With a path to playing time seemingly opened by the departures of two veteran wings, young Bulls forward Julian Phillips is hoping to get some extended run this season, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
“Just my leadership and being around the ball,” Phillips said of his goals for his second Summer League with the Bulls this year. “Get loose balls, rebounds. Defense, get my hands on loose balls. Try to be all around.”
With ex-Bulls Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan having been sent to contending Western Conference squads, an opportunity could open up for Phillips to earn more rotation minutes this year. Phillips, for his part, seems grateful for the lessons learned from Caruso and DeRozan during his rookie season in 2023/24.
“They both helped and taught me a lot, so I appreciate them for everything,” Phillips said. “It’s not our job to worry about the roster decisions. That’s up to the front office. Our job is to be ready to play. We got a lot of great guys and we’ll be ready for it for sure.”
There’s more out of the Windy City:
- The Bulls received poor marks for their trades of Caruso and DeRozan from Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, who is underwhelmed by the return for Caruso and believes the team waited too long to move on from DeRozan. Cowley adds that two of the club’s other pricey veterans, shooting guard Zach LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic, may be stuck on a rebuilding Chicago team for a while, as neither seems to have garnered much trade interest around the league.
- During his Summer League debut, a 96-89 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, Bulls lottery pick Matas Buzelis scored 15 points, grabbed seven boards and blocked two shots. He showed a knack for drawing contact in taking seven free throws during 29 minutes of action, and proved adept at defending the rack. Buzelis, however, was concerned by his 4-of-15 shooting line and some defensive decisions away from the rim, notes K.C. Johnson in another NBC Sports Chicago story. “Honestly, I was very sloppy,” Buzelis said. “I can play a lot better.”
- In case you missed it, Chicago recently waived two-way power forward RaiQuan Gray, acquired in the team’s three-team sign-and-trade deal that sent DeRozan to Sacramento.
If there was ever a perfect time to bring DRose back to the Chi it’s now, when Ws & Ls aren’t gonna be nearly as much of a concern & the fan base might need a lil appeasing. Their guards are gonna be the strength of their team by far but they got enough leeway to allow Rose a roster spot & abt 12-18mins/gm. If not to start the season I definitely expect to see Rose sporting his iconic #1 at some point this yr…
a guy like domask(illinois)would be better off getting those minutes if they’re just garbage minutes. rose plays 25 games a year now, so only 12 home games maybe. no thanks. and rose is my favorite player.
Domask & DRose play 2 different positions. If/when they sign Rose he’ll be taking a spot that a young pg could have instead. Domask is gonna have to beat out Bulls other young wings like Julian Phillips, Chris Duarte & the kid from Arizona who’s name I forget. I agree this season should primarily be about player development & tanking for the Bulls. But that’s gonna make for a pretty dismal, depressing season for the fan base & bringing back a Chi town legend like Pooh would be a nice/rare ray of sunshine for not only the city but the game in general… link to m.youtube.com
Dalen Terry. And the absolute dumbest thing they could possibly do is bring back Rose.
1. He wouldn’t come anyway
2. The Bulls are trying to get younger not more ancient.
3. They don’t have the cap space anyway
4. Unless they want someone to keep LaVine company in rehab when they’re both hurt no thanks.
5. Dumbest idea I’ve heard this year. Congrats
And Domask isn’t a PG and he will be in the G league at best.
I think he’s off his meds
Lol man y’all are something else. Would it be that boring and excruciating to just talk basketball like a normal person without the hyperbole?
1. Yes he obviously would.
2. Bulls aren’t necessarily trying to get younger. They are rebuilding but when rebuilding you don’t just want a team full of young guys. Having a guy like Rose who has seen every part of the league would be very beneficial for them.
3. Cap space? Lol wow.
4. I guess you’re saying Rose is hurt too much? Like I say this would be the perfect time to bring him in bc Ws & Ls don’t really matter. If he gets hurt then you just sign someone else.
5. I guess you couldn’t come up with a 5th reason but that’s ok because each of the 1st 4 were terrible anyway.
Man that was a lot of rambling.
Didn’t read it.
Lol we both know you read it & just couldn’t come up with a response.
If you expect to see Rose on Chicago we can all be assured it’s not going to happen.
The opportunity to talk basketball is definitely here guy. Feel free to take advantage. Maybe something about the Coby/Ayo/Giddey chemistry or about DRose being a future BIG3 legend. Take your time with it.
And D. Rose is over. You’re one of those guys who want to see Bauer back in baseball I bet. You can never grasp reality it seems. HE’S DONE. Over and out
Why is everyone that comments on this site like this?
Like what? Realists?
They aren’t basketball fans, they actually think themselves armchair GMs as if that’s a good thing. Enjoy the game as a fan, like normal folks
I’m looking at it like this:
I don’t want the Bulls to trade those second round picks they got from the Kings. They come in handy for many things not just players. I don’t want them to give them away or any more draft picks either just to get rid of LaVine. Take your medicine, Keep him here, And when he plays he plays. Hopefully, This year at the deadline you trade Vujevic for some more assets. Ball’s 20 million comes off also so next year you have 40 million more to play with and you should get to keep your 1st round pick as it should fall in the top 10. Make somebody want LaVine or better yet make him play out his contract. He wanted it, Said he’d be worth it, Promised he’d be worth it, Has proven he’s not. I hate to say I told you so, But I did. Maybe trade some young guys you don’t want. Figure out who you want long term and see if you can move the others for picks. LaVine’s contract is horrible, But if he wants out he’s going to have to play his way out of here or let him rot on the bench if he doesn’t like Donovan. The Owners and FO like Donovan so if you wanna pout sit. Bulls getting younger lowers the payroll. Don’t make any more stupid FA signings and his contract will fade away like I hope he does because if he pouts nobody will want him. His best bet is to shut up and honor his horrible contract.
With Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan in the team, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are very handsome. Everyone wants to marry them (received calls every day)
Now
nobody wants Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic for marriage partners.(no calls)
Marriage is a business.
Hm someone turned on the randomizer
If Cowley hates the trades I like them better already. He’s an idiot. The Bulls are lucky they got anything at all for DDR. So first there’s that. And second Caruso for Giddey was pretty even and Bulls got a lot younger. Bulls are doing what they should have done 2 years ago.
The Bulls are going to be mediocre until Jerry sells the team…
I don’t think he’ll officially tank after they can move LaVine and Vucevic…
Selling false hope has become his NBA speciality…
Unfortunately ‘The Chairman Jr.’ is now running the show for the Bulls while ‘The Chairman’ is mismanaging the Sox.
Sadly, Jr is no Rocky Wertz.
Bringing back rose would make no sense to actually play. To serve the U Haslem role? Maybe. Other than that rose is done.
Matas looks good despite where the Bulls got him, expect him to be ruined or given up on in about 2 seasons. Heck even if he is good the Bulls org would rather pony up big bucks to guys like Vucavic or LaVine. The former does not want to be with the Bulls, but does not mind taking their money, and the latter is a chandelier (and worse yet was before getting his insane deal). They’ll likely trade Matas to either save money or talk about a rebuild (again) .