LAS VEGAS \u2013 Bryson Graham didn\u2019t need much persuasion when it came to selecting Caleb Wilson in last month\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
The Bulls\u2019 executive vice president of basketball operations concluded by the end of the private workout that Wilson was a special player with an \u201cit\u201d factor. Real star power.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s being found out in just the opening weekend of Summer League, however, is Wilson has more than just star power. It feels very rockstar.<\/p>\n
Not since Derrick Rose was leading the Bulls has a player with the franchise generated as much hype around him. That means extra security, more media requests, and a buzz throughout Las Vegas about the No. 4 overall pick and his 35-point debut on Friday.<\/p>\n
Even the ultra-focused Wilson was feeling it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to notice but my goal isn\u2019t to please everyone else, it\u2019s to please myself, so I\u2019m not complacent or feel like I really accomplished anything,\u201d Wilson said after the Sunday afternoon practice. \u201cIt\u2019s a Summer League game. Of course I see it, but it doesn\u2019t really affect me or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hard to ignore when players like Jalen Brunson and Kevin Durant are walking by in the Wynn Hotel \u2013 where most of the league is staying \u2013 and letting Wilson know that while it was only a Summer League game, it was still impressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is staying at this hotel so I\u2019ve talked to a lot of people like Jalen (Brunson), Kevin Durant \u2026 them just telling me good job, keep it up,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
If the league sat up and took notice, better believe his new teammates not only took notice but started to build a next-level excitement around the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was that?\u201d Bulls forward Matas Buzelis said to a reporter right after the Friday display. \u201cWas that real?\u201d<\/p>\n
It was.<\/p>\n
Even veteran Norman Powell, who was courtside with the likes of Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Jalen Smith for the loss to the Grizzlies took note.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super excited to get in contact with him and just watching him play, he seemed just so mature and fluid in his game,\u201d Powell said of Wilson. \u201cHis first game out, 35 points was awesome, and just seeing how locked in he was down the stretch. Honestly though, just the energy he puts in on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell then singled out the one moment that really sent him a message about Wilson\u2019s make-up was the behind-the-back pass that was stolen, but the hustle Wilson showed to chase it back down the court and make a highlight block in which his head appeared to hit the bottom of the backboard as he took flight for the swat.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably a lot of peoples\u2019 favorite play was when he threw the behind-the-back pass, I feel like a lot of guys his age and in Summer League put their head down and give up,\u201d Powell said. \u201cHe had the turnover, but for him to sprint back and save a possession right there (with the block) just shows his compete level and where his mind is at, what he can bring to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
A trait that should have the entire organization feeling cautiously optimistic that they finally have a player who has the chance to climb into elite status. They might finally have \u201cthat dude.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s shown to be a relentless worker, including admitting that he\u2019s been taking 2,000-2,500 shots every day to continue improving his craft.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good news for those that doubted his seven three pointers against Memphis were an aberration, especially because he made just seven threes in his entire one season with the Tar Heels last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could shoot in college, but it just wasn\u2019t my role,\u201d Wilson said of his long-range showing. \u201cI\u2019m sure you guys watch college basketball. We ran the Carolina break. Rim-running, just at the top of the key. Nothing wrong with it and I appreciate my coach for letting me do what I did in college. There\u2019s no hard feelings or anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t shoot threes in college because if I did I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n
The knock on Wilson was concerns about his ability to shoot from the outside. If he would have shown that skill along with his height and athleticism, no way he slides down to No. 4. That would have been first-overall pick territory, or at least knocking Darryn Peterson out of that No. 2 spot.<\/p>\n
And speaking of Peterson, Wilson has his sights set on him Monday night when the Bulls lock horns with Utah and the one-time Kansas standout.<\/p>\n
\u201cFix up what I made mistakes on,\u201d Wilson said of his goals for Game 2. \u201cTurnovers, I had six of them, so just stay away from turnovers and continue what I did. Get to the rim, play smarter, play off two feet, make better decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a couple turnovers that were just stupid. Then I threw a bad pass on the sideline close to our bench. It should have been a bounce pass because the guard was playing heavy in the gap. Just being stronger on my pickups, stronger on my gaps. Of course, teams are going to pay more attention to me, so just be smarter because this is a higher-level game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does that include an encore?<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, winning the game,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2013 Bryson Graham didn\u2019t need much persuasion when it came to selecting Caleb Wilson in last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-759302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}