My fianceé loves basketball, so I can safely say she was just as excited as I was for our first Summer League experience on Saturday.
With that said, my fianceé also loves relaxing poolside and drinking fun drinks. So I’m going to breeze through these bullets so she and I can go do just that. I’d bring my laptop along with me, but the chance of it melting into a molten pile of metal in the Vegas sun is far too high.
For all of you who’ve had the chance to take in the Summer League festivities, you know just how exciting it is for an NBA fanatic. While watching pro-level athletes in a high-school-sized gym is obviously part of the allure, it’s far more about the people. Every single person in that building simply worships the round orange ball. And, with no real stakes on the line, there’s zero animosity between fanbases.
I sat next to the nicest Boston Celtics fan while watching the Bulls-Grizzlies game. I know, “nice” and “Celtics fan” don’t normally end up in the same sentence! We talked about Boston’s coaching change, their big offseason trade for Kristaps Prozingis, and the days he spent watching Larry Bird in the Garden (or, as his Rhode Island accent said it, the GAHHHDAANN). After that, he told me how sad he was to see Lonzo Ball go down, how great of an addition he thought Torrey Craig would be, and how cool it was to see DeMar DeRozan sitting across from us. We ooh’d and aah’d at dunks from players we didn’t know and were always excited to see the other squeeze their way back in the gym after a bathroom trip (you better be prepared to hold it as long as possible when you’re watching games in the Cox Pavilion). Whether it be this long encounter or hopping over a few bleachers to see some folks from Twitter, the people are what I’ll remember most about my first time at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Don’t worry, I still paid attention to the Chicago Bulls! While it still wasn’t by any means a pretty basketball game, the team looked better than they did in Game 1. The primary reason for that was the stabilizing hand of Javon Freeman-Liberty. The 23-year-old led the way with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. He shot 9-15 from the floor and looked like arguably the best player on the floor. While easily his most exciting highlight came on a fastbreak one-handed alley-oop jam, I was left most impressed by his ability to set up his teammates. Freeman-Liberty may not have been dishing the most jaw-dropping dimes, but he had a couple of really slick passes off the pick-and-roll and into the paint. He kept the offense moving and easily looked like the most calm, collected, and confident player on the team. The question now is whether he can (1) keep that up and (2) if it will lead to an opportunity somewhere in the NBA. Could he snatch a two-way deal in training camp?
As for pick Dalen Terry, things remained somewhat rocky. The Chicago Bulls’ No. 18 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Terry finished the game 5-21 from the field in another ugly shooting effort. He’s now 9-35 over his first two Summer League games, setting up some concerns that he still has a tremendously long way to go on the offensive end. Now, in his defense, he is apparently playing with a broken nose. We don’t know exactly how much discomfort that’s causing him throughout the game. It’s also not like he isn’t positively impacting the game in other ways. His defense remained solid with 2 steals, and I also commend him for getting to the free throw a handful of times. Still, we’d like to see him be able to finish stronger around the rim, as he sank just one of his six attempts in the restricted area yesterday.
We’ll have to keep an eye out for news on Justin Lewis. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls’ forward came down awkwardly and had to be escorted back to the locker room. I was sitting only a couple of rows back from the Bulls’ bench, and there is no question Lewis was in a considerable amount of pain. I’m really hoping it’s nothing serious, especially after what happened last offseason.
What about Julian Phillips? Well, the newbie did take the court for the first time after reportedly reaching a contract with the team prior to tip-off. To say it looked like the first-ever Summer League game for a second-round pick would be an understatement. He didn’t find his way onto the scoreboard until the 4th quarter when he knocked down a 3-pointer. Other than that, he was semi-active on the glass and snatched 4 rebounds, but it was one of those performances where you pretty much forgot he was out there. To be clear, I’m not necessarily upset about it. Would it have been nice to see him go off and be more assertive? Sure. But it was literally his first-ever game at this level. I’m just happy the two sides got the deal done so he could get out there.
“For myself, my performance wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” Phillips told reporters (h/t The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry). “Kind of trying to figure out kind of how the game would go instead of take it, but glad I got that game under me to see what it is so I can be better in the next outing.”
Loved seeing the team back out there showing support. Also, nice to know that Torrey Craig (pink shirt) is already getting acclimated with his new teammates!
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
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