Caleb Wilson’s Summer League run took a hit before it even got the matchup plenty of people wanted to see.
Wilson, the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, has already made noise in Las Vegas. He opened with a 35-point performance Friday night against Cameron Boozer’s Grizzlies, knocking down seven 3-pointers and flashing the kind of scoring burst that made him one of the draft’s most intriguing names. The Chicago Bulls were set to keep that momentum going Monday night against Darryn Peterson’s Utah Jazz at the Thomas & Mack Center.
That plan changed when Utah beat writer Sarah Todd reported that Peterson, along with 2025 first-round picks Ace Bailey and Cody Williams, would not play.
Darryn Peterson, Ace Bailey and Cody Williams will not play tomorrow
- Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) July 13, 2026
Peterson has been one of the summer’s biggest standouts. He first turned heads in the Jazz’s Salt Lake City Summer League games, then carried that buzz into Vegas with a 24-point showing in Sunday night’s loss. With his place near the top of the class already secure, Utah is choosing to sit him on the back end of a back-to-back.
That decision makes sense for a player whose lone college season was interrupted by injuries, including cramping issues he later said were tied to creatine use. There will be plenty of time for Peterson to prove himself when the NBA season starts. The Jazz have no reason to gamble with that now.
For Wilson, the timing is a little frustrating. He didn’t appear in a pre-Vegas Summer League game, so Monday would have been only his second Summer League outing.
He already answered one big question by matching his UNC season total for made 3-pointers in a single game, but Chicago would still like to see more from him as an on-ball creator. That part of his game matters, especially after he missed the end of his college season with multiple hand injuries.
The Bulls’ next game could bring another wrinkle. If Wilson has another strong night Monday, there’s a good chance Chicago rests him Tuesday against AJ Dybantasa’s Wizards on the second night of a back-to-back.
Wilson may end up being the best player in this class. But even if Peterson had suited up Monday, that wouldn’t have settled anything. The real proof comes later, when the games count for real.
In Other News...
Caleb Wilson Just Reopened A Painful Hubert Davis Debate At UNC
Caleb Wilsons Summer League debut gave the Bulls a glimpse of why they took the 6-foot-10 forward fourth overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, and it also revived an old North Carolina question about what he might have been in Chapel Hill. Wilson knocked down seven three-pointers, matching the total he had in college, a sharp reminder of how much his game has changed since leaving UNC. The perimeter touch was never the biggest part of his profile there, but it has quickly become one of the reasons Chicago sees a far wider path for him at the next level.
Wilson has said his shooting growth came after he left college and could devote far more time to repetition, building a routine that has transformed his range. For UNC fans, the awkward part is obvious: if this version of Wilson had shown up sooner, the Tar Heels might have been able to use him in a very different way. Instead, his breakout only deepens the debate over how much of his college usage was a product of fit, and how much was a missed opportunity for a team that could have used more spacing around its guards. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Draft Day Just Delivered Bigger Validation Than Tar Heels Fans Expected
North Carolinas baseball program spent the first day of the 2026 MLB Draft turning a strong season into a louder national statement. Several Tar Heels came off the board in quick succession, with Schaffner going 20th overall, Hull following at 67th, DeCaro at 80th and Lynch at 97th, a run that underscored how much talent was packed into Chapel Hill this spring.
For UNC, the bigger takeaway is not just the number of players selected, but the range of interest they drew from across the league. Boston accounted for two of the early picks, while Pittsburgh and San Diego joined in on the Tar Heels haul, and the night may not even be finished for Carolina yet, with more names still in play as the draft moves into later rounds. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Summer League Is Raising One Big Concern About The Pipeline
Las Vegas Summer League has given UNC fans a little of everything from the programs recent pipeline, from promising flashes to the kind of uneven stretches that make this stage so revealing. Henri Veesaar opened with a productive night, Drake Powell has been trying to find his footing, Caleb Wilson has been working through a spotlight that follows every top prospect, and former Tar Heels like Cormac Ryan, Pete Nance, Tyler Nickel and RJ Davis have each had their own moments in the mix.
What makes the whole exercise worth watching is how quickly the performances can sharpen the conversation around where UNC is sending players next. Some of these outings have looked encouraging enough to reinforce the Tar Heels development track, while others have raised questions about how ready certain pieces are for the next level. With more games still on the schedule in Las Vegas, there is still time for the picture to change, but the early returns have already made one part of the pipeline look a lot more uncertain than the rest. [Read more 🡒]