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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 15: Dailyn Swain #5 of the Chicago Bulls poses for a portrait during the 2026 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at UNLV on July 15, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The first day of Chicago Bulls<\/a> training camp offered plenty of the optimism that naturally comes with a new season, but one development stood above the rest. Tiago Splitter apparently saw a completely different Dailyn Swain from the player who struggled through Summer League. For a young roster trying to find its identity in the NBA<\/a>, that kind of transformation could be one of the more intriguing stories to follow.<\/p>\n Dailyn Swain Looks Like a Different Player at Bulls Camp<\/p>\n Splitter did not try to sugarcoat Swain\u2019s Summer League performance. The Bulls\u2019 No. 15 overall pick struggled in Las Vegas, something the rookie himself acknowledged, but the first-year head coach offered a strikingly different assessment after Day 1.<\/p>\n \u201cNight and day. It\u2019s not even close,\u201d Splitter told reporters<\/a>, describing Swain\u2019s progress. He said the rookie is now getting to the paint, finishing plays and playing with the aggression and confidence he showed during his college career. Swain added that fellow rookies Caleb Wilson, Jaylin Sellers and Tobe Awaka helped him put the Summer League struggles behind him. He also revealed that he spent much of the opening practice handling the ball and defending some of Chicago\u2019s better players, including Wilson, Buddy Hield and Norman Powell. That is an interesting amount of responsibility for a rookie who had just endured a difficult summer.<\/p>\n \n Swain\u2019s Defense Could Be His Fastest Route Onto the Court<\/p>\n There is a reason the Bulls can afford to be patient with Swain offensively. His defensive reputation coming out of college gives him another way to contribute while the rest of his game develops.<\/p>\n Swain played at Xavier before transferring to Texas, where he averaged 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a junior. Chicago selected him 15th overall in June, betting on a versatile wing who could eventually contribute in several areas rather than simply fill one role. His NBA draft profile<\/a> reflects where the Bulls saw him fitting into the long-term picture.<\/p>\n The early camp assignment sounds particularly telling. If Splitter is comfortable putting Swain on the team\u2019s best players in practice, the rookie already has a potential calling card. For a young player trying to earn minutes, being trusted defensively can be a much quicker path onto the floor than becoming a polished scorer overnight.<\/p>\n Buddy Hield Already Understands Why Chicago Brought Him In<\/p>\n Then there is Buddy Hield, who arrived in Chicago only days after being traded from Atlanta to Charlotte and then from Charlotte to the Bulls<\/a>. The 33-year-old guard is entering his 11th NBA season, and he made it clear that his value to this roster extends well beyond making three-pointers.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a mentor to the younger guys, that\u2019s my job,\u201d Hield said. He specifically mentioned helping Wilson, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey take the next step, drawing on lessons he learned alongside veterans such as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green in Golden State.\u00a0That may be exactly what Chicago needs from Hield. He remains a career 39.5% three-point shooter, but his ability to provide perspective could be just as important for a roster built around young talent.<\/p>\n One Injury Clouds an Otherwise Positive Opening<\/p>\n The first day was not completely clean. Zach Collins was the notable absence, with Splitter saying the big man is dealing with a soft-tissue injury in his quad. Collins was able to do some light work and running, and Splitter expected him to return to camp soon. The Bulls\u2019 official camp information<\/a> lists a 21-man roster for the opening week.<\/p>\n There is plenty of time before the preseason opener against Phoenix on Oct. 7, so nobody should be drawing major conclusions from one practice. Still, Splitter seeing a dramatically improved Swain, Hield embracing the mentor role and the rookies already being challenged gives Chicago something concrete to build on. Day 1 was only Day 1. But for Swain, it may already have been a fresh start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 15: Dailyn Swain #5 of the Chicago Bulls poses for a portrait…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":["post-847708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bulls","tag-basketball","tag-bulls","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chicagobulls","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117361394600199549","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2285588050_856c48.jpg\")
GettyLAS VEGAS, NEVADA \u2013 JULY 10: Head coach Tiago Splitter of the Chicago Bulls gestures to his players in the second half of a 2026 NBA Summer League game against the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 10, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n