I didn't understand yanking Essengue from the lineup at all. Ok sure he's the last GM's guy but you have him now and summer league should be for letting guys struggle a bit
As others brought up last year, Essengue represents the dilemma when drafting players who are really young and massive projects. Teams who draft them are running the risk of essentially just hosting them for an internship so they can get a taste of the industry before they go on to more meaningfully contribute later in life.
This becomes even more complicated when there’s a regime change during the early stages of that player’s career. It’s easy (and fair) to say that Graham should give Essengue a real chance, but we also have to put ourselves in his shoes. We’re basically saying “Hey, see that kid who can’t stop falling down and committing fouls and is only taking like three shot attempts per game? We think you should take him seriously, because your predecessor who got fired made a significant investment in him.” If we truly want Graham and Splitter to take charge of this organization, part of that is accepting they might not care about some of the players AKME brought in.
I think Noa will likely spend a good portion of this season in the G League. That might honestly be the best for him. He needs time to learn how to control his body and I’m not sure that will happen in short stints against NBA players. He’ll be someone worth monitoring, because the potential is there. I’m hopeful he can be at least a good role player, but we’re likely not going to see much of that this year.
They might have seen enough to know what their plan is for him for the year. Instead of wasting minutes on him, they spend their limited minutes on other players they haven't codified a plan for yet.
We don't know, but they see him at practice, in the weight room, etc. They almost certainly played him until they had a plan for him and felt it was more useful to learn about other players.
The truth is that every player should be looked at so critically. Favoritism usually sucks and 9 times out of 10 ends up keeping a guy around too long.
And it's not like the team has to choose 'development resources' going to one player versus another. And shame on them if they do have limitations. Minutes in the rotation are finite but not anything else.
One thing I hope Graham and Splitter will do (and it would show that things are different from AKME) is to let Wilson do things like hoist threes and run plays. Good organizations develop their players by letting them try and fail in games with the long term aim of getting them to improve (see: Wemby playing point as a rookie). Billy would never go for this but it's what Wilson needs to fulfill his potential.
I agree with you (and Matt) on this. It was a good move to task Swain with ball-handling and distribution as part of his development, if only to assess where he's at, so hopefully they'll give Wilson free rein to experiment with his potentialities this winter.
I think a large part of that was having zero margin for error for making the playoffs, er, play in. (Whether or not they should have been trying to make the playoffs is a completely different question)
I suspect I have more insight into Billy's perspective than anyone else here, since I've followed his career for 30 years now.
I have said over and over, even before he left the Bulls, that Billy's father's death likely made him reassess how he was spending his time.
If he wanted to be a head coach that was nearly guaranteed to make the playoffs, he'd be UNC's head coach. If he wanted to be the head coach of an NBA team with much more margin for error, he'd be the Magic's head coach. If he wanted to keep banging his head against a wall, he'd still be the Bull's head coach.
He didn't want any of those things. He didn't want to worry about the non-coaching aspects of running a team. He just wanted to coach. *That* is why he left.
And, I might add, he went to a team that have enough margin of error to play young players and will play those players.
I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but I also agree with Matt. I'm not sure Billy turned down the Magic job. All information out there was saying he was interested in it. So far nothing has come out saying he was offered the job and turned it down.
Essengue seems to have a "what is it you do here?" problem. If he isn't spamming threes and getting chase down blocks from behind, there isn't much to hang his hat on. Comparing his '24 exhibition performance against the Blazers to these Summer League highlights, there's been a decline in muscle definition, some loss of fluidity and court vision and a continued inability to get into a lower center of gravity on offense. It looks like a long winter in the weight room, at the training table and bum-slaying in Hoffman Estates. He would have been better served to go to college and waited for his growth plates to settle.
The Swain over Carr pick is looking like a fireable offense right now lol. Graham has one foot in the bust hole for me. If this weren’t the Bulls I’d give the guy a longer leash… but he’s already showing using questionable decision making. Maybe it’s just impossible for GM’s to thrive as long as DorfPax run things 🤷🏻♂️
Wilson: Where to begin. His handle is too loose, his core/lower body strength is inadequate to hold/carve out position on offense, he's a lazy defender, and his contested rebounding was borderline terrible. The punchline? I thought he was pretty good.
Swain: Actually not too early to be worried. He's kinda slow. Some of that is maybe he's not the raw athlete he was billed as. But probably a lot of it is he can't process even SL games like a pro. Not even close. His defensive effort was extremely disappointing, and only got worse as SL went on given his struggles on offense.
Akawa: never going to happen.
Sellers: solid showing. Could be something there. Good 2-way idea. I'm not a CBA guy. Would it have made more sense to just draft him at 56?
Essengue: balance looked way off. Still, he was one of maybe two guys on the whole team (Sellers being the other) whose defense effort and impact were in the neighborhood of what one would hope in this setting and for this coach.
Coaching: Just kinda rolled the ball out there. Join the club. But it's possible to do more than that. C- work.
Ricky on the Cash Considerations podcast pointed out the motor concerns with Wilson. Like he showed it when chasing down his own mistakes, but it's not his default setting on either end of the floor.
Yeah, I mean, at this juncture this is all whatever. But I'd maybe like a little less of the corny PR about being like Kobe and shit until he starts trying more. It does seem like people forgot how Kobe played, btw. He was not just some slow it down and iso guy. I just watched his opener against Phoenix in 2004-05. That dude never stopped moving out there.
even that though, if he's been used to being the best player on the floor by a decent margin, I understand the coasting to some degree as a 19 year old kid. Hopefully as the competition ramps up he will see he can't operate in that mode.
