One year after Denzel Valentine led the Chicago Bulls’ cruise to an Las Vegas Summer League title, the Bulls looked flat. After going 1-3 in the rookies and young players’ first event, the Portland Trail Blazers officially ended Chicago’s hopes of back-to-back titles.
Perhaps if it weren’t for the sake of timing, things would’ve gone better for the Chicago Bulls in the Summer League jaunt.
Consider Kris Dunn and Cameron Payne ended their summers early for family emergencies. Rookie Lauri Markkanen also missed Wednesday’s game with a “big toe contusion”, per the Chicago Tribune‘s K.C. Johnson.
Oh, and Paul Zipser also missed Wednesday’s game with an ankle sprain.
And the hits keep on coming for Bulls summer league: Lauri Markkanen out vs. Trail Blazers with left big toe contusion.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 13, 2017
Consider the lack of NBA talent where you can factor in the lack of depth in the 88-77 loss to Portland. Duje Dukan is a 25-year-old forward for the Windy City Bulls (G-League) roster, but started and played 20 minutes on Wednesday. Dukan scored just a single point with one rebound, two assists with a -18 plus/minus and two turnovers.
One of the likely starters, let alone eventual members of this summer roster, who are likely to make the 2017-18 NBA roster fizzled. Denzel Valentine, remembered for his excellence last summer, scored just 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He finished with a -10 in the plus/minus column.
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As a team, the Bulls didn’t shoot or rebound particularly well in the loss. Shooting 39.1 percent as a team isn’t inspiring. Additionally, the 46-31 loss in the rebounding margin didn’t look like the crash-the-glass team fans watched last season.
However, considering the lack of depth, it was impressive to see the Bulls hold a 41-35 lead at the half. Continuing on, the 61-61 tie after the third quarter looked promising. The fourth quarter left starters looking gassed, as Portland outscored the Bulls 27-16, sealing their victory.
Though the summer slate didn’t look promising in many regards, GarPax may have found a gem in undrafted guard Antonio Blakeney. In his 35 minutes of play last night, Blakeney scored 27 points on 7-of-17 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds and went 11-of-17 from the free-throw line.
The Portland Trail Blazers summer basketball slate will continue on Thursday where they’ll play the top-seeded Toronto Raptors.
Next: Lauri Markkanen: will he be a boom or bust?
On the other side, the Bulls will play the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday before heading home. Indeed, the title defense is over. While Portland can compete for the summer league crown, the Bulls can simply try to grab some positives.