The rookie is ready.
The college basketball season is almost here for North Carolina, but fans can also get into basketball mode in other ways.
That includes the NBA, with former Tar Heels star Caleb Wilson having a chance to make a major impact with the Chicago Bulls over the next couple of months. There's hope and expectation that Wilson will have an incredible rookie season, and with media day here, it sounds like everyone in Chicago feels the same.
After impressing in the NBA Summer League, the hype is even higher for a guy like Wilson, with the Chicago Bulls' new head coach and other decision-makers having nothing but praise for the young man.
‘‘Just like everybody in this room, we’re excited about Caleb,’’ Tiago Splitter said, per The Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘He’s a No. 4 pick, and every day he’s showing us why he’s the No. 4 pick. Also, it’s really hard to put him on a floor or with a ceiling, to be honest. We’re going to help him be the best player he can be. What that is, we don’t know.’’
‘‘The expectations are probably pretty high because Caleb is pretty outspoken, but internally we know it’s a season of growth and development,’’ Bryson Graham said. ‘‘We have to be OK with giving him grace this year because he’s going to have some ups and downs. There’s going to be progress, and there’s going to be some regression.”
As Wilson showed us at North Carolina, he's not only going to be a guy who has a major impact on both sides of the basketball, but he's also going to work extremely hard. There's something to be said about the way that he's able to impact the community.
He's an extremely hard worker and will be loved in the Chicago area for a long time. If he becomes an All-Star and superstar-level talent like everybody expects he can, that love will only grow.
Wilson has to improve his game, like any other rookie, but he has the work ethic to do just that. If he can hit shots, the NBA needs to watch out.