On Essengue, I don't agree with Hollinger's "Not Our Guy syndrome" take, but like your "subjective body language and objective body-on-the-ground" combo. He looks defeated.
I do have an opinion on Tobe Awaka, who knows and plays his role, but granted, coming out as a 22-year-old Senior. He answers my repeated requests for muscle in the paint, but as a PF not a Center. Maybe Tiago will find a spot for him someday, when the frenetic skinny kids look for a pick, rebound or bailout shot target.
And given that Bulls players such as Essengue, Wilson and Josh Giddey often wind up on the floor, have they thought of using the Riva Method, the structured training and assessment methodology that relies on the Delos Postural Proprioceptive System? They claim that many NBA teams already do. The NFL's Alvin Kamara also did such training during the offseason. Michael Reinsdorf told Bryson Graham that they'll make the necessary investments. I hope it's not too late for the Bulls players.
This issue of how Caleb should approach the 3 this year is kinda tricky. He probably should be a little liberal with it, since shooting spacing is so reputational, and that gets sticky quickly. But it's dangerous. Sort of like how Swain playing PG was a bad idea because it deflected him from focusing on his plausible success skills, Wilson's three ball cannot be allowed to distract him from his most plausible path to success: inside-out. It's funny and annoying that it took the Bulls 9 1/2 quarters to realize "hey, what if we had Caleb flash to the foul line, give him the ball, and let him make decisions there?". They did it for two possessions, it was probably the most creative their offense looked all tournament, and they didn't go back there. I'm going to be really annoyed if Caleb is spending his rookie year trying to break guys down off the dribble from 23 feet out.
I think Caleb himself said in an interview that he played a bit differently in Summer League that he would otherwise, part of injury avoidance, which is why he drove to the paint for athletic finishes less than he would be accustomed to and sees himself doing in the future.
2. Atwell. He should make the team. I want to take some credit for pointing out that this guy was worthy of being drafted before I even knew we'd got him on the summer league team. So, good on Graham for getting him in. Get him on a 2-way now. Or even a guaranteed minimum. Dude can shoot the lights out, move, and he's not a total dud otherwise.
This guy is going to be a regular NBA player. In the Summer League, where everyone is looking for their own shot and the games are basically pick ups, he's easy to overlook. But damn near every time he's in, he's wide open and you can see him get position and moving with the action. In a real NBA game, he's going to be a serious weapon if he comes along like a guy normally would.
He looks fine defensively. He's not a shrimp, pays attention, and knows where to go. Picks up steals. Honestly, he's the 2nd best guy on the SL team. He looks like a guy who can have a solid NBA career because he's always gonna be the best shooter on the floor and he's smart and he's big enough.
The Bulls team philosophy has always been to hate shooting for some reason, but this guy is such a obviously awesome shooter than I can't believe even they will be stupid enough to let him go.
3. Sellers. Man, I hated him freezing out Caleb and everyone else in the first game. He played well last night, and he's a strong, pretty quick guy, but I'm on the fence. Guys like him are a dime a dozen unless he really pops. He's played well enough that I want to see more though, and has played more team ball.
4. Swain. I'll buy that his shooting is not so ridiculously bad as it looks. The first game, I thought he looked pretty slithery getting to the rim. Since then, everything has kind of fallen apart. His defense is fine. My worry, more than his shot, is that his handle doesn't look as advertised. He looked a bit more solid with it last night, better than the first two games. But he still doesn't even look like a secondary ball handler. Maybe it's just nerves.
In any case, my biggest issue is that if we're going to give someone on the ball reps, they should be going to Caleb. If I were trying to win games, I'd put Atwell or Sellers out there before him. If I were trying to create the best environment to see what Caleb can become, I'd probably put Atwell or Sellers out there too, provided Sellers gets with the program.
5. Noa. His first game was pretty trash, but these last two I think he's been more consistent, and as much as you can have a place for a 206lb center, I think that's what he is. Aside from the fact that he's still unable to shoot free throws, the biggest problem is that he had an entire year to at least work on building his lower body, and he literally gained no weight/strength at all. So it's like, I can say that he's doing some things better and I can see what his role should be, but I still think he's fallen behind where he should be given what he could/should have done. I don't like that the new regime has obviously "un" favorited him, but at the same time, he's a guy with no discernible position who falls down a lot and just committed 7 fouls in 11 minutes. Holy fuck.
6. Kennedy Chandler. He's fine. But not really a PG and he's tiny. Fine to keep in the G-League, but not worth a 2 way.
7. Awaka. Every time he touches the ball is an adventure that likely results in a turnover. I know he tested well athletically at the combine, but he doesn't have any hops during the game and is slow as hell. Don't think he's worth a two way.
Glad you pointed out Atwell. I forgot to mention him in my summary post above, but I totally agree with you. He can be Isaiah Joe. That's worth exploring. They need to make a claim on him immediately.
If you could magically drop any PG in the league on the Bulls to pair with Caleb, who would it be?
Probably Haliburton? Amazing shooter on and off the ball, smart and motivated.
I feel like saying SGA is a cheat. He'd maybe not the platonic ideal, but I'd take him or Derek Harper obviously. Brunson, offensively, but again, that seems like kind of a cheat.
Like I said below, my working model of Caleb is more or less Tatum. Jrue/Derrick White/Pritchard would all be good fits, but are probably too old to be longer term fits.
The one guy I really wanted to target in free agency was Collin Gillespie. Not a big name, but he seemed very gettable.
