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Bulls: Breaking Down This Year’s Summer League Team

By Jeremy Karll

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The Chicago Bulls announced their 12-man Summer League roster the other day, and while you may know about Doug McDermott and Bobby Portis, there are a lot of players that you may have never heard of.

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The Bulls begin play on July 11 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, then will play the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets, followed by a tournament-style circuit, which will determine the champion.

Here’s a breakdown of all the players on the Bulls Summer League team this year:

Doug McDermott, F, Creighton (1)

McDermott had one of the best college careers ever at Creighton, but struggled last year during his rookie season. He was injured for most of the season and was never able to get his footing under him, a lot of it due to not seeing enough consistent playing time.

While McDermott only averaged 3 PPG on 40.2 percent shooting in 36 games, Bulls fans should not give up on him just yet. Fred Hoiberg is a more offensive-minded coach and he should hopefully use McDermott better. McDermott showed what he could do last year in Summer League, averaging 18 PPG, and this year he will be the team’s go-to guy.

Hopefully he is able to shine like Tony Snell did last year and gain some confidence going into next season. Hoiberg will coach the Bulls team this year, so this is a perfect chance to impress his new coach and show what he can do.

Bobby Portis, F, Arkansas (R)

McDermott may come in with the most NBA experience on the team, but most people are more excited to see what Bobby Portis can do. At Arkansas last year, Portis averaged 17.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.4 BPG and 1.1 SPG. He is an athletic big man that runs the floor well.

It should be interesting to see how much he gets used in a crowded frontcourt this season but if he can impress the coaches like McDermott did last year, he may be able to see minutes coming off the bench at the start of the year. Portis is able to score in all sorts of ways and this may give us an idea of how Hoiberg plans on using him. It’s also a good chance for him to play against NBA players.

Cameron Bairstow, F, New Mexico (1)

The Bulls drafted Bairstow in the second round last year, but there was no room for him last year in the talented Bulls frontcourt.

To be fair, he didn’t get a lot of time to show what he was capable of, but he is undersized and isn’t a very good shooter. Now, with the addition of Portis, his times in Chicago may be done.

During last year’s Summer League, Bairstow was able to average 10.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG, and he’ll need to have an even better showing this year if he wants to stay on the team. I doubt we’ll ever see Bairstow in a game this year but the Bulls may keep him as an inactive player like they did with Nazr Mohammed last year.

Cristiano Felicio, F, Brazil (R)

Felicio originally committed to Oregon to play basketball while attending a prep school in the USA, but then was ruled ineligible over concerns that he signed a professional contract in his late teens. He then went back to his home country, Brazil, and started his professional career.

Felicio is 6’9″ and is a bruising power forward that is also very athletic for his size. He can run the floor well, gets to the basket, and is able to shoot and rebound well offensively. He played in the FIBA U19 World Championships with Brazil in 2011 and was one of the most impressive prospects there, but was still considered a very raw player. He’s grown up the past couple of years and impressed a lot of scouts at the 2014 EuroCamp.

It will be interesting to see what he can do against NBA prospects, but it seems that the potential is there, a spot on the Bulls roster probably not however.

Darrell Williams, F, Texas A&M – Commerce (R)

The Chicago native is finally getting a break. Williams has one of the most interesting and heartbreaking stories as he comes into Summer League. He started out his collegiate career playing for two different junior colleges. He then went on to play for Oklahoma State, but his career was ended after 23 games after being wrongly convicted as a rapist.

33 months after he was kicked off the OSU roster, he made his return with a Division II school: Texas A&M Commerce.

His teammates called him “Big Bro” last year, fitting as Williams is 25 years old. Williams could still play though, as he averaged an impressive 17.7 PPG and 11.4 RPG last year for Texas A&M Commerce, while also racking up the fourth most double-doubles in D-II.

Williams may not make the Bulls roster, but this former Division I starter will get a chance to show off his skills for other team’s scouts as well. He showed a lot of potential at Oklahoma State during the 2010-11 season.

Rayvonte Rice, G, Illinois (R)

Mandatory Credit: Sandra Dukes-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulls brought in another Illinois native player to play for them during Summer League. Rice had multiple workouts for NBA teams prior to this year’s NBA draft, including one with the Bulls.

However, he went undrafted and that left an opportunity for the Bulls to possibly get a good all-around guard with good size. Rice was the best player for the Fighting Illini last year.

