Satoransky felt Bulls were his best option
Many were surprised when the Washington Wizards let restricted free agent Tomas Satoransky go to the Bulls for a couple of second-round draft picks this summer.
The Wizards are expected to be without injured point guard John Wall for most, if not all, of the season. Satoransky was his replacement last year.
Was Satoransky surprised to leave the Wizards? He said no.
"To be honest, I didn't expect anything from the free agency," he said Tuesday at the Advocate Center. "And I think what the NBA showed me the last couple of years is that you cannot rely on anything. So I really just had my patience and waiting for the free agency and then I saw my options and saw that Chicago was the best option for me. And I felt like I could help the team the most. So I wasn't really surprised by that."
Satoransky appreciated the chance to play with Wall for three years in Washington, where he was also a teammate of current Bull Otto Porter Jr.
"When he was healthy, he was one of the fastest guys I've ever seen," Satoransky said of Wall. "I love competition. It was amazing competition to have in practice. And he was one of those guys who always talked to me, always giving me advice about certain players, about how to guard them and what to do in certain situations. I just thanked him after I signed with the Bulls for his help during those years."
New camp leader:
This is Jim Boylen's first training camp as an NBA head coach. He talked about his feelings after Tuesday's first practice.
"It's exciting. The thought process for this started the day the season ended last year," he said. "It was a project of sifting through what we thought was important, what our priorities should be. We want to play faster so we've got to work at that. You are what you emphasize.
"We need to be better defensively. We need to work at that. We need to communicate better, so we need to have drills that work at that. You think about those all summer. I've got notes from when I was on the plane going to visit (Tomas) Satoransky. I've got notes from the summer league sitting in the stands. You just kind of put it together."
Roster details
The Bulls added three players to the training camp roster. Former Loyola star Milton Doyle, a 6-foot-4 guard, appeared in 10 games for the Brooklyn Nets two years ago. Doyle, who was not on the Ramblers' Final Four team, figures to be a featured player for the Windy City Bulls this season.
The other additions are Perrion Callandret, a 6-2 guard from Idaho who was a high school teammate of Zach LaVine, and Justin Simon, a 6-5 guard from St. John's, who did well on the Bulls' summer team.