I would have been really interested in moving up for Acuff or Mikel Brown. Too early to say I was too high on Acuff, but he's maybe not quite athletic enough to keep up his efficiency? I don't know. It's hard to gauge from SL. Brown + Wilson would have made the Bulls the funnest team ever.
I guess my dream offseason would have been something like:
* Trade #15 and unprotected '28 or 29 pick for Claxton and Mikel Brown Jr (I'm not a Claxton fan and think we could have extracted more value for taking him). I think this is the biggest reach here, maybe Brooklyn just wouldn't make any deal.
* Giddey to Suns for Gillespie and Maluach. Would also add Pat and Jalen Green if they were up for it. Not really interested in Green, but it might help with the Suns paying the tax and I'd like Pat to be gone.
* Offer more for Isaiah Joe than the Pistons did.
G- Brown, Gillespie
G- Joe, Jones, Atwell (TW)
F- Matas, Okoro
F- Caleb, Miller (Smith), Veesaar, Noa, Pat
C- Smith, Maluach, Claxton
* I'd probably look to move Jones pretty soon, but this roster would be a lot younger and have, to my mind, a lot more chance of being a long-term contender, with a possible #2 (Brown) and plenty of high level role players (Joe, Gillespie), and possible long-term center (Maluach).
I don't see any reason to not be trying to find those guys. It's hard to do, wasting opportunities drastically lowers your odds.
he's got a long way to go to be Tatum. Not saying it's not possible but Tatum was way more advanced as a ballhandler/playmaker. I would let Caleb concentrate on being a finisher with the starters and have him handle the ball more with the 2nd unit. Too early for him to have real primary ballhandling duties until he gets that handle tighter
I really disagree. He's the man. We need to just give him the ball and roll with it.
Beyond the fact that he's the truth, there's also the fact that this is the Bulls we're talking about. The clock is ticking on his rookie contract, because you know if they slow walk it, they're never going to put a good team together once he's making the max.
I actually don't disagree that much with you. I also think he is the GUY and should be treated as such. He is the future point blank, we need to decide who can play with him best. He should get plenty of reps where he is the 1st option. I'm just a little wary of it being like that from game 1. I'm just saying ease him in a little for the first couple months. I don't want to slow roll it either but him getting the ball up top from 23 foot and just getting ripped consistently and not learning good habits because right now he has a lot of shitty habits and he does need to learn the little professional things and just giving the ultimate green light from day 1 might make him think that shit is whatever.
But I get your point of view and I'm not against going that route either
I love this plan for the pre-draft-changes NBA where absolute tanking was the strategy. A little less with the new relegation. But I think Maluach would have been the ideal complement to Wilson and Co in the future!
The Bulls have been given an amazing gift, and to not squander it, they need to cut out their sleepy, small-time business as usual bullshit. Post haste.
It's not hard. Stacey King wasn't wrong, it's a simple game at heart. You want guys who complement each other and don't get in each other's way much. Our best guy is Caleb, so everyone else needs to conform and complement him.
And there's no reason to be slow about it. The clock is ticking. And to add to that, does Caleb Wilson sound like the kind of dude that needs a lot of "veteran mentorship" or like the kind of guy who's going to be happy with the team just doing the typical half-assed Bulls approach as evidenced by let's simultaneously "rebuild" and trade away draft picks for cash? That is a rhetorical question. He does not.
What does that mean? Look at Jason Tatum. That's the closest analog for who Caleb can be as an NBA player. 30 usage, ball dominant combo forward.
This season should be devoted to pushing him as far as he can toward that. Everything on the team needs to be pushing towards
1) Giving Caleb every opportunity to reach that potential
2) Putting the best players around Caleb to fit with this fully realized version of what he will be.
We need to be ruthless about churning through guys who don't fit and complement him.
I'm going to start by saying Josh Giddey should be gone soon. There are some people who think he'd be a good fit. I don't see it.
Why is Giddey a bad fit?
1) It's not even the defense, it's that in a half court offense, if the ball is in Caleb's hands, Giddey does nothing for you.
Now, some people are going to complain about this. But the Ball doesn't always need to be in Caleb's hands. No, it doesn't. But that's the default, the top priority, and our default mode of evaluation should be that the player can do something positive to complement Caleb when Caleb has the ball. What I'm saying is, the secondary players who might be primary players have to be capable of contributing without the ball in their hands.
Giddey was traded to the Bulls for several reasons, but the fact that he was unable and/or unwilling to be a secondary guy is clearly one of them.
2) Next, for the time that Giddey does have the ball in his hands, is he even the right kind of point guard to set up a guy like Caleb? In transition yes, but I don't care about that because I care about building a championship team and when I talk, I'm talking about a half court offense. Because a championship team needs that. I don't want to build a team for the regular season. I want a team that wins playoff games.
What kind of half-court point guard is Giddey? Well, first Giddey hasn't even consistently been the half-court point guard for the Bulls much of the time he's been here. When it was crunch time, that fell to Coby or Tre Jones. Why? Because Giddey is not a good half-court creator. But his style of creation is mainly to try and drive and collapse the defense, then kick it out to shooters. So, classically, he'd come down and, say, Coby, Matas, and Vuc would create space and he'd go to work.
Now, Caleb could maybe create this space, but he's also a great cutter and driver himself. Fundamentally, Giddey is going to operate in that space as well though.
Contrast that to a PG whose primary threat is that he'll just pull up and shoot. Obviously everyone switches it up and some guys are dual threats, but I'm talking about as their bread and butter. That sort of PG works by, himself, creating gravity as a shooter, and thus opening up the lane for other guys to have means of attack.
