2 Studs and 2 Duds in Bulls’ first weekend of Summer League play

It hasn’t taken long for things to get off to a dramatic start in Las Vegas, as the NBA Summer League has already had its fair share of huge audiences, thrilling buzzer-beaters, and even this year’s most unexpected celebrity feud. Although no Chicago Bulls players are sharing headlines with Britney Spears, there’s still been plenty of reasons to tune into the action thus far.

After defeating the Toronto Raptors 83-74 in the opening contest of the Summer League, expectations started raising for a team that on paper looked undermanned and outmatched. Unfortunately, they’d drop a hard-fought 80-87 battle against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second game.

The silver lining here is that there have already been a few clear standout players (and a few disappointments) as the Bulls use this as an opportunity to scout talent and round out the roster.

A few Bulls players are beginning to make a name for themselves in the NBA Summer League.

If the Bulls intend to compete for the Summer League championship, they’ll need to finish things out strong here and win their next two games by a strong margin. If they can accomplish that feat, they might just be among the top teams invited to the four-team tournament to decide who will win it all. If Chicago doesn’t qualify for the tournament, they’ll play a fifth and final Summer League game on either July 15 or 16.

Whether or not the young guns bring some hardware back with them, I believe these games have been absolutely vital when it comes to evaluating just who deserves a spot on this team moving forward. Some players have managed to make compelling cases for themselves, while some others… well, let’s just say they’re not doing themselves any favors.

Stud: Javon Freeman-Liberty

With so many members of last year’s Summer League roster sitting this year’s festivities out, an opportunity presented itself for someone to step up and take advantage. So far, it looks like no one has understood that assignment quite as well as Javon Freeman-Liberty.

After failing to secure a two-way contract spot with Chicago last year, Freeman-Liberty has been nothing short of electric thus far. Perhaps this should come as no surprise after he averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on the Windy City Bulls last season, but even that doesn’t compare to how he’s fared against better competition in the Summer League thus far.

Javon was the star of the show against Memphis, as he contributed 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists while drilling 60% of his shots from the field. If he keeps playing like this, I see no reason why the homegrown talent can’t play his way into a two-way deal with the Bulls.

One Bulls guard has been scorching hot, while the other’s flame seems to be flickering out.

Dud: Nate Darling

With so many interesting players worth giving a thorough look at on this year’s roster, you could color me surprised when I saw Chicago’s decision to run Nate Darling out in the starting lineup in the team’s first two Summer League games. Darling has logged 51 minutes (third-most on the team) and taken 27 shots (second-most on the team), despite converting on just 10 of those attempts.

Now I’m all for giving the young talent a fair chance to display their talent, but giving this long of a leash to a supposed high-volume scorer who’s converting at a 37% clip feels a little unreasonable. This is especially true when a few promising prospects such as Jontay Porter, Tyree Appleby, and even Chicago’s newest rookie Julian Phillips have seen limited playtime on the bench behind Darling. It might be time to shake things up to see what the rest of the roster is capable of now.

Stud: Adama Sanogo

Up against a notoriously stiff Toronto defense, Adama Sanogo had quite a few highs and lows in his first game of Summer League action. After winning a national title with UCONN back in April, I can’t say I’m entirely surprised Sanogo was in need of a little time to adjust to the speed of NBA-caliber basketball.

I didn’t expect him to adjust quite this quickly, however, as Sanogo looked fantastic in just his second game against a very tough matchup in Memphis’  Kenny Lofton Jr. Scoring 8 points on 5 shots, Sanogo allowed the guards to assume most of the offensive load while dominating the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds, and one block and steal each. Sanogo had the highest plus/minus of any of the Bulls’ starters, outpacing even Freeman-Liberty despite a fantastic game from the DePaul guard as well.

If he manages to keep this up, the Bulls may have just found an undrafted steal and decent rotation player.

Adama Sanogo and Dalen Terry’s roles with the Bulls may be determined by their performance in Las Vegas.

Dud: Dalen Terry

Entering this year’s Summer League, Dalen Terry was given the reins and allowed to experiment with his game as much as he wanted. And so far, experiment he has… just not great success. Through each of the Bulls’ two games, Dalen has averaged 13.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, while shooting an absolutely horrendous 9-for-35 from the field (25.7%).

As much as I’m rooting for him to succeed, it would be foolish to say Terry’s been anything short of a net negative out there so far. What’s most strange, however, is that I don’t particularly care.

As far as actual games go, Dalen will never have another chance to run the offense as the primary ball-handler again. Even if the results aren’t great, at least the coaching staff can successfully identify which areas of his game could use some work. Terry wasn’t drafted to be a floor general, but the fact he’s even willing to step into this role in the first place gives me faith he has the work ethic necessary to eventually carve out his niche as a very valuable role player for Chicago moving forward.