Chicago Bulls: Summer League adds ex-St. Joseph’s G Ryan Daly

Roughly two weeks from the start of the Las Vegas NBA Summer League for the Chicago Bulls for the first time in nearly two years, the roster for this team is starting to come together. We now have a rough idea of what around one-third of the Bulls Summer League Roster will look like, at a minimum. The Bulls likely added two players to the Summer League roster on the night of the 2021 NBA Draft, on July 29.

And then the latest addition to the Bulls Summer League roster arrived on July 30. One more guard will be joining the mix in the former St. Joseph’s senior guard Ryan Daly. This 6-foot-5 and 225-pound guard gives the Bulls yet another player that can play at the one or the two in Summer League.

This can essentially work for the Bulls as an undrafted free agent signing. If Daly proves himself in Summer League, then an invite to Training Camp and/or the preseason could be around the corner. All of this could be very advantageous in the end for the Bulls.

Chicago Bulls add one more guard to Summer League squad in Ryan Daly

It is also exciting for the Bulls that Summer League is upon us next month. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a hiatus for Summer League. It will return this summer, Aug. 9 to be exact.

More specific to Daly, an interesting guard played in college for five years between his time with Delaware and St. Joe’s. He was always a guard that could make an impact in multiple phases of the game. Daly became a volume scorer for St. Joe’s during his senior campaign, averaging north of 18 points per game.

The problem for Daly that was largely the reason why he wasn’t drafted is it’s hard to find his fit at the one or the two at the next level. He’s not a very efficient shooter, around 31 percent from beyond the arc for his college career and 42 percent from the field, and he’s not adept enough as a facilitator of the offense to consistently run at the one.

What Daly does bring to the table for the Bulls is a sizable guard that can be a spark plug off the bench, even in Summer League. If he can find his shooting stroke, then a world of possibilities could open up moving forward for Daly. What also bodes well for Daly is that he was an increasingly solid defender during his time at St. Joe’s.

Daly peaked by averaging just south of 1.5 steals per game and 0.5 blocks in college. And his defensive rating improved in each of his last three seasons played in college.

Summer League is set to begin for the Bulls on Aug. 9 in Las Vegas against the New Orleans Pelicans. That will be one of four games that have announced opponents in the Summer League, and then at least one more playoff game for the Bulls is promised.