It's obvious that this is the sort of guy you'd ideally pair up with a top level athletic forward like Caleb.
Giddey was something like 70th in the league in pull ups last year per game. And he was something like 70th in the league as far as eFG% on those shots.
In summary, Giddey is a poor fit. The ideal PG (beyond that fact that Caleb should really be the de-facto PG) offensively is a Pritchard or Derrick White or taking it up a notch, Jamal Murray or Jalen Brunson. In short, we want a shooting heavy PG not a driving heavy PG.
You may need to tell us more about your thought process because I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where taking Harden makes sense for the Bulls.
He's one of the best passers and organizers of all time and he may be available for just cap space. Getting him makes the job of all of our young players easier and let's them develop in a favorable environment. He's also a short term rental we can get rid of at any time so we're not committed long term
Caleb is definitely our best chance to have a top 20 player...haven't had one in almost two decades. It's crazy because as good as he was, it was all based off instinct and athleticism. His defensive awareness is really poor, not good at all but he is able to erase his mistakes due to his length, motor and athleticism. I'd like to see that motor used on defense at all times and not just when you get beat and need to make a go go gadget block. Against real pros, him falling asleep on defense is going to get him burnt. He doesn't have much in the way of fundamentals at all...boxing out for example. He doesn't do it. So the fact he was so impactful with basically minimal BBIQ or fundamentals is crazy....shows the sky is the limit. Not sure what his overall ceiling is but i see shades of Toronto era Bosh. I kinda almost wonder if he is a 3 long term....his shooting looks legit enough to be that but he would need to tighten his handle up.....a lot. It's loose as fuck and he will get ripped a ton against real players.
I like Atwell a lot, he should make the regular squad. Dude is a natural shooter and we don't have any of those on the team and he's not the usual 6'2" SG that we had been stockpiling last year. He is a legit 6'5" and not a pushover on defense.
I'm not going to call Swain a bust based off SL but did he do anything well? I wasn't even freaked out about the shots not falling but yea I thought his handle and playmaking were supposed to be strong points of his. And like MikeDC said, he does seem slow and honestly not all that athletic. Wasn't impressed with him on defense either. I'm not going to say I told you regarding not picking Carr but i'm wary of "toolsy" wings that can't shoot for shit. Hope he's not another Denzel Valentine, Troy Brown Jr, Dalen Terry etc....
Noa is two years away from being two years away. I get his shoulder was hurt but did he work on his lower body or core one bit? He looks just as frail as last year. People were hyping bc he grew more but honestly how does being 6'11" help when you already weren't growing into your body well and often move like a newborn baby giraffe. He will have to be in the G League all season because he is nowhere near ready physically to play with pros. So that's basically two wasted years on someone you need to see is in your long term plans. He is not....i'd pawn him off if possible. His only real position currently is small ball C and he is too frail for that role. In the meantime, Beringer is looking solid. But hindsight.....
Nate Duncan said (latest SL prospects review) Swain was the worst Summer League performer he's ever seen. I don't remember if he included caveats like 'in person' or 'first round' (probably the latter at least)
On the plus side, said that Sellers was as good as any second round pick
Yes, that was the most jarring. Having the jitters as much as he did, ok, but the effort was not there either. And as others have said, he looked really slow out there. Fwiw, I was impressed by the couple of NCAA tournament games I saw him play.
Where did this idea come from that Swain could have even possibly replaced Giddey? Some goofies on this site said that after the draft, and I wrote that off as the ravings of the unwashed. But this article brings up the same idea, even if only to reject it. I don't understand how a person could watch even 5 mins of his college tape and come away with that idea.
I think there were murmurings before Summering League that Swain was going to play some point guard (which turned out to be true) and someone in the media decided that must mean Swain was going to become Giddey's replacement.
I liked Sellers defense, effort, and driving ability but I find it pretty bad that an undrafted guard was looking for his own shot so much instead of trying to find Caleb Wilson with passes
Just watched Matas in Zo's podcast. He mentioned he was working out with Dirk and was also going to meet with Deni to workout. It's just nice to hear that he's continuing to expand his game. I hope he takes a big leap this season.
LeBron to Philly. Not team I was expecting him to go to, but might be the best chance at a championship out of the teams that were supposedly in the running. It'll likely be dependent on Embiid being healthy during the playoffs, which definitely isn't a guarantee.
I didn't understand yanking Essengue from the lineup at all. Ok sure he's the last GM's guy but you have him now and summer league should be for letting guys struggle a bit
As others brought up last year, Essengue represents the dilemma when drafting players who are really young and massive projects. Teams who draft them are running the risk of essentially just hosting them for an internship so they can get a taste of the industry before they go on to more meaningfully contribute later in life.
This becomes even more complicated when there’s a regime change during the early stages of that player’s career. It’s easy (and fair) to say that Graham should give Essengue a real chance, but we also have to put ourselves in his shoes. We’re basically saying “Hey, see that kid who can’t stop falling down and committing fouls and is only taking like three shot attempts per game? We think you should take him seriously, because your predecessor who got fired made a significant investment in him.” If we truly want Graham and Splitter to take charge of this organization, part of that is accepting they might not care about some of the players AKME brought in.
I think Noa will likely spend a good portion of this season in the G League. That might honestly be the best for him. He needs time to learn how to control his body and I’m not sure that will happen in short stints against NBA players. He’ll be someone worth monitoring, because the potential is there. I’m hopeful he can be at least a good role player, but we’re likely not going to see much of that this year.
