The Summer League is over, but our coverage (still) isn’t!
We already broke down Coby White and Daniel Gafford’s Summer League performance in entirely separate posts. So be sure to check those out. Today, however, we’re focusing solely on Hutchinson. Let’s go.
Chandler Hutchison
Chandler Hutchison is no Daniel Gafford. Of course, the two play entirely different positions, but Hutchison was the Bulls second pick in the 2018 NBA Draft behind Wendell Carter Jr., and he has yet to really make a statement. Like Carter Jr., he was also a first-round product, drafted with the No. 22 overall pick; however, plenty of mystery still remains regarding what he can really do.
Last season, Hutchison played only 44 games after suffering a right foot injury. While healthy, he averaged a fair amount of minutes for a rookie (20.5 per game), but posted only 5.2 points per game behind 4.2 rebounds per game. After rehabbing, the Bulls lined him up to get back on the court this Summer League, where he took a while to put a productive outing on the board. Even with the injury, you’d expect a second-year, former first-round player to hit the court with a little more gas in the tank, but Hutchison’s first performance against the Los Angeles Lakers was, well, fine. He did score 15 points on a 5-11 clip but was easily outperformed by the two rookies.
After sitting out the Cavs game, he came back for an absolutely abysmal performance in a game against the Pelicans. Hutchison went 2-13 with five turnovers on the night, I mean the entirety of the Bulls Summer League roster played poorly that game, but jeez, that’s bad for a second-year guy.
Hutchison finally looked like an experienced player during the team’s contest against the Charlotte Hornets. He was one rebound away from a double-double with an 18/9 performance on the night. Although, his inefficient shooting still bared itself in this game as he went 5-17 (he brought in a lot of his points at the FT line going 8-9).
Overall, Hutchison’s performance during Summer League left some concerns about his real potential this upcoming season. While it’s true that you never want to take too much away from Summer League, you put a little more weight on a second-year player to show the newbies how it’s done. The inconsistency on Hutchison’s part will surely have to be dealt with this offseason, and his exact role will have to be evaluated further before claiming him as a reliable depth piece off the bench.
http://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1151182206963863554?s=20
Chandler Hutchison can be a valuable bench piece if he runs the floor and initiates offense from the wing@MarkSchanowski takes a Closer Look at the second-year player's game pic.twitter.com/id2SBtfdcr
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) July 17, 2019