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Chicago Bulls had some positives in their Summer League loss

By Bryce Fields

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 8: Antonio Blakeney #9 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 8, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 8: Antonio Blakeney #9 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 8, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Chicago Bulls played their second game of the summer league against the Lakers. Here’s a recap of what happened.

Basketball is a tough game. Some nights you have it, other nights you don’t. In those cases, players hope their teammates can pick up the slack. Unfortunately, none of the Bulls players were able to get anything going in their loss Sunday night to the Los Angeles Lakers.

It was a grueling loss for the Bulls, who fall to 1-1 in the Summer League. The Lakers led for the entirety of the game and it never felt that the Bulls had a chance. Josh Hart and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 19 and 15 points respectively on the way to defeating Chicago 69-60. The main problem for the Bulls were turnovers, giving the ball up 18 times (that’s a lot if you were unaware).

Despite taking the loss, there were some positives for the Bulls and some of their young players. Here are a few of the good things the team can take from their bad loss to the Lakers:

The positives:

1) Wendell Carter Jr.’s defense 

The Bulls latest first-round draft pick really didn’t have a bad game. Carter Jr. put 9 points and 7 rebounds, but what really stood out was his defensive prowess, which led to him blocking 4 shots over the course of the game. This puts him at 4.5 blocks again after his 5-block performance in the Bulls Summer League opener. Carter Jr. was known to be a strong defender in his freshman year at Duke, but showing it off early in the summer is good thing. Finding a defensive anchor in WCJ would be a huge gain for the Bulls and would make him much easier to play early in the season. It also allows his eventual frontcourt partner Lauri Makkanen space the floor more easily. While this particular game did not go well for the Bulls, another strong defensive performance from Carter Jr. is a good sign.

2) Ryan Arcidiacono’s game

With first-round picks in Carter Jr. and Chandler Hutchinson dominating Bulls headlines, Ryan Arcidiacono has flown under the radar. Arcidiacono scored 5 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 3 assists in the loss, but did a lot of stuff that didn’t show up in the box score. The 2nd year guard pushes the ball in the open court and moves the ball well around the perimeter. If Arcidiacono can be more efficient (he had 4 turnovers Sunday night), he might be able to play himself into a backup guard role for the Bulls.

3) Matt Williams Jr. – potential sharpshooter?

So, this one might be a stretch. Williams, who played in the G-League last year, hit 4 of his 7 three-point attempts and led the team in scoring (15 points). He was essentially the only bright spot in the scoring department the Bulls had in the loss. This is a stretch because Williams Jr. also went 0 for 4 from behind the arc in his first game this summer. So yes, “sharpshooter” might be a longshot. However, there weren’t many positives from this loss, so this will have to do.

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