I'm not asking them to play him in games that count, just summer league
They might have seen enough to know what their plan is for him for the year. Instead of wasting minutes on him, they spend their limited minutes on other players they haven't codified a plan for yet.
That would indicate a snap judgement based on far too limited information. When NBA sample sizes becoming meaningful is well documented
You think they aren't using SL to evaluate who gets the end of the bench slots, who gets WCB slots and who gets cut?
I'm saying we don't know if Noa should be end of bench, gleague, or key contributor yet
We don't know, but they see him at practice, in the weight room, etc. They almost certainly played him until they had a plan for him and felt it was more useful to learn about other players.
I get that.
I definitely don’t like that he’s not playing at all today.
FWIW the team is saying both Essengue and Swain are nursing injury
The truth is that every player should be looked at so critically. Favoritism usually sucks and 9 times out of 10 ends up keeping a guy around too long.
And it's not like the team has to choose 'development resources' going to one player versus another. And shame on them if they do have limitations. Minutes in the rotation are finite but not anything else.
One thing I hope Graham and Splitter will do (and it would show that things are different from AKME) is to let Wilson do things like hoist threes and run plays. Good organizations develop their players by letting them try and fail in games with the long term aim of getting them to improve (see: Wemby playing point as a rookie). Billy would never go for this but it's what Wilson needs to fulfill his potential.
I agree with you (and Matt) on this. It was a good move to task Swain with ball-handling and distribution as part of his development, if only to assess where he's at, so hopefully they'll give Wilson free rein to experiment with his potentialities this winter.
"Billy would never go for this"
I think a large part of that was having zero margin for error for making the playoffs, er, play in. (Whether or not they should have been trying to make the playoffs is a completely different question)
and clearly Billy shared in that philosophy or he'd likely still be here
I suspect I have more insight into Billy's perspective than anyone else here, since I've followed his career for 30 years now.
I have said over and over, even before he left the Bulls, that Billy's father's death likely made him reassess how he was spending his time.
If he wanted to be a head coach that was nearly guaranteed to make the playoffs, he'd be UNC's head coach. If he wanted to be the head coach of an NBA team with much more margin for error, he'd be the Magic's head coach. If he wanted to keep banging his head against a wall, he'd still be the Bull's head coach.
He didn't want any of those things. He didn't want to worry about the non-coaching aspects of running a team. He just wanted to coach. *That* is why he left.
And, I might add, he went to a team that have enough margin of error to play young players and will play those players.
I'm not so sure he turned down the Magic job versus didn't get it
Honestly I wouldn't blame the Magic for wanting to stay away from him after he ditched them
I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but I also agree with Matt. I'm not sure Billy turned down the Magic job. All information out there was saying he was interested in it. So far nothing has come out saying he was offered the job and turned it down.
Essengue seems to have a "what is it you do here?" problem. If he isn't spamming threes and getting chase down blocks from behind, there isn't much to hang his hat on. Comparing his '24 exhibition performance against the Blazers to these Summer League highlights, there's been a decline in muscle definition, some loss of fluidity and court vision and a continued inability to get into a lower center of gravity on offense. It looks like a long winter in the weight room, at the training table and bum-slaying in Hoffman Estates. He would have been better served to go to college and waited for his growth plates to settle.
He could have made good money in college, with how NIL has shaken out.
The Swain over Carr pick is looking like a fireable offense right now lol. Graham has one foot in the bust hole for me. If this weren’t the Bulls I’d give the guy a longer leash… but he’s already showing using questionable decision making. Maybe it’s just impossible for GM’s to thrive as long as DorfPax run things 🤷🏻♂️
Eh one draft pick after a few summer league games isn't a fireable offense... especially when pretty much everyone else also passed on him.
Wilson: Where to begin. His handle is too loose, his core/lower body strength is inadequate to hold/carve out position on offense, he's a lazy defender, and his contested rebounding was borderline terrible. The punchline? I thought he was pretty good.
Swain: Actually not too early to be worried. He's kinda slow. Some of that is maybe he's not the raw athlete he was billed as. But probably a lot of it is he can't process even SL games like a pro. Not even close. His defensive effort was extremely disappointing, and only got worse as SL went on given his struggles on offense.
Akawa: never going to happen.
Sellers: solid showing. Could be something there. Good 2-way idea. I'm not a CBA guy. Would it have made more sense to just draft him at 56?
Essengue: balance looked way off. Still, he was one of maybe two guys on the whole team (Sellers being the other) whose defense effort and impact were in the neighborhood of what one would hope in this setting and for this coach.
Coaching: Just kinda rolled the ball out there. Join the club. But it's possible to do more than that. C- work.
Ricky on the Cash Considerations podcast pointed out the motor concerns with Wilson. Like he showed it when chasing down his own mistakes, but it's not his default setting on either end of the floor.
Yeah, I mean, at this juncture this is all whatever. But I'd maybe like a little less of the corny PR about being like Kobe and shit until he starts trying more. It does seem like people forgot how Kobe played, btw. He was not just some slow it down and iso guy. I just watched his opener against Phoenix in 2004-05. That dude never stopped moving out there.
yeah I'm just not really worried about a 18/19 year old having concentration lapses
Lapses really aren't a concern for me at this point either. Low effort level is a concern. As it was for him at UNC, as yfbb mentions.
even that though, if he's been used to being the best player on the floor by a decent margin, I understand the coasting to some degree as a 19 year old kid. Hopefully as the competition ramps up he will see he can't operate in that mode.
this is what I'm still wondering, what's the difference in signing undrafted guys vs just drafting them in the 2nd round.
also sellers looked like he could do things but shooting didn't look like one of them.
