mava, CC BY-SA 2.0
Caleb Wilson dropped 35 points in his first game as a pro. Not his junior year. Not a preseason scrimmage. His Las Vegas Summer League debut. 12-for-21 from the field, five boards, three blocks, two steals in 33 minutes against the Grizzlies. Setting the record for most points in a Summer League debut with 35.
And he didn’t stop there.
19 points and eight rebounds against Utah, with five blocks. 19 more against Washington. 21 against the Lakers, eight boards again. Four games, 23.5 points and 7.3 rebounds a night, and the Bulls shut him down for the finale.
So let’s talk about the shot people were worried about.
At UNC, Wilson shot 25.9 percent from three on just over one attempt a game. That’s the reason some boards had him going anywhere from second to sixth in the draft instead of being a lock at the top. The Bulls still took him fourth overall, betting the rest of the game would carry him while the jumper caught up.
In Vegas, he shot 13-for-31 from deep. That’s 41.9 percent.
Of course it’s four games against Summer League competition, this doesn’t mean he’s turned into Steph Curry. But that’s not a guy who can’t shoot. That’s a guy who worked on the exact thing scouts flagged and showed up different. You don’t shoot 31 shots from deep, if you’re not confident you have at least a decent three-point shot.
Meanwhile, the rest of his game is exactly what scouts advertised. He finishes above the rim, and rebounds like he’s mad at the ball. In addition, ten blocks and five steals across four games isn’t just a good defensive rookie, that’s a guy affecting winning on both ends.
But the numbers only show half of how good he is. To truly be one of the best players in the league you have to have a killer mentality; you have to think you’re better and will put in more work than anyone else. That’s what separates guys like Michael Jordan from James Harden.
When Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick, sat out a Summer League game, Wilson didn’t shrug it off. “I’m a real competitor, and I want to play against the best players,” he said.
Wilson was even more direct about how he sees himself next to the rest of his draft class: “I feel like I’m different than all of them. Not to say they don’t, but I enjoy basketball”
In short, he’s got the game, he’s got the mindset, he’s got the swagger.
At the end of the day, Summer League isn’t about proving you’re the best player or team in the world, that’s what the NBA Playoffs are for. But it tells you who’s serious. Caleb Wilson just told everybody.
In fact, he isn’t the only rookie who turned heads early. Take a look at how Cooper Flagg turned around his rookie season for another first-year player who refused to wait.
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