3 Bulls players to watch during NBA Summer League

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Three players from the Chicago Bulls’ 2022 Summer League roster are certain to stick around for the 2022-23 season: 2022 first-round pick Dalen Terry, 2020 second-round pick Marko Simonović and recent two-way signee Justin Lewis.

Expect those names to be featured in the Bulls’ slate, which tips off Friday against the Dallas Mavericks at 3 p.m. CT.

“We want to feature Dalen as much as we can. We want to feature Marko as much as we can,” Bulls assistant and Summer League head coach John Bryant said after a team practice last week. “We want to feature these guys who are ours, Bulls players, as much as we can.”

Here is the Bulls’ full roster:

And here is a rundown of the three most pressing players to watch in Vegas:

Dalen Terry

Of course, all eyes will be on the 18th overall pick during his first stint (almost) in a Bulls uniform. How he is used, too, will be of interest.

When pressed on that topic, Terry and Bryant each noted that the rookie wing's versatility will lead to him doing a slew of different things. 

“I feel it’s going to pave its way away because I’m a guy who can play in a lot of different situations,” Terry said of his role. “So it really doesn’t matter to me. Because I know when I go on the court, I'm going to produce.”

That sets a different tone than, say, Patrick Williams last August. In his first Summer League stint, Williams was handed the keys to the offense and, once he started the car, dropped a cinderblock on the gas pedal.

Even if Terry’s experience doesn’t culminate in 21 points and 19.3 field-goal attempts per game — as Williams’ did — his outside shooting, defensive activity and playmaking acumen will all be worth monitoring in terms of projecting his NBA role.

Marko Simonović

Adding 25 pounds does not make a rotation-level big man. But Simonović has done just that between Years 1 and 2 in the NBA, adding intrigue to his second Summer League stint.

Bryant spoke during the team’s pre-Vegas practices about Simonović’s added heft improving his ability to play through contact and another year of maturation refining his passing reads. Even in an exhibition setting, displaying improvement in those areas in a live-game setting would be a step forward.

There is also the matter of Simonović’s outside shot, which was an element of his predraft profile. Simonović shot 34.7 percent (5 attempts per game) from behind a shorter 3-point line in 24 league games for KK Mega Bemax of the ABA in 2020-21, but went 0-for-8 from long range last Summer League and 21-for-78 (26.7 percent) in 28 games for the Windy City Bulls in 2021-22.

Simonović can’t earn himself a big league rotation spot in Summer League. But he can certainly make a good impression.

Justin Lewis

Lewis, 20, went unselected out of Marquette in the 2022 draft and now will occupy one of the Bulls’ two two-way slots during the 2022-23 season. That means he will split time between the G League and the pros, with a built-in maximum of 50 regular-season appearances with the Bulls.

Can he further make a name for himself with that opportunity? A strong Summer League showing would be a good start.

Lewis certainly has tools that intrigue. Standing 6-foot-7 with a 7-2 wingspan, he more than doubled his scoring average between his freshman (7.8) and sophomore (16.8) seasons at Marquette, and raised his 3-point percentage from 21.9 to 34.9. After the team’s first pre-Summer League practice, Bryant noted that he has multi-positional potential as a defender as well.

“That man comes with a lot of energy every day,” Bryant said of Lewis.

Soon, we will see how that translates.

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