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The only real takeaway for the Chicago Bulls in summer league: Antonio Blakeney

By Michael Whitlow

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 12: Antonio Blakeney #9 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2017 Summer League on July 12, 2017 at Cox Pavillion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 12: Antonio Blakeney #9 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2017 Summer League on July 12, 2017 at Cox Pavillion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Antonio Blakeney was far and away the Chicago Bulls’ most effective player in the Las Vegas Summer League, which puts a few different talking points on display.

The Chicago Bulls’ summer league title defense was the equivalent of a team winning the Super Bowl one season and then winning three total games the next, but Antonio Blakeney was a bright light on a dim experience for the defending champions of Las Vegas.

Blakeney played in four of the Bulls’ five games in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 16.8 points on 43.8 percent shooting (21-for-48) in those four games. After four solid performances in Vegas with the SummerBulls, the Bulls signed Blakeney to a two-way contract. It’s likely that Blakeney will spend some time in the G-League with the Windy City Bulls, but he earned the contract by being the SummerBulls’ best player.

There’s a couple things to take away from that: 1) Blakeney was aggressive in his NBA audition as an undrafted prospect out of LSU as a former teammate of Ben Simmons and 2) the SummerBulls’ were like how the actual Bulls are going to be this upcoming this season: not very good.

With all due respect to fellow guards Kris Dunn and Cameron Payne — who both left the SummerBulls due to family reasons — neither of them played up to the level that Blakeney played at during their brief time in Las Vegas.

How did Blakeney earn his new two-way contract? Being aggressive offensively

The main takeaway from the main takeaway for the SummerBulls was not only Blakeney’s play, but how he played. He was the most aggressive player on the floor when he was playing. Blakeney shot 17 times (made seven) and took 17 free throws (making 11) in the 88-77 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last Wednesday that ended the title defense for the SummerBulls. Portland shot 17 freebies as a team.

Blakeney did a great job on this possession in setting former Bulls guard RJ Hunter up by crossing right-to-left to give Duje Dukan time to set the screen, then utilized Dukan’s screen to smartly attack the mismatch in Caleb Swanigan by going right at him and getting the foul call.

In this possession, Jake Layman tried to take away Blakeney’s right hand and played him to drive left. As you saw above, Blakeney can drive left off a screen. Chris Walker comes to set Blakeney a screen for Blakeney to drive left (just like he did with Dukan in the previous play), and Blakeney attacks Keith Benson this time for the floater off the glass for the bucket.

Comparing Blakeney to his competition at point guard

Antonio Blakeney may not be “the point guard of the future” like Kris Dunn or Cameron Payne (or even Jerian Grant) could be, but it sure looked like Blakeney is closer to that title than the other two the Bulls acquired in the trades for Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson/Doug McDermott.

Let’s take a look at the three point guards anonymously and you tell me who is more like “the point guard of the future”.

  • Player A: 9-for-26 shooting from the field (34.6 percent), 2-for-12 from 3-point range (16.6 percent), seven total rebounds, five total assists and an overall plus-minus of -41
  • Player B: 3-for-12 shooting from the field (25 percent), four total rebounds, three assists and an overall plus-minus of -24
  • Player C: 21-for-48 shooting from the field (43.8 percent), 9-for-14 from 3-point range (64.3 percent), 20 total rebounds, two total assists and an overall plus-minus of +4

Obviously, Blakeney is Player C and played in two more games than Payne and three more games than Dunn did, but his shooting definitely stands out compared to the other two guards the SummerBulls played in Vegas.

A stat not included in there: Blakeney (4) had three less turnovers than Payne (7) and played in two more games than the latter did.

Blakeney may not be the hyped prospects that Dunn and Payne are (at least by Gar Forman and John Paxson), but he’s got a headstart on both of them heading into next season.

Blakeney not only was the SummerBulls’ best player, he was one of two good moves the Bulls made during summer league

David Nwaba was a good cheap option for the Bulls to claim off of waivers while their time in Vegas was coming to an end. (You can read about Nwaba here in an enjoyable player profile by The Athletic Chicago contributor Will Gottlieb.)

But, signing Blakeney was a smart move by the Bulls. As an undrafted guard, he’s cheap like Nwaba and on a two-way deal, the Bulls can utilize Blakeney in training camp runs to push the other guards on the roster and in Hoffman Estates later this year for the Windy City Bulls in the G-League.

The Bulls are in a new position heading into the 2017-18 season. It’s not about beating the top-tier teams in the Eastern Conference or trying to win the franchise’s first championship after Michael Jordan’s second retirement from basketball. Taking low-risk chances on players like Blakeney (and Nwaba) is smart of GarPax to do with limited flexibility, despite previous player movement with Butler and Gibson.

Next: Evaluating Nikola Mirotic's future in Chicago

Winning shouldn’t be the focus here. Player development should be and Antonio Blakeney will be a test of how good the Bulls will be in their young players’ progress during this rebuild.

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