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Summer League: Bulls crush Wolves 107-73

In the largest margin of victory of the Summer League, Doug McDermott and the Chicago Bulls easily handles Zach LaVine and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

By Tim Faklis

The Summer League Bulls took out the Summer League Wolves handily, putting them away in the third en route to a 107-73 victory in Vegas. The margin of victory is the largest so far in this year's summer league. In the largest margin of victory of the Summer League, Doug McDermott and the Chicago Bulls easily handles Zach LaVine and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In the first half, the team's big stars featured none of the under-contract guys. Krylyo Fesenko was by far the best player on the floor for the Wolves in the half, finishing at a perfect 5-5 from the field with 12 points and 5 rebounds. D.J. Kennedy and Markel Starks combined for an impressive 5-6 from the field with a combined 15 points of their own.

The other guys, aka the guys who are guaranteed roster spots (LaVine, Muhammad, Dieng) went a combined 4-15 with 10 points, and an averaged-out +/- rating of 8.3.

Dieng didn't see much time on the floor, but likely not because of the foul situation, as foul-out rules in the summer league differ from the regular season.

The Bulls pulled away in the 3rd quarter, in part because of the Wolves' continued struggles, but also in part because of a Doug McDermott shooting display. He finished the game with all 20 of his points coming in the game's first three quarters. He looked more comfortable than just about anyone else out there, took smart shots, and made a lot of them.

The fourth quarter was equally as ugly. I commend our man Zach Bennett if he stayed there the entire time. It looks like he was. This was posted with 3:58 left in the 4th.

He wasn't wrong. The man shot 3-15 from the field in 24 minutes. Ouch.

A few notes:

  • Zach LaVine is ridiculously fast, and doesn't lose much speed when he has the ball. Still, he really, really needs to work on his decision-making. There's something there, but it looks like a long ways away from turning into something useful (disclaimer: this is off summer league sample space, take with caution). He took a lot of questionable shots and made a lot of questionable passes (aside from his surprising/random success with Fesenko).
  • Still, he shot the ball much better in the second half. He worked it up to 5-11 from the field, finishing with 12 points, 4 boards, and 3 dimes. Not a bad all-around performance. Still, the most productive UCLA product on the floor may have been David Wear for Chicago (6-7 from the field for 15 points).
  • Shabazz took a lot of those floaters that he's known for, and he's still shaky with it. It's unclear why he takes that shot so much. He isn't very good at them. You have to appreciate his hustle, but his shot selection may be worse than LaVine's.
  • During the game, Jon Krawczynski reported talks between Golden State and Minnesota are back on the table. It's unclear if Golden State has any new willingness to include Klay Thompson in talks. We'll see.
  • Mateen Cleaves might be the happiest person on earth. I love it.