Caleb Wilson Didn’t Blame His Teammates After a Loss. That Matters More Than the Box Score.

LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Bulls found something in Caleb Wilson at No. 4 overall. The UNC forward has looked like a steal all summer. But it wasn’t his shooting that told the real story last week. It was how he handled a night when nothing fell.

Wilson dropped 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting against the Utah Jazz on Monday. Solid numbers. But the Bulls lost anyway, even with Utah sitting No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson on the bench. Wilson went 3-of-8 from deep. His teammates went 5-of-28. That’s brutal.

After the game, reporters asked Wilson about shooting slumps. His answer was the kind of thing that makes front offices feel good about a pick.

“I just play basketball, like. I’m a rookie in the NBA, I’m gonna have tough times, tough nights, and stuff like that. I’m just gonna keep playing,” Wilson said at the Thomas & Mack Center. “I mean, I had, think five blocks today. I impacted the game in other ways, made some good passes, we just didn’t make it. But I feel like, not just me, but all of us, we had a rough shooting night. It’s just something that we can learn from, and work towards, to get better.”

That last part is the key. He didn’t throw anyone under the bus. He didn’t isolate himself from the group. He took the blame as a team thing, not an individual failure.

Summer League numbers that pop

Before that Utah game, Wilson was on a heater. He shot 7-of-11 from three against Cameron Boozer’s Grizzlies squad. Over four Summer League appearances, he hit 42 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in 28 minutes per game. Those are first-round-pick numbers from a guy who was supposedly in a second tier behind the top prospects.

What this means for Chicago

The Bulls went 1-4 in Las Vegas. They’re projected to be one of the worst teams in the East this season. That’s not a secret. But Wilson looks like he’ll be a bright spot in what could be a long winter. He’s got the skills and the mentality. And on a team that will need leaders, that matters more than any single stat line.

Chicago didn’t just get a shooter. They got a guy who can miss shots and still talk about the five blocks he had, all while refusing to point fingers. For a rebuilding team, that’s a win.