Summer League Bulls: Expectations For Buzelis, Phillips And More
Thoughts On Matas Buzelis, Adama Sanogo, Henri Drell and Julian Phillips as they prepare for the NBA Summer League.
Matas Buzelis
The 6-foot-10 Buzelis is an intriguing mix of ball handling, shotmaking and overall athleticism. He is a high-flyer who likes to dunk everything on the fastbreak.
In the halfcourt setting, Buzelis will–hopefully–continue to develop as a screener as he fills out his frame. As of now, Buzelis uses his quickness at his size to slip screens and make tough finishes through contact at the basket.
During his time with the G League Ignite, Buzelis was a solid finisher but did not flash the same long range shooting potential that he did in high school. This is to be somewhat expected as Buzelis was adjusting to the NBA 3-pt line and playing against professionals.
Buzelis shot 27% from 3-pt range and 67% on free throws during his time with the G League Ignite. Those figures are obviously disappointing, but when you actually look at Buzelis’ jump shot, it’s not hard to imagine a world where he becomes a capable threat from distance.
Buzelis developing a consistent 3-point shot will be crucial to his development as a true inside-out scoring option.
The impressive athleticism possessed by Buzelis allows him to explode to the rim for impressive dunks. There will be plenty of opportunities for Buzelis to hit defenders with a pump fake and drive to the rim from the 3-point line as he hones that shot.
Defensively, Buzelis looks like he will be an intriguing switch defender with his quickness and length. At the very least, we know Buzelis is an extremely active defender.
Buzelis averaged 2.1 blocks and 0.9 steals per game during his time with the G League Ignite. Summer League will be a nice chance for Buzelis to show us early on that he is the total package.
Julian Phillips
Julian Phillips was a second-round pick last season for the Bulls. The athletic, defensive-minded second-year forward from Tennessee will likely get a lot more playing time with Chicago this upcoming season as the organization finally–hopefully? — shifts to a youth movement in terms of playing time/rotations.
The most important thing to look for in Summer League for Julian Phillips is…..production. It may sound like a cop-out, but in terms of NBA role, we really don’t know much at all about what Phillips will bring to the floor.
Phillips only appeared in 40 games for the Bulls and didn’t crack 10 MPG for the season. He was advertised as a solid defender and poor shooter, and those were accurate descriptors as he shot 31% from 3-pt range and 68% from the free throw line.
The limited attempts mean this is, of course, “take it with a grain of salt,” territory. But Phillips shot 23% from 3-pt range in college, so these poor marks are consistent. That being said, Chicago doesn’t need Phillips to become a knockdown shooter, simply an at least average one. That is, of course, assuming the defense and slashing on offense continue to progress.
Per Basketball-Reference, Philips shot a quite abysmal 46% on FGA from 0–3 feet. Phillips needs to continue to fill out his frame so he can better absorb and finish through contact.
To be clear, none of the above skills are things Phillips will develop overnight, but Chicago’s Summer League action will be a great way to see how Phillips offseason progression is going.
Adama Sanogo
The 6-foot-9 Sanogo is your classic, undersized yet physically imposing big man. Sanogo is on a Two-Way contract and played most of his season in the G League with the Windy City Bulls. The 245-lb. Sanogo is a mountain of a man and used his immense strength to carve out an impressive 12.7 rebounds per game this past G League season.
Sanogo was an afterthought in Billy Donovan’s plans but that could shift dramatically this season as he could be THE Andre Drummond replacement.
Veteran center Nikola Vucevic still stands as the starting man in the middle for Chicago. But with the Alex Caruso-for-Josh Giddey and DeMar DeRozan for 2nd round picks and cash trades, it would appear likely that Chicago would trade Vucevic in season for future picks, a younger player or an expiring contract.
But whether or not Vucevic is on the roster, Sanogo, Jalen Smith and Matas Buzelis would appear to be the only real options for backup center on the team. Sanogo will need to be ready to play and potentially a lot.
Summer League will be crucial to evaluate if Sanogo is clearly ahead of his Summer League counterparts, many with considerably less NCAA and professional experience.
Henri Drell
While I am unsure if Drell will ever get a real NBA chance like the rest of the names on this list, he is too intriguing not to bring up. The undrafted Estonian guard is 6-foot-9 and at just 24-years old, there is still some important development time left for him.
Drell has spent three seasons with the Chicago Bulls minor league affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.
The reason I am so interested in Drell, is he has improved over every season in the G League. In his first year he averaged 5 PPG, 11 PPG in Year 2, and finally, Drell averaged 15 PPG, 8 RPG and 2.8 APG over his last G League season.
Chicago is entering a rebuild from a weakened position due their mismanagement of assets of the past several seasons. A do-it-all forward developing into an NBA rotation player from their G League program would be a massive win for a franchise in need of many, many small ones.
