Getty Chicago Bulls players Dalen Terry, Marko Simonovic and Malcolm Hill celebrate after a summer league win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Given the ho-hum, under-the-radar feel of the Chicago Bulls‘ exploits in free agency — outside of re-upping with Zach LaVine, anyway — some might look back at the 2022 offseason as The Summer of Dalen Terry. With all due respect to Goran Dragic and Andre Drummond, who could play big roles for the club next season, the No. 18 pick in June’s draft is already out there capturing fans’ imaginations.
He had an incredibly productive summer league, starting five games for the Bulls’ Las Vegas squad and averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 22.3 minutes per contest while shooting an eye-popping 57.6% from the floor and 42.9% from deep.
The 20-year-old was also spotted going head-to-head with All-NBA guys like Paul George and Pascal Siakam.
More recently, he has been getting buckets in various pro-am runs. And, on Saturday, he dropped a gem in a league founded by a notable former Bull.
Terry’s Slick Seattle Display
A little over a week ago, Terry was at the Drew League with DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams, playing for a team that also included Atlanta Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu and recent Cleveland Cavaliers second-rounder Isaiah Mobley. Before that, he made an appearance on the South Side at the Denard Bros Pro Runs in Chicago.
On Saturday, though, the young baller outdid himself at The CrawsOver, a Seattle-based pro-am founded by former Bulls guard Jamal Crawford.
The Bulls rookie once again showed that he was no worse for wear after suffering a hamstring injury in Vegas, giving his best pro-am performance of the summer with a 56-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist outing in Crawford’s league.
Although pro-am outbursts must be taken with a grain of salt, the variety of ways in which Terry was able to put the ball through the net was impressive. As seen in the video embedded above, he was a beast in transition, finishing off lob dunks, taking people to the rack himself and making circus shots through traffic.
However, he was able to get points from other spots on the floor as well, nailing turnaround jumpers, stepbacks and also by pulling up on his opponents.
Terry Has Raised Eyebrows
In his breakdown of the Bulls’ summer for The Athletic, Darnell Mayberry noted that Terry had checked some boxes with his summer league performance.
“Terry showed enough throughout his debut NBA Summer League this month that he belongs, no worse, as a connector in the NBA,” Mayberry wrote. “His floor is a glue guy, someone to supply smart offensive contributions and swarming defensive energy.”
However, he also identified some areas where the baller must improve if he hopes to crack Billy Donovan’s rotation in year one.
“Terry must get stronger and improve his shooting before morphing into a rotational piece. He’ll likely spend time developing with the Windy City Bulls in the G League,” Mayberry added. “But the Bulls appeared to have made the most of the 18th pick.”
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