The tone of the summer league Bulls’ second Las Vegas Summer League game against the Utah Jazz was a stark contrast to game one’s electric 35-point performance by forward Caleb Wilson. The first half was sluggish as the Bulls couldn’t move their game score beyond two points until the 5:33 minute mark of the first quarter, via a majestic pull-up three-point make by Wilson.
Noa Essengue’s first quarter exemplified the rough learning curve the entire Bulls summer league squad exhibited in their first half. Going into the second half, the struggles persisted mostly until Caleb Wilson put on a hero cape that didn’t save the day as the Bulls finished in defeat to the Jazz, 80-63.
Essengue’s first quarter was a mixed bag that, on one hand, included a nice fast break finish at the rim and on the other, less desirable hand two turnovers that led to Essengue getting subbed out at the 6:32 minute mark of the first quarter.
In the third quarter, Essengue’s performance seemed to go through a rapid decline as he appeared to injure himself on the immediate defensive possession before earning his third and final turnover of the game at the 2:52 minute mark of the third quarter. Essengue did not take the floor again after the third quarter of the game.
As for rookie guard Dailyn Swain, his second summer league outing could not have been more disappointing, scoring all four of his game points at the free-throw line and shooting 0/9 from the field.
Swain’s point guard experiment, endorsed by Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter, continued to look like a science project that needs more work at the drawing board, and definitely in the film room, as he finished the game with one assist.
Caleb Wilson wasn’t exempt from the Bulls’ underwhelming offensive performance, save for absolutely detonating the rim with this dunk.
CALEB WILSON TO THE BASKET 🤯@CalebWilson2025 | #SeeRed pic.twitter.com/I27IRVLosd
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) July 14, 2026
Otherwise, Wilson’s shooting left a lot to be desired from the three-point line, shooting 3/8 from the three-point arc and 0/6 from the free-throw line. However, Wilson advertised a clear signal that his motor runs on premium fuel, especially on the defensive side of the court, finishing the game with five blocks.
Surveying the remaining Bulls’ Vegas agenda
Certainly, a growing elephant in the room for Bulls fans is Dailyn Swain’s performance. However long Splitter is committed to running Swain at the point, it’s clear that he is going to go through a large development experience if he is to become successful in the role.
Through the Bulls' first two summer league games, an emerging trend worth observing with Swain is his dribbling, which might be a proxy for his processing speed as a point guard. For the remainder of Swain’s summer league minutes, can he actually shrink the number of dribbles he takes before making a pass?
The modern NBA point guard is expected to make decisions in half a second, so that should be a clear development objective for Swain’s development path to becoming a credible NBA point guard.
Noa Essengue, despite muted expectations as a redshirt rookie, is reeling even if his box score shows serviceable contributions in blocks, steals, and rebounds.
There’s a clear physicality problem in Essengue’s game, and his durability remains an open question. Essengue likely won’t have an answer for these growing concerns before the Bulls depart from Las Vegas, but he would be wise to figure out his answers in training camp, come September.
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