The Bulls’ summer league has already made one thing pretty clear: this team can use all the shooting it can get.
Chicago has stumbled badly from 3-point range in Las Vegas, and that ugly stretch only sharpens the case for Norman Powell, the veteran wing the Bulls added in free agency. Powell has never been the kind of move that screams future-facing rebuild piece, but his career 39.6 percent mark from deep suddenly looks like exactly the sort of skill this roster is going to lean on.
That’s what makes the signing feel so sharp. Bryson Graham’s first offseason as executive VP of basketball operations has already produced a strong haul.
Caleb Wilson has flashed star potential. Nic Claxton plugs a major hole at center.
Dailyn Swain is off to a slow start, but Tiago Splitter has already handed the 20-year-old the keys to run the summer league offense.
Powell, though, may be the sneaky best of the bunch - and he hasn’t even played a minute for Chicago yet.
At 33, with 11 NBA seasons behind him, Powell doesn’t fit neatly with a Bulls roster that is going to be young for a while. But he also fits perfectly because of what he brings.
He was an all-star for the first time last season, putting up 21.7 points per game while shooting 47.0 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from 3. His 3-point percentage dipped from 41.8 percent in 2024-25, when he took the same 7.1 attempts per game, but the shot still remains the calling card.
And right now, Chicago needs that calling card in the worst way.
The Bulls’ most recent summer league game was an 80-63 loss to the Utah Jazz, and the shooting numbers were brutal: 8-for-36 from beyond the arc, good for 22 percent. In their opener in Las Vegas, they hit 44 percent of their 3s, but that figure was inflated by Wilson’s outrageous 7-for-11 performance. Strip out his makes and attempts, and the rest of the team went 7-for-21, which is 33.3 percent.
There’s talent here, but not much proven shooting. Swain and Wilson are intriguing prospects, yet neither can be counted on as a floor spacer right now. Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis have improved, but they still aren’t dependable from deep.
That matters because the Bulls weren’t exactly lighting it up last season, finishing 19th in the league at 35.6 percent from 3. Then they lost Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic, along with trade-deadline additions Anfernee Simons and Collin Sexton.
So if this season turns into a grind from the perimeter, the Powell signing will look even smarter. In a summer that’s already given Chicago plenty to like, that might be Graham’s clearest win yet.
In Other News...
Bulls Veteran Suddenly Looks Like A Major Trade Piece
The Bulls are heading into a stretch where the roster could keep shifting around the edges, and Tre Jones has emerged as one of the names worth watching. Chicago has a few young pieces it wants to sort through, but Jones fits the profile of a veteran who can draw interest from teams looking for help, especially as the front office weighs how to balance development with any chance to reshape the roster.
Josh Giddey is a different kind of decision, and one that figures to get more attention if rival teams start calling. The Bulls are expected to hear inquiries on him, even if moving him would take a significant return and come with more layers than a simple deadline deal. With Tiago Splitter likely to lean into development next season, the Bulls have to decide which players are part of that long-term picture and which ones become movable pieces as the market takes shape. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Crow-Armstrong Just Proved His Bears Bond With Caleb Runs Deeper
Pete Crow-Armstrongs connection to Caleb Williams goes beyond the kind of casual crossover that usually comes with two young Chicago athletes sharing a city. The Cubs outfielder has built a real friendship with the Bears quarterback, and his affection for the Bears traces back to growing up with a Chicago-born father and to the kind of highlight-reel memories that stick with a kid around the game. It is the sort of local bond that makes Chicago sports feel smaller, and a little more interconnected, than it does on most nights.
Crow-Armstrong and Williams now give the city a fresh version of the old athlete-friendship formula, the kind fans remember when different teams and different eras start to overlap. For the Bulls, it is another reminder of how much Chicago still loves its crossover stars, especially when one of them is openly tied to the Bears and the other is trying to become the face of the franchise. The friendship is already real enough to matter, and it carries the kind of future intrigue that Chicago always seems willing to embrace. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Wilson Sends A Message Bulls Fans Will Love
While the Wizards and Jazz have already shut down top rookies AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson before the end of Summer League, Caleb Wilson has taken a different approach. The Bulls No. 4 overall pick has stayed on the floor, showing the kind of energy and athleticism that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place while giving Chicago fans a longer look at what he can do.
Wilson also made clear he wants as many reps as possible, and that mindset will play well in Chicago. Beyond the highlight plays, he has talked about sharpening the outside shot that could determine how quickly his game translates, which is part of what makes his continued Summer League run worth watching even with the bigger payoff still ahead. [Read more 🡒]