A new group of Chicago Bulls is in Las Vegas this weekend to begin the 2023 NBA Summer League tournament, headlined by second-year pro Dalen Terry and second-round draft pick Julian Phillips.
The Bulls will play four games to open the tournament, beginning Friday. If they post a strong enough record, they will be seeded in the semifinals to compete for the summer league title. The 26 teams that don’t make the semifinals will play a fifth game on July 15 or 16.
Assistant coach John Bryant will serve as head coach of the summer league squad for the second year in a row. The Bulls took 13 players to Las Vegas, so the majority of the roster should play meaningful minutes.
Bryant sees the 11-day tournament as an opportunity to heighten the locker-room culture within a new group.
“We have to be the most connected team,” he said. “We want to have the most competitive team in Vegas. There’s a win chart on all of our monitors all over the facility on who’s winning, so every day it’s right in your face: ‘Am I being competitive enough?’
“That creates this atmosphere and culture. We’ll see, win or lose, in Vegas that we’ve created something.”
One player who won’t be appearing in Las Vegas with the Bulls is center Marko Simonović, whom the Bulls waived Thursday. The 2020 second-round pick played 16 games for the Bulls over the last two seasons, averaging 1.4 points in 3.4 minutes.
The Bulls won the summer league championship in 2016 with a team led by Jerian Grant, who went on to play for the Bulls for two seasons.
The tournament has frequently been an opportunity for young stars to gain momentum on their way to breakout NBA careers, with the summer league MVP list including Blake Griffin, John Wall and Damian Lillard.
Here’s what to watch in Las Vegas this summer.
Dalen Terry
In his second summer league showing, Terry should be the main focus for Bulls fans. He saw limited NBA action in his rookie season, averaging 2.2 points and one rebound in 5.6 minutes. And he also didn’t get many minutes with the G League’s Windy City Bulls, playing only three games in which he averaged 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
After going through grueling workouts with DeMar DeRozan this summer, Terry will be expected to step up as a leader for the Bulls in Las Vegas. The games could give a glimpse into whether his jump shot and on-ball acumen have improved enough for him to earn more minutes next season.
Julian Phillips
After entering the draft with zero picks because of trades and penalties, the Bulls made a late trade to pick up Phillips with a second-round selection. The 19-year-old spent one season at Tennessee, where he carved out an identity as a top defender. Summer league will be Phillips’ first chance to prove he can defend just as well against pros while improving his shot and playmaking.
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The current Bulls rotations leave little room for a rookie to elbow his way into significant minutes — especially with Terry also battling for increased playing time — but a strong showing in Las Vegas could help Phillips make his case.
Adama Sanogo
After winning a national championship with Connecticut and being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, Sanogo signed a two-way contract with the Bulls on draft night and is looking to earn a spot on an NBA roster. The 6-foot-9 Sanogo is a physical power forward who dominated at the rim for the Huskies. Between Nikola Vučević, Andre Drummond and Patrick Williams, the frontcourt rotation is already fairly packed, and Sanogo needs work on his shooting range to find a fit with the Bulls.
Justin Lewis
Lewis earned a two-way contract with the Bulls in March after impressing in last year’s summer league. He remained on the Bulls radar ever since he went undrafted out of Marquette last summer, but he suffered an ACL injury that put his rookie season on hold. Despite waiving him to sign Carlik Jones in the fall, the Bulls allowed Lewis to rehabilitate in their facilities, ultimately re-signing him this spring.
- Friday vs. Toronto Raptors: 5:30 p.m., NBA TV
- Saturday vs. Memphis Grizzlies: 6 p.m., NBA TV
- Tuesday vs. Sacramento Kings: 9 p.m., ESPN2
- Thursday vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 p.m., ESPN2
Guards
- Tyree Appleby, No. 17, first year, last team: Wake Forest
- Nate Darling, No. 14, second year, Ontario Clippers
- Yago Dos Santos, No. 18, first year, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
- Javon Freeman-Liberty, No. 00, first year, Windy City Bulls
- Dalen Terry, No. 25, second year, Chicago Bulls
- Will Yoakum, No. 31, first year, Nova Southeastern
Forwards/centers
- Ben Coupet Jr., No. 22, first year, Windy City Bulls
- Henri Drell, No. 16, first year, Windy City Bulls
- Justin Lewis, No. 34, first year, Chicago Bulls
- Daniel Oturu, No. 20, third year, Windy City Bulls
- Julian Phillips, No. 13, first year, Tennessee
- Jontay Porter, No. 30, second year, Wisconsin Herd
- Adama Sanogo, No. 15, first year, Connecticut