Rice was hurt for nine games, but was still able to average 16.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 1.8 SPG and earn All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors last year. He started his career at Drake, then transferred to Illinois after his freshman year.

Rice has always been able to score and is an above-average defensive guard, but this year he was able to shoot 47.1 percetn from the field and over 40 percent from behind the arc. There’s a good chance that he could latch on as a backup guard for the Bulls.

Vander Blue, G, Marquette (2)

The former college standout hasn’t been able to stick with a team or get much playing time through his first couple years. Blue played in three games for Boston during his rookie season and then two games for Los Angeles (Lakers) last year, where he averaged 11 PPG in 37 MPG.

Blue has been all over the place in his NBA career, but was still named an NBA D-League All-Star last year. It’s unlikely that Blue will be on the Bulls roster at the start of the year, especially with Rice also on the team.

Right now, it seems that the best option for Blue is to keep proving himself in the D-League and making the most of his opportunities when an NBA team calls, but right now, the talent isn’t there to keep him on a 15-man roster.

Diante Garrett, G, Iowa State (2)

Don’t be too surprised if you’ve heard of this name before. Garrett has appeared in 90 NBA games in his first two years in the NBA. Garrett played overseas in Croatia and France before joining Phoenix during the 2012-13 season, then later joining Utah.

After being traded from the Jazz last year, he was waived by both Toronto and Portland, before sticking in the D-League all last year.

At 6’4″, Garrett has good size, but hasn’t shown much to warrant a spot on an NBA roster. He doesn’t shoot the ball exceptionally well, is a below-average defender and passer as well. I don’t think he will see much playing time in Summer League with younger potential on the roster. Garrett may be able to latch on to a team on a string of 10-day contracts but other than that, his NBA career may be over.

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    • Amere May, G, Deleware State (R)

    Not many people have heard of Amere May, but he was seventh in the NCAA in scoring last season, averaging 21 PPG. May is able to score, but can’t do much else.

    Deleware State is a small school, hence why May didn’t get national attention. He was still able to shoot a respectable 41.8 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from behind the arc and 82.1 percent from the line. May was facing lesser opponents than major programs, but those numbers are impressive nonetheless.

    The Bulls have a lot of young guards with potential on their Summer League roster, so May has to be able to come in and be a volume scorer for them. The scoring potential is there for May but he is still a raw player and a year in the D-League would help him.

    Ramon Galloway, G, LaSalle (R)

    Galloway played for South Carolina before transferring to LaSalle after his sophomore season. He went on to average an impressive 17.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 3.7 APG during his senior year, but still went undrafted.

    Galloway went overseas to play and was the leading scorer on Tortona, a team in Italy, A2 Silver. He averaged 14.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 30 games last season. Galloway played for the Denver Nuggets Summer League team after going undrafted in 2013, but didn’t make the team.

    Galloway can score, but doesn’t do anything great on offense. Nothing in his game sticks out and is a reason why he is still playing overseas. He may get to see some minutes during Summer League, but there’s not much of a chance he makes the Bulls roster or any NBA roster.

    Tyrus McGee, G, Iowa State (R)

    It was not surprising that McGee went undrafted in 2013, but he is now playing in Italy’s top league. Despite shooting 57.9 percent from the field, McGee has only played in 10 games, averaging 8 PPG for D’Orlando Basketball.

    McGee is signed to play for D’Orlando Basketball again this upcoming year, but was still added to the Summer League roster. He didn’t show much during his two seasons at Iowa State and is still a bench player overseas. McGee has always been able to shoot the ball effectively, but never put up big points.

    McGee probably won’t see much playing time during Summer League. He is most likely going to spend the rest of his career overseas, but he doesn’t have a bad gig playing in the top Italian League.

    T.J. Price, G, Western Kentucky (R)

    Price played all four years at Western Kentucky and got better every year. He finished off averaging 17.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 4.0 APG during his senior year. Price also shot 41.3 percent from behind the arc.

    Price went under the radar during draft time and went undrafted. There wasn’t much talk about Price, if any, but he is a good all-around guard that could see a decent amount of minutes during Summer League action.

    Last year, Price showed the ability to shoot while also being a very good passer. He was the leader last year for WKU and helped lead them to a 20-12 record. Price ended as the leader in three-point field goals for Western Kentucky (286) and finished sixth in career scoring (1,782). There’s a lot of potential for Price and even if he doesn’t make the Bulls roster another NBA team might give him a chance.

    Next: While on a one-year deal, Aaron Brooks must contribute

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