Caleb like he could be a top 5 player if he fixes all the aforementioned. been a long time since that was possible for this team
On Essengue, I don't agree with Hollinger's "Not Our Guy syndrome" take, but like your "subjective body language and objective body-on-the-ground" combo. He looks defeated.
I do have an opinion on Tobe Awaka, who knows and plays his role, but granted, coming out as a 22-year-old Senior. He answers my repeated requests for muscle in the paint, but as a PF not a Center. Maybe Tiago will find a spot for him someday, when the frenetic skinny kids look for a pick, rebound or bailout shot target.
And given that Bulls players such as Essengue, Wilson and Josh Giddey often wind up on the floor, have they thought of using the Riva Method, the structured training and assessment methodology that relies on the Delos Postural Proprioceptive System? They claim that many NBA teams already do. The NFL's Alvin Kamara also did such training during the offseason. Michael Reinsdorf told Bryson Graham that they'll make the necessary investments. I hope it's not too late for the Bulls players.
This issue of how Caleb should approach the 3 this year is kinda tricky. He probably should be a little liberal with it, since shooting spacing is so reputational, and that gets sticky quickly. But it's dangerous. Sort of like how Swain playing PG was a bad idea because it deflected him from focusing on his plausible success skills, Wilson's three ball cannot be allowed to distract him from his most plausible path to success: inside-out. It's funny and annoying that it took the Bulls 9 1/2 quarters to realize "hey, what if we had Caleb flash to the foul line, give him the ball, and let him make decisions there?". They did it for two possessions, it was probably the most creative their offense looked all tournament, and they didn't go back there. I'm going to be really annoyed if Caleb is spending his rookie year trying to break guys down off the dribble from 23 feet out.
I think Caleb himself said in an interview that he played a bit differently in Summer League that he would otherwise, part of injury avoidance, which is why he drove to the paint for athletic finishes less than he would be accustomed to and sees himself doing in the future.
My summer rankings:
1. Caleb. Obviously.
2. Atwell. He should make the team. I want to take some credit for pointing out that this guy was worthy of being drafted before I even knew we'd got him on the summer league team. So, good on Graham for getting him in. Get him on a 2-way now. Or even a guaranteed minimum. Dude can shoot the lights out, move, and he's not a total dud otherwise.
This guy is going to be a regular NBA player. In the Summer League, where everyone is looking for their own shot and the games are basically pick ups, he's easy to overlook. But damn near every time he's in, he's wide open and you can see him get position and moving with the action. In a real NBA game, he's going to be a serious weapon if he comes along like a guy normally would.
He looks fine defensively. He's not a shrimp, pays attention, and knows where to go. Picks up steals. Honestly, he's the 2nd best guy on the SL team. He looks like a guy who can have a solid NBA career because he's always gonna be the best shooter on the floor and he's smart and he's big enough.
The Bulls team philosophy has always been to hate shooting for some reason, but this guy is such a obviously awesome shooter than I can't believe even they will be stupid enough to let him go.
3. Sellers. Man, I hated him freezing out Caleb and everyone else in the first game. He played well last night, and he's a strong, pretty quick guy, but I'm on the fence. Guys like him are a dime a dozen unless he really pops. He's played well enough that I want to see more though, and has played more team ball.
4. Swain. I'll buy that his shooting is not so ridiculously bad as it looks. The first game, I thought he looked pretty slithery getting to the rim. Since then, everything has kind of fallen apart. His defense is fine. My worry, more than his shot, is that his handle doesn't look as advertised. He looked a bit more solid with it last night, better than the first two games. But he still doesn't even look like a secondary ball handler. Maybe it's just nerves.
In any case, my biggest issue is that if we're going to give someone on the ball reps, they should be going to Caleb. If I were trying to win games, I'd put Atwell or Sellers out there before him. If I were trying to create the best environment to see what Caleb can become, I'd probably put Atwell or Sellers out there too, provided Sellers gets with the program.
5. Noa. His first game was pretty trash, but these last two I think he's been more consistent, and as much as you can have a place for a 206lb center, I think that's what he is. Aside from the fact that he's still unable to shoot free throws, the biggest problem is that he had an entire year to at least work on building his lower body, and he literally gained no weight/strength at all. So it's like, I can say that he's doing some things better and I can see what his role should be, but I still think he's fallen behind where he should be given what he could/should have done. I don't like that the new regime has obviously "un" favorited him, but at the same time, he's a guy with no discernible position who falls down a lot and just committed 7 fouls in 11 minutes. Holy fuck.
6. Kennedy Chandler. He's fine. But not really a PG and he's tiny. Fine to keep in the G-League, but not worth a 2 way.
7. Awaka. Every time he touches the ball is an adventure that likely results in a turnover. I know he tested well athletically at the combine, but he doesn't have any hops during the game and is slow as hell. Don't think he's worth a two way.
Glad you pointed out Atwell. I forgot to mention him in my summary post above, but I totally agree with you. He can be Isaiah Joe. That's worth exploring. They need to make a claim on him immediately.
If you could magically drop any PG in the league on the Bulls to pair with Caleb, who would it be?
Probably Haliburton? Amazing shooter on and off the ball, smart and motivated.
I feel like saying SGA is a cheat. He'd maybe not the platonic ideal, but I'd take him or Derek Harper obviously. Brunson, offensively, but again, that seems like kind of a cheat.
Like I said below, my working model of Caleb is more or less Tatum. Jrue/Derrick White/Pritchard would all be good fits, but are probably too old to be longer term fits.
