If they're out · CHI

Who gains without Miller

Without Miller, Smith usually plays 21 minutes; our estimate: 26 minutes (Lean).

5 games with all of them out since last season: Feb 9, Feb 19, Feb 22, Nov 8, Nov 13. Their minutes when they play: Miller 19.
Likely strong evidenceLean some evidenceWorth watching a tip, not a promise
Jalen Smith
F-C · 64 games since last season
Lean
Minutes21 → 26 +4
Shots9 → 11 +2
Fantasy pts24 → 31 +7
  • 26 minutes and 34 fantasy points a game in the 4 games he played with all of them out
  • +3 minutes in 4 games without Miller alone since last season
Patrick Williams
F · 77 games since last season
Lean
Minutes21 → 25 +5
Shots7 → 8 +1
Fantasy pts15 → 21 +6
  • 24 minutes and 19 fantasy points a game in the 5 games he played with all of them out
  • came in for 28% of the times Miller left a game
  • +4 minutes in 4 games without Miller alone since last season
Buddy Hield
G · 10 games since last season
Worth watching
Minutes15 → 18 +3
Shots6 → 7 +1
Fantasy pts14 → 18 +4
  • 25 minutes and 26 fantasy points a game in the 1 game he played with all of them out
Everyone else · usual → tonight
  • Norman Powell
    29 → 30 min · 17 → 18 shots
    30 → 33 fpts
  • Jordan Hawkins
    11 → 13 min · 4 → 5 shots
    8 → 10 fptsWorth watching
  • Isaac Okoro
    26 → 28 min · 8 → 8 shots
    17 → 19 fptsWorth watching
  • Mouhamadou Gueye
    23 → 23 min · 6 → 7 shots
    19 → 20 fpts
  • Jaden Ivey
    29 → 28 min · 10 → 10 shots
    29 → 30 fpts
  • Nic Claxton
    18 → 19 min · 5 → 5 shots
    21 → 20 fpts
  • Zach Collins
    15 → 12 min · 6 → 5 shots
    14 → 9 fpts
  • Josh Giddey
    31 → 30 min · 14 → 11 shots
    39 → 34 fpts
  • Tre Jones
    26 → 21 min · 11 → 9 shots
    27 → 20 fpts
How this works, and how often it's rightShow

We start from each teammate's recent minutes, shots and fantasy points since last season, then hand out the minutes the missing players have been playing: mostly to whoever came in when each of them left a game, and to whoever played more when each one sat on his own, with a small nudge toward the same position. Minutes a player already lost while someone was out are not counted twice. Shots move with how often each teammate finished plays when none of the missing players were on the floor. When the exact group has sat together 4 or more times, those games count too.

We checked it on 1,183 games in 2025-26 where a team had two or more rotation players out, using only games played before each one. Our minutes were off by 5.2 a player on average in games from February on, against 6.06 using season averages and 9.41 adding up each missing player's own "who gains" numbers. Fantasy points: off by 8.12, against 8.59 and 12.48. Our biggest predicted minutes gainer was one of the night's two biggest gainers 52% of the time (adding up single-player numbers: 37%).

Likely means 6 or more minutes over his usual: 79% of those players really did play at least 2 more. Lean (3.5 to 6 more): 65%. Worth watching (2 to 3.5 more): 52%. Blowouts, foul trouble and coaches' whims make any one night noisy.