a fractured right hand on Thursday and will miss four to six weeks, the team announced. He hurt the hand in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 124-119 loss to San Antonio while trying to knock the ball out of Victor Wembanyama’s hands, and he did not finish the game. It is his third significant hand injury in about nine months, and it takes the one bright spot out of a 1-9 team.

What happened to Wilson’s hand?

He fractured it on a routine defensive play and needed surgery within a day. The Bulls announced on Thursday night that the operation was successful and that Wilson will be re-evaluated in three weeks, with sources telling ESPN’s Shams Charania he will miss four to six weeks. The early end of that timeline costs him about 13 games, and the late end about 20, with a return shortly after Christmas if the recovery runs long. The Bulls confirmed the timeline within a day, which matters: when a false season-ending injury claim spread about Jaylen Brown in October, it took a debunk to kill it, and Chicago gave the rumour mill nothing to work with here.

How did he hurt it?

Trying to make a play on the ball against the biggest player in the league. Wilson reached in as Wembanyama held the ball in the third quarter, and his right hand appeared to hit the Spurs star’s elbow. He had been on his way to another big night, scoring 15 points in 15 minutes before the injury, and the Bulls ruled him out for the rest of the game. Wembanyama has been at the centre of the week’s physical basketball: two nights later, Draymond Green was called for a Flagrant 1 for shoving him from behind in San Antonio’s NBA Cup win over Golden State.

How good had Wilson been?

The best thing about the Bulls’ season, and it was not close. The No. 4 pick in the 2026 draft was averaging 18.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks in 30.8 minutes across his first 10 games, shooting 42 percent. He ranked second on the team in scoring behind veteran guard Norman Powell and first in shot attempts at 16.2 a game, and he had put himself squarely in the early Rookie of the Year conversation. In June he had said it plainly: “I expect to have Rookie of the Year, honestly.” The preseason hinted at it, when he dropped 20 points in the second half against Memphis after one in the first, and the regular season confirmed it.

Why is this the third hand injury in nine months?

Because his hands have been the story of his last year, not just this week. During his lone season at North Carolina, Wilson broke a bone in his left hand and missed six games, then broke his right thumb attempting a dunk in practice in March, just as he was nearing a return from the first injury. Season-ending surgery on the thumb cost him the NCAA Tournament. Now the right hand is fractured, a different bone and a different hand from the college injuries, but the pattern is the same: a promising stretch cut short by a hand problem. The Bulls knew the history when they drafted him fourth overall, and they will now manage the recovery with that history in mind.

What does it mean for the Bulls?

It takes the franchise player out of a rebuild that was already going badly. Chicago is 1-9, a start that equals the worst in franchise history, and owns the league’s worst net rating at minus 15.1. The team spent the summer overhauling itself, hiring Bryson Graham as lead executive and Tiago Splitter as head coach, and drafted Wilson to be the face of the rebuild on the court. Much of the offence already ran through the 20-year-old. The rotation behind him has already been stretched thin this season, with deep-bench players logging heavy preseason minutes just to fill out the roster, and there is no like-for-like replacement for a rookie taking 16 shots a game.

When could he return?

The three-week re-evaluation sets the window. If the recovery runs to the short end, he misses about 13 games; if it runs long, about 20, and the return comes shortly after Christmas. The Bulls have not set a target game, and the re-evaluation will decide whether the timeline holds or slips. What is certain is the gap: for the next month, the team that has won once in 10 games plays without the rookie who was supposed to make it watchable.