The one guy I really wanted to target in free agency was Collin Gillespie. Not a big name, but he seemed very gettable.
I would have been really interested in moving up for Acuff or Mikel Brown. Too early to say I was too high on Acuff, but he's maybe not quite athletic enough to keep up his efficiency? I don't know. It's hard to gauge from SL. Brown + Wilson would have made the Bulls the funnest team ever.
I guess my dream offseason would have been something like:
* Trade #15 and unprotected '28 or 29 pick for Claxton and Mikel Brown Jr (I'm not a Claxton fan and think we could have extracted more value for taking him). I think this is the biggest reach here, maybe Brooklyn just wouldn't make any deal.
* Giddey to Suns for Gillespie and Maluach. Would also add Pat and Jalen Green if they were up for it. Not really interested in Green, but it might help with the Suns paying the tax and I'd like Pat to be gone.
* Offer more for Isaiah Joe than the Pistons did.
G- Brown, Gillespie
G- Joe, Jones, Atwell (TW)
F- Matas, Okoro
F- Caleb, Miller (Smith), Veesaar, Noa, Pat
C- Smith, Maluach, Claxton
* I'd probably look to move Jones pretty soon, but this roster would be a lot younger and have, to my mind, a lot more chance of being a long-term contender, with a possible #2 (Brown) and plenty of high level role players (Joe, Gillespie), and possible long-term center (Maluach).
I don't see any reason to not be trying to find those guys. It's hard to do, wasting opportunities drastically lowers your odds.
he's got a long way to go to be Tatum. Not saying it's not possible but Tatum was way more advanced as a ballhandler/playmaker. I would let Caleb concentrate on being a finisher with the starters and have him handle the ball more with the 2nd unit. Too early for him to have real primary ballhandling duties until he gets that handle tighter
I really disagree. He's the man. We need to just give him the ball and roll with it.
Beyond the fact that he's the truth, there's also the fact that this is the Bulls we're talking about. The clock is ticking on his rookie contract, because you know if they slow walk it, they're never going to put a good team together once he's making the max.
I actually don't disagree that much with you. I also think he is the GUY and should be treated as such. He is the future point blank, we need to decide who can play with him best. He should get plenty of reps where he is the 1st option. I'm just a little wary of it being like that from game 1. I'm just saying ease him in a little for the first couple months. I don't want to slow roll it either but him getting the ball up top from 23 foot and just getting ripped consistently and not learning good habits because right now he has a lot of shitty habits and he does need to learn the little professional things and just giving the ultimate green light from day 1 might make him think that shit is whatever.
But I get your point of view and I'm not against going that route either
I love this plan for the pre-draft-changes NBA where absolute tanking was the strategy. A little less with the new relegation. But I think Maluach would have been the ideal complement to Wilson and Co in the future!
Also, my general philosophy.
The Bulls have been given an amazing gift, and to not squander it, they need to cut out their sleepy, small-time business as usual bullshit. Post haste.
It's not hard. Stacey King wasn't wrong, it's a simple game at heart. You want guys who complement each other and don't get in each other's way much. Our best guy is Caleb, so everyone else needs to conform and complement him.
And there's no reason to be slow about it. The clock is ticking. And to add to that, does Caleb Wilson sound like the kind of dude that needs a lot of "veteran mentorship" or like the kind of guy who's going to be happy with the team just doing the typical half-assed Bulls approach as evidenced by let's simultaneously "rebuild" and trade away draft picks for cash? That is a rhetorical question. He does not.
What does that mean? Look at Jason Tatum. That's the closest analog for who Caleb can be as an NBA player. 30 usage, ball dominant combo forward.
This season should be devoted to pushing him as far as he can toward that. Everything on the team needs to be pushing towards
1) Giving Caleb every opportunity to reach that potential
2) Putting the best players around Caleb to fit with this fully realized version of what he will be.
We need to be ruthless about churning through guys who don't fit and complement him.
I'm going to start by saying Josh Giddey should be gone soon. There are some people who think he'd be a good fit. I don't see it.
Why is Giddey a bad fit?
1) It's not even the defense, it's that in a half court offense, if the ball is in Caleb's hands, Giddey does nothing for you.
Now, some people are going to complain about this. But the Ball doesn't always need to be in Caleb's hands. No, it doesn't. But that's the default, the top priority, and our default mode of evaluation should be that the player can do something positive to complement Caleb when Caleb has the ball. What I'm saying is, the secondary players who might be primary players have to be capable of contributing without the ball in their hands.
Giddey was traded to the Bulls for several reasons, but the fact that he was unable and/or unwilling to be a secondary guy is clearly one of them.
2) Next, for the time that Giddey does have the ball in his hands, is he even the right kind of point guard to set up a guy like Caleb? In transition yes, but I don't care about that because I care about building a championship team and when I talk, I'm talking about a half court offense. Because a championship team needs that. I don't want to build a team for the regular season. I want a team that wins playoff games.
What kind of half-court point guard is Giddey? Well, first Giddey hasn't even consistently been the half-court point guard for the Bulls much of the time he's been here. When it was crunch time, that fell to Coby or Tre Jones. Why? Because Giddey is not a good half-court creator. But his style of creation is mainly to try and drive and collapse the defense, then kick it out to shooters. So, classically, he'd come down and, say, Coby, Matas, and Vuc would create space and he'd go to work.
Now, Caleb could maybe create this space, but he's also a great cutter and driver himself. Fundamentally, Giddey is going to operate in that space as well though.
