LAS VEGAS — Often forgotten in discussions of the Bulls’ young core is Chandler Hutchison, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2018 draft. The broken toe he suffered in his right foot in January was just one of many injuries that plagued a dismal, 22-win season and limited him to just 44 games in his first season with the Bulls. Still, the team is high on his potential as a defensive-minded wing.
Hutchison has made his return to the court this week at Summer League in Las Vegas, but he isn’t a full go yet. The Bulls’ medical staff limited him to 20 minutes in the team’s Friday win over the Los Angeles Lakers, and he sat out Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a precaution. He is expected to play Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I feel like anything really is a step in the right direction, being able to play on the court,” Hutchison said Saturday at the team’s hotel. “It’s been like five months; even to say that is crazy. Just wanted to run up and down. Kind of get used to the flow of being in the game and under a whistle like that.”
Hutchison says his foot is fully healed, and that he was cleared for full basketball activities about three weeks ago. He had a strong showing in the limited minutes in his first game, scoring 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, hitting a three-pointer and putting up three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.
Returning to the court has been a slow process. Hutchison hopes to be fully healthy by training camp, and now he has the benefit of having spent a full year around other NBA players and a summer rehabbing and working his way back to full strength.
“I learned a lot just from watching even when I was out,” Hutchison said. “Having that year is, people don’t realize what that can do for you confidence wise, a lot of the times I feel I was kind of bright-eyed and maybe not ready for the moment I was kind of just thrown into right away. But just having a year and being around the guys and earning their confidence and trust and just working on my game endlessly this summer; just going to be a completely different place mentally and physically too out on the court.”
Hutchison will come off the bench for the Bulls next season. He’s behind Zach LaVine at shooting guard and Otto Porter, Jr., at small forward. He can earn a bigger role if his shooting improves, but his greatest asset at this point in his career is his defense. Bulls head coach Jim Boylen sees him as a stopper for the second unit.
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“I want to see Hutch play through contact,” Boylen said. “I want to see him make good decisions in transition. I want him to try and become the best defender he could become. We need a stopper. We need a guy that can be a lock-down defender. We have very difficult matchups just in our division alone, let alone the league. And I want him to grow into a two-way player and what it means to be a Bull, and he’s trying.”
Hutchison is up to the challenge from his coach.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “Every level in my career I have been that guy. This is obviously the highest level in the world. The expectations I have on myself that’s all you can ask for to have someone to have the same expectations; I am going to do what I can to work toward that and be that person.”