High Five: The most intriguing names on the Bulls’ summer league roster

The NBA Summer League typically comes and goes without much notice from Bulls fans.

This summer may be different.

With a new front office and a new head coach in Tiago Splitter, there’s renewed interest in getting a first glance at what the Bulls may look like next season and in the future. Two first-round picks join the mix, including No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson out of North Carolina, which should bring more attention to the summer games.

This edition of the High Five looks at the intriguing Bulls players to watch starting this week in Las Vegas summer league play.

5. Boo Buie

The former Northwestern legend gets another shot, this time with the Bulls.

Buie left the Wildcats as their all-time leading scorer while playing in a school-record 149 games. But he went undrafted by the NBA and has bounced around ever since.

Buie tried to hook on with the Knicks but couldn’t stick. Last year he was traded to the Mexico City Capitanes of the G-League.

4. Antonio Reeves

Reeves is intriguing because of who else may find him intriguing: new Bulls vice president of operations Bryson Graham.

The Bulls’ front office chief, during his lone season as the New Orleans Pelicans’ general manager in 2024, traded for Reeves after Orlando drafted him with the 47th pick out of Kentucky.

Reeves, who spent two years at Illinois State before transferring to Kentucky, averaged 16.5 points last season for the G-League champion Greensboro Swarm.

3. Dailyn Swain

While most pundits knew what the Bulls would do with the No. 4 overall pick, few had a clue about No. 15. And Graham surprised by selecting Swain out of Texas.

Was it a stretch to take the 6-foot-7 wing that early? We could get a clue about the team’s vision for Swain during summer league play as he hopefully develops into a depth piece behind Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and free-agent signing Norman Powell.

A strong defender and ballhandler, Swain averaged 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds last season with Texas.

2. Noa Essengue

Oh yeah … Noa Essengue.

One of the final parting shots from former VP Arturas Karnisovas was drafting Essengue last year with the 12th overall pick.

Essengue played a total of about six minutes in two games with the Bulls, and then played only four games with the G-League Windy City Bulls before being lost for the season with a shoulder injury.

Is Essengue ready to go for the summer? How much leeway will he get from Graham and Splitter as a player from the past regime?

He can start to prove himself this week.

1. Caleb Wilson

It’s hard to say how much the 6-9 power forward will play this summer.

Wilson is the name everyone expected the Bulls to pick in the draft, and with good reason after his one year at North Carolina produced an average of 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.

But Wilson also hasn’t played since February when he broke his hand. He was set to return for the NCAA Tournament, but he then broke his thumb and was lost for the season.

Bulls fans can’t wait to see what they’ve got in Wilson.