Caleb Wilson looked excellent in the Summer League over four games for the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal per game on 50% shooting. That is really good for anybody, but especially a rookie, Summer League or not. Unfortunately, the team itself didn’t perform well. Chicago is 1-3 so far in league play. They’ve lost by an average of 17.7 points. That should tell you how thin the overall talent depth is for this team, and what VP of Basketball Operations Bryson Graham is trying to rebuild.
Fellow 1st round pick Dailyn Swain shot a dismal 12.9% from the field. Noa Essengue showed little progress from last season, struggling on the offensive side. Undrafted free agent Jaylin Sellers was 6-of-30 from three-point range. Just not a lot of efficient basketball. This may have leaned into one of Wilson’s more disappointing stats. For somebody who handled the ball as often as he did, the 4th overall pick only averaged 1.8 assists per game. Some may think that he was just looking to score every time.
In reality, a big part was the constant inability of his teammates to handle some pretty good passes.
Caleb Wilson is a better passer than he gets credit for.
People will go right to his college stats and look at his 2.7 assists per game and say he’s not. They should look at the overall team stat page. In reality, Wilson was tied for second on that North Carolina team in assist average. Remember, he isn’t a point guard. Distributing the basketball was never his role. So for him to still sit near the top of the team like that suggests there is significant untapped potential as a passer. This is something that was never really addressed with Michael Jordan.
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Everybody remembers him for the obvious reasons: prolific scorer, elite rim-attacker, and great defender. What people often don’t remember is that he was also a really good passer. During a stretch late in the 1988-1989 season, injuries ravaged Chicago’s point guard position. Left with no options, Jordan took over that role through the end of the regular season. He averaged 30.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 10.4 assists over that stretch. It was a shocking reminder that just because somebody is great in one role doesn’t mean they can’t handle another.
Tiago Splitter should consider exploring this.
Right now, the Bulls don’t really need a facilitator on offense. That is what Josh Giddey is for. That said, having another tall player who can distribute the ball is a major boon. Point forwards exist for a reason. Head coach Tiago Splitter played against some really good ones in his career, like LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Hedo Turkoglu. He knows what players like that can do for your team. It grants so much versatility. In one lineup, you can deploy Caleb Wilson as a scorer, allowing him to seek points. Then, in a different lineup, he shifts to the point position, feeding the ball to other options.
It makes a team difficult to defend. One can safely assume Splitter and the coaches will have noticed Wilson’s passing capability. We already know the head coach isn’t afraid to make a forward the primary ball-handler. He did it with Deni Avdija in Portland, who plays the same position as Wilson. It’s not like fans needed more excuses to be excited about the upcoming season. The idea that their prized rookie’s supposed weakness was never a weakness at all certainly adds to the hype.
