Caleb Wilson’s Summer League debut gave the Bulls exactly the kind of jolt you’d expect from a No. 4 pick - 35 points, seven made 3s, and a performance that announced he belongs in that top tier. But Wilson wasn’t interested in making the night about the scoring line. What stuck with him was the loss, plus the six turnovers and four missed free throws that kept the outing from feeling complete.
Afterward, Wilson pushed back on the chatter that has followed him through the pre-draft process.
“I feel like that’s a media-pushed narrative,” Wilson said. “In the beginning of the year, I wasn’t even a part of the ‘Big Four’ or whatever.
I feel like that’s all something that’s been created by other people to try to stir up some type of drama. We’ll all play against each other and those will be competitive games.
But that’s not something I really think about. When we play basketball, it’s basketball.”
That edge is already showing up around the Bulls. Fellow rookie Dailyn Swain said Wilson is carrying the pre-draft talk with him.
“Caleb is hunting everybody,” Swain said. “He won’t say it, but we know it.
We can see it in his mentality pregame, during the game. He’s hunting these guys.”
Elsewhere in the Central Division, the Pistons remain locked in a standoff with restricted free agent Jalen Duren. His options are limited outside of a sign-and-trade, and Detroit’s front office has already said it won’t go that route. Hunter Patterson of The Athletic noted that a deal would make sense for both sides, especially given Duren’s age and skill set, but there are very few alternatives available to the Pistons.
Detroit guard Chaz Lanier is trying to turn a quiet rookie year into a bigger opportunity. He played in 34 games after being drafted in the second round, and now he’s looking to show more in his second Summer League run.
“It’s a sense of a little bit more comfortability coming in,” Lanier said. “It’s my second year of Summer League.
I’m taking on a leadership role with the guys, having been here for a year, having that one year of experience under my belt. I come out here and be more vocal, just being a leader … and going out here and having fun and showcasing what we’ve been working on all summer.”
Lanier backed that up with 25 points in Detroit’s second Summer League game on Sunday, according to Omari Sankofa II.
In Indiana, Jalen Slawson is making a strong case for a spot after receiving a two-way qualifying offer from the Pacers before free agency. The issue is roster space, since Indiana currently has no room on the two-way list.
Still, Slawson helped himself in Saturday’s second Vegas game, finishing with 26 points on 8 of 16 shooting, five rebounds and a block. He had already flashed his rim protection in the opener with five blocks, though his shooting was off in that game.
The Pacers have also gotten a spark from free agent Yuki Kawamura, the 25-year-old, 5-foot-7 guard from Japan. Rick Carlisle praised the energy Kawamura brings every time he checks in.
“He’s an easy guy to like,” Carlisle said per Dopirak. “He just kind of explodes into the game.
When the coach points to him on the bench, he just flies up to the scorer’s table, and then stuff just happens. He really knows how to play.
He’s seeing things before they happen. He has a great sense for how to draw contact and put the defense in jail.
He goes hard.”
In Other News...
Pacers Fans Are Suddenly Being Asked To Imagine LeBron In Indiana
The Pacers have spent the summer trying to look like a team built for the next step, with Tyrese Haliburton at the center of everything after his run to the 2025 NBA Finals before the injury derailed that push. Indiana still has a clear long-term pitch: a fast, connected style, a young star in Haliburton and a path to contending again in the 2026-27 season.
So when LeBron James enters the free-agent conversation, even the faintest connection gets attention around Indianapolis. James has not publicly listed the Pacers among his options, and there has been no confirmed discussion between the sides, but the idea has enough basketball logic to linger because of Haliburtons fit and the way Indiana wants to play. The practical hurdles are obvious, too, since even a veteran-minimum offer would require the Pacers to clear space, which keeps this more in the realm of speculation than anything concrete for now. [Read more 🡒]
LeBron Rumor Just Put A Surprising New Team In Play
The LeBron chatter that has been bouncing around the league has now brushed up against Indiana, mostly because the Pacers have enough roster flexibility to at least make the math interesting. On paper, the path would be narrow and would require some careful maneuvering around the apron, but the idea has gained a little extra oxygen with Tyrese Haliburton set to share the stage with James as a special guest co-host at Fanatics Fest.
Still, this is more rumor mill than reporting, and there is no credible indication that the Pacers are actually in the mix right now. Indiana would need a very specific sequence of moves to even get close to a veteran-minimum deal, and the broader conversation also includes a handful of more obvious landing spots, which is why this feels like a long shot even before the real decision is announced. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Rally From Disaster Only To Suffer Another Brutal Finish
The Pacers Summer League group had already spent most of the afternoon climbing out of a hole, and for a while it looked like the comeback would be enough. Indiana erased an early 18-point deficit to get back level by halftime, then leaned on a steady scoring night from Rienk Mast, Jalen Slawson and Gabe McGlothan to keep pressure on Toronto in a game that stayed tight down the stretch.
Braden Smith had the ball moving all night and finished with nine assists, but Indiana could not turn that control into a closing win. The final sequence left the Pacers a single point short in a 94-93 loss, another frustrating finish in a game they had done so much to salvage, and one that will linger because they were close enough to make the last possession feel like it should have been enough. [Read more 🡒]