Rough summer league for Bulls, but Essengue improvement offers hope
This week at the Las Vegas summer league has left Bulls observers longing for the glory days of Denzel Valentine leading the squad to a Sin City title. By the way, 2016 is when that happened.
The Bulls opening game against Toronto last week was a turnover-filled disaster. They played a little better against Sacramento in the second game, then beat Indiana and Milwaukee to even the record at 2-2, with one game remaining.
But the Bulls did see the one thing they really need — improvement from first-round draft pick Noa Essengue.
Essengue, 18, was awful in that opening game against Toronto, as was everyone on the team. But he turned it around quickly. After committing 7 turnovers in Game 1, he had just 2 in the next two games combined. Essengue's point totals rose from 5 to 12 to 21 across the three contests. He even knocked down a trio of 3-pointers against the Pacers.
He sat out Wednesday's 102-96 win over the Bucks.
The 6-foot-10 forward from France provided a clear illustration in those last two games he played of what makes him special — speed. Half court, full court, with the ball, without the ball, he created separation with most every step. In the second game in particular, he got to the rim quickly for rebounds and putbacks.
Being on the wrong end of that poster dunk by Indiana’s Johnny Furphy is nothing to worry about. It happens.
Essengue is a raw, intriguing player. Ideally, he'll be ready to average around 20 minutes as an NBA rookie. Coach Billy Donovan talked a lot about not gifting minutes to young players last year, but he probably waited too long to extend Matas Buzelis' court time. The bench can be a good teacher, but you get better by playing.
Second-round pick Lachlan Olbrich, a 6-9 forward from Australia, showed a nice basketball IQ. But there were no signs of an outside shot and he didn’t always keep up athletically. Probably safe to say he'll spend the vast majority of next season in Hoffman Estates.
Buzelis played in the first and third games, and he scored 28 points in the latter, but he had nothing to prove this summer.
Feeling Giddey
The only real drama left in the Bulls offseason is when does restricted free agent Josh Giddey sign a new deal and for how much?
There isn't enough open cap space around the league to think signing an offer sheet is realistic. Giddey has the option of signing a one-year qualifying offer (worth $11.4 million), then become an unrestricted free agent next summer. This is also unlikely.
Word is, Giddey's camp is looking for an extension in line with the $150 million over five years Orlando gave point guard Jalen Suggs. The Bulls would probably prefer an annual average closer to $25 million, and the Suggs contract is a head-scratcher after he played in just 35 games this season.
But here's the issue: The Bulls went above market value to give albatross contracts to Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams in recent years. Jevon Carter and Tre Jones were overpays on a smaller scale.
Now the Bulls suddenly want to do the smart thing and hold the line with Giddey, a player who might actually be part of a brighter future?
Yeah, creating more cap space for next summer is a concern, but the Bulls have no argument here. Just front load the new deal like Orlando did so he makes less in the second year.
Summer blues
One annoying thing about the Bulls is they haven't been using summer league or G-League to create any meaningful player development.
Their two breakout stars in Las Vegas were Japanese point guard Yuki Kawamura and, at times, 6-8 Brazilian forward Maozinha Pereira. But these weren't Bulls discoveries, they both played for Memphis' G-League team last season.
In eight years of existence, the Windy City Bulls have played in one postseason game. Their biggest success stories — like Spencer Dinwiddie and Max Strus — played for other NBA teams.
Chicago native Javon Freeman-Liberty, 25, kept the Bulls summer squad competitive, averaging 20.8 points this week. Guard Jahmir Young, who finished last season as a Bulls' two-way player, came alive Wednesday against Milwaukee with 37 points, hitting 6 of 7 from 3-point range. He didn't play well before that.
Forward Emmanuel Miller, already signed as a two-way for next season, has been nothing special in Las Vegas. He had 9 points and 10 boards against the Bucks.
It would have been nice to see development candidates in areas the Bulls could use, like rim protection or 3-point shooting.