Chicago Bulls' 2026 rookies could deliver box office performances in Las Vegas

Friday, the Chicago Bulls announced their 2026 NBA Las Vegas Summer League schedule.

The Bulls’ 2026 summer league roster will be headlined presumably by rookie forward Caleb Wilson and guard Dailyn Swain.  

Peering ahead, the scheduling of the Bulls' summer league games will be intriguing as the Bulls should face each one of Caleb Wilson’s top-four 2026 NBA Draft peers when they face Cameron Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies on Jul 10, Darryn Peterson and the Utah Jazz on Jul 13, and AJ Dybantsa and the Washington Wizards on Jul 14.

NBA Summer League games are generally high-functioning pick-up basketball.  Aside from the rookies, the Bulls’ summer league roster will be filled out presumably by second-year forward Noa Essengue (more on him in a bit) and a host of journeymen basketball players, in addition to the Bulls’ two-way contract players.

There will be less coherent-looking offense in these games and more fast breaks and shot chucking by the non-rookies auditioning for their next NBA or international basketball job.  So, watching summer league games will be more about the process behind what the players do on the court and less about their game stats.

Noa Essengue’s summer league encore

Unfortunately for Essengue, he has an NBA summer league moment that will forever live in infamy, courtesy of Johnny Furphy’s obscene dunk on Essengue in a 2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League game between the Bulls and Pacers.

It goes without saying that Essengue should do his best to exercise his Furphy demons and avoid another poster if he takes the floor in the Bulls’ 2026 summer league games.  More importantly, Essengue should assert himself in the facets of the game that likely will be priorities for head coach Tiago Splitter’s main Bulls roster: rebounding and shot blocking.

Aside from cleaning glass and swatting shots, Essengue should also take the opportunity to hoist threes in the ultra-low stakes of summer league basketball.  The gameplay will create the conditions for Essengue to get ample shot attempts, and it’s generally encouraging to see a rookie or second-year player feel comfortable taking three-point attempts at a sizeable volume in summer league games.

Overall, it will be interesting to see the early chemistry that forms among Wilson, Swain, and Essengue when they suit up for their summer league runs in Vegas. Bulls fans should make a point to catch a glimpse of the franchise's future in these exhibition games.

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