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Wendell Carter Jr. continues to be a beast in summer league

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what more can we say?

By Paul Steeno
/ new
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Chicago Bulls rookie Wendell Carter Jr. couldn’t give a care about his 23 point (9-for-13 from the field), six rebound, two assist, two-block performance on Tuesday night because his team lost the Summer League’s final ‘regular season’ game. His plus-minus of -13 was a heck of a lot more important to the Duke product.

But we can commend it anyway.

From accepting a secondary role to Marvin Bagley III during his one season at Duke to gushing over how excited he was to set screens in the NBA during pre-draft workouts to this latest display of selflessness, Carter Jr. is already elite at saying the right things. His basketball skills may not be far behind.

As The Athletic’s Stephen Noh noted, the Bulls made a calculated effort to get Carter Jr. more involved offensively especially in the pick-and-roll. He can score from all three levels, can put the ball on the floor, and can score with both hands making him a difficult cover in pick-and-roll situations.

In most of the highlights involving pick-and-roll, it looks like the Atlanta Hawks are using a drop coverage which provides Carter Jr. room to maneuver once he comes off his pick and gets the ball. This coverage encourages mid-range attempts (theoretically the most inefficient shot in basketball), but Carter’s ability to hit shots from this range and/or put the ball on the floor to get to the paint neutralizes what the defense tries to accomplish.

Basically, Carter’s versatile skillset should make him a nightmare in pick-and-roll schemes once the games start to matter beginning in November.

Other Notes:

  • Chandler Hutchison had a game-high eight assists. His ability to pass out of straight-line drives to the basket has been impressive thus far.
  • Antonio Blakeney was better than last game but still pretty inefficient. He scored 23 points on 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from the field in 32 minutes. Over the course of the Bulls first three games, Blakeney has commanded 27 percent of the Bulls total shots.
  • You all love laughing at Ryan Arcidiacono, but he has the grit.

All the teams will now be seeded based on their record in their games thus far and play in a massive tournament.

For the Bulls, it’s NBA Summer League championship or bust.

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