Contrast that to a PG whose primary threat is that he'll just pull up and shoot. Obviously everyone switches it up and some guys are dual threats, but I'm talking about as their bread and butter. That sort of PG works by, himself, creating gravity as a shooter, and thus opening up the lane for other guys to have means of attack.
It's obvious that this is the sort of guy you'd ideally pair up with a top level athletic forward like Caleb.
Giddey was something like 70th in the league in pull ups last year per game. And he was something like 70th in the league as far as eFG% on those shots.
In summary, Giddey is a poor fit. The ideal PG (beyond that fact that Caleb should really be the de-facto PG) offensively is a Pritchard or Derrick White or taking it up a notch, Jamal Murray or Jalen Brunson. In short, we want a shooting heavy PG not a driving heavy PG.
But Giddey is our Haliburton!!
Crazy idea but hear me out, what if traded for Harden
You may need to tell us more about your thought process because I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where taking Harden makes sense for the Bulls.
He's one of the best passers and organizers of all time and he may be available for just cap space. Getting him makes the job of all of our young players easier and let's them develop in a favorable environment. He's also a short term rental we can get rid of at any time so we're not committed long term
I can see what you're thinking. It would definitely depend what his next contract looks like though.
Caleb is definitely our best chance to have a top 20 player...haven't had one in almost two decades. It's crazy because as good as he was, it was all based off instinct and athleticism. His defensive awareness is really poor, not good at all but he is able to erase his mistakes due to his length, motor and athleticism. I'd like to see that motor used on defense at all times and not just when you get beat and need to make a go go gadget block. Against real pros, him falling asleep on defense is going to get him burnt. He doesn't have much in the way of fundamentals at all...boxing out for example. He doesn't do it. So the fact he was so impactful with basically minimal BBIQ or fundamentals is crazy....shows the sky is the limit. Not sure what his overall ceiling is but i see shades of Toronto era Bosh. I kinda almost wonder if he is a 3 long term....his shooting looks legit enough to be that but he would need to tighten his handle up.....a lot. It's loose as fuck and he will get ripped a ton against real players.
I like Atwell a lot, he should make the regular squad. Dude is a natural shooter and we don't have any of those on the team and he's not the usual 6'2" SG that we had been stockpiling last year. He is a legit 6'5" and not a pushover on defense.
I'm not going to call Swain a bust based off SL but did he do anything well? I wasn't even freaked out about the shots not falling but yea I thought his handle and playmaking were supposed to be strong points of his. And like MikeDC said, he does seem slow and honestly not all that athletic. Wasn't impressed with him on defense either. I'm not going to say I told you regarding not picking Carr but i'm wary of "toolsy" wings that can't shoot for shit. Hope he's not another Denzel Valentine, Troy Brown Jr, Dalen Terry etc....
Noa is two years away from being two years away. I get his shoulder was hurt but did he work on his lower body or core one bit? He looks just as frail as last year. People were hyping bc he grew more but honestly how does being 6'11" help when you already weren't growing into your body well and often move like a newborn baby giraffe. He will have to be in the G League all season because he is nowhere near ready physically to play with pros. So that's basically two wasted years on someone you need to see is in your long term plans. He is not....i'd pawn him off if possible. His only real position currently is small ball C and he is too frail for that role. In the meantime, Beringer is looking solid. But hindsight.....
Noa is a poor man's Poku.
good call..he is very defense-only Poku
Nate Duncan said (latest SL prospects review) Swain was the worst Summer League performer he's ever seen. I don't remember if he included caveats like 'in person' or 'first round' (probably the latter at least)
On the plus side, said that Sellers was as good as any second round pick
Out of all of his bad play, what killed me is the highlights of other teams where he just lazily jogged down after getting picked.
Yes, that was the most jarring. Having the jitters as much as he did, ok, but the effort was not there either. And as others have said, he looked really slow out there. Fwiw, I was impressed by the couple of NCAA tournament games I saw him play.
Yeah this is one of those things where concerns are valid, but also am not going to write him off yet.
Not great we're already seeing 'confidence' questions
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7455740/2026/07/19/bulls-dailyn-swain-summer-league/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.zVA.cmt2.EeB10pBqqMwx&smid=ta-android-share
Next step is blaming the coach, and then DeMar DeRozan's usage
LOL
Where did this idea come from that Swain could have even possibly replaced Giddey? Some goofies on this site said that after the draft, and I wrote that off as the ravings of the unwashed. But this article brings up the same idea, even if only to reject it. I don't understand how a person could watch even 5 mins of his college tape and come away with that idea.
I think there were murmurings before Summering League that Swain was going to play some point guard (which turned out to be true) and someone in the media decided that must mean Swain was going to become Giddey's replacement.
I liked Sellers defense, effort, and driving ability but I find it pretty bad that an undrafted guard was looking for his own shot so much instead of trying to find Caleb Wilson with passes
Just watched Matas in Zo's podcast. He mentioned he was working out with Dirk and was also going to meet with Deni to workout. It's just nice to hear that he's continuing to expand his game. I hope he takes a big leap this season.
just saw Peterson shot 31% in SL. I imagine there had to be some suicides
LeBron to Philly. Not team I was expecting him to go to, but might be the best chance at a championship out of the teams that were supposedly in the running. It'll likely be dependent on Embiid being healthy during the playoffs, which definitely isn't a guarantee.
as if the sixers needed to get even more annoying lol
I was worried he'd end up on a team I like...SO I can still fully hate Philly
100% lol
Unfortunately for former Bull Dalen Terry, he may lose his spot on the roster so LeBron can bring his son along with him.
Terry was just waived. Damn, he was a terrible draft pick.