LAS VEGAS – Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. was selected No. 22 overall in last month’s NBA Draft.
In his first two Summer League games he averaged 21 points, while handing out 13 total assists and doing so with a swagger that few in this vaunted rookie class have displayed.
Cameron Carr was the No. 24 pick and served notice in the California Summer League that he was a bucket, scoring 26 points. In his Las Vegas debut the Baylor guard dropped in 18.
Both rumored to be on the Bulls’ radar – whether in visits or mock drafts – and both selected after struggling Bulls guard Dailyn Swain (No. 15 overall).
Buyer’s remorse?
Not in the slightest. It’s way too early in the process for the Bulls to second guess a month-old draft pick based on two Summer League games.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few concerns about the growing pains Swain is going through.
In a Game 1 loss to Memphis, Swain scored seven points on a 3-for-10 shooting night, struggling with the ball pressure from an experienced Grizzlies roster. Game 2 on Monday, however, felt like rock bottom as Swain went 0-for-9 from the field and was a minus-17 in the plus/minus category.
“I talked to him and he’s overthinking a little bit too much,” coach Tiago Splitter said of Swain. “He’s got to go there and just play basketball. Shoot when he’s open. We’re going to watch film with him again and try and get him to play a little bit more loose and make good decisions.”
That’s why Splitter wasn’t losing any sleep over the guard from Texas.
Swain hasn’t been delusional in his struggles and has been great in practice. Now it just has to translate to the games at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“He’s not being firm with his decisions on the court,” Splitter said. “Open, you gotta shoot it. Drive in a straight line. Sometimes he’s trying too much to get a gap. You gotta choose one side and go. We’ve been talking, and you know this is part of this. I told the guys this is the first step in the NBA. They’re nervous and some of them are not playing well, so that’s why we have the Summer League. To go through this, the struggles, and learn from it. Also, for us coaches to understand the players that we have and how to help them on the court, so it’s really important for us to even go through the struggles sometimes.”
What Swain also has on his side is a rookie teammate in Caleb Wilson.
Sure, Wilson has been the talk of Vegas with his 35-point debut, but his follow-up game included going 0-for-6 from the free throw line and leaving a lot of points on the floor.
“Honestly, we’re both rookies trying to figure it out,” Wilson said. “It’s important that we both give ourselves grace. We try as hard as we can, we go out there and play as hard as we can. Dailyn is figuring it out just like me. I just told him to stick with it because at the end of the day I do have the ball a good amount and he has the ball a good amount, so we have to play off each other and give each other the ball when we want it. That will help both of us out.”
The good news for Swain is NBA careers aren’t defined in Summer League – good or bad. What matters for the rookie is embracing the moment and growing from it.
“We know he’s way better,” Splitter added of Swain. “In practice he’s been way better than he’s shown in the game, so I’m not worried about him. He’s struggling mentally and he’s got to go through it.”