The 2026 NBA Draft is just a few weeks old, and the potentially best player from the entire class might not be the one who went first, second, or third.
Caleb Wilson went to the Chicago Bulls. And after one week in Las Vegas in the NBA Summer League, he looks like he might be the best pick of the entire draft.
That is a bold claim. The top three selections—AJ Dybantsa of the Washington Wizards, Darryn Peterson of the Utah Jazz, and Cameron Boozer of the Memphis Grizzlies—carried the highest expectations into this draft class and deserve every bit of the hype. Dybantsa and Peterson, in particular, are largely considered can’t-miss prospects, if not generational talents.
But Summer League has a way of clarifying things that pre-draft workouts and scouting reports cannot fully capture. And what Caleb Wilson showed in Las Vegas was clarifying.
What Caleb Wilson Did in Las Vegas
Put simply, Caleb Wilson passed the numbers test. In four Summer League appearances, Wilson averaged 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game. These stats would make any NBA front office pay attention regardless of the context.
But the numbers are almost secondary to what Wilson looked like doing it.
The 6-foot-9 forward played like a man with competitive pressure that needed a release valve. He threw down monster two-handed dunks. He protected the rim like his life depended on it. He threaded pinpoint passes through traffic. He even shot lights out from distance and displayed jaw-dropping leaping ability. He was such a must-watch player that Kevin Garnett, Hall of Famer and former teenage sensation, once sat courtside specifically to watch Wilson play.
That’s not all. Wilson also showed off the kind of positional versatility that modern NBA teams covet. He appears to be a natural power forward, but his quickness and length suggest he can function as an oversized wing—the kind of player who can guard multiple positions, switch assignments on defense, and cause mismatches on offense. In an NBA that increasingly values players who defy traditional positional labels, that profile is genuinely valuable.
The Ceiling Is Extraordinary
What makes Caleb Wilson’s Summer League showing so exciting is where it points rather than what it proves.
His athleticism is not merely above average. His leaping ability—how quickly he gets off the ground, how high he goes, how long he stays there—separates him from almost everyone else on the court. Comparisons to a young Garnett are premature and should be treated cautiously. But the physical tools that have prompted those comparisons are real and visible.
His competitiveness is equally evident. In his Summer League finale against the Lakers, he played until his jersey was soaked in blood and got into it with a defender aggressively enough that the two parties eventually had to be separated. That is not a cautionary tale about temperament. That is a player who cares deeply about winning and refuses to be intimidated. Those qualities are not always teachable. Wilson already has them at 20.
The Legitimate Concerns
None of this is a scouting report that ignores the downsides, and Wilson’s Las Vegas performances had genuine red flags alongside the highlights.
His tendency to dribble into traffic produced regular turnovers. Some of his end-to-end forays led to poor shot selection and rushed decisions. He needs to add significant strength to become a reliable interior scorer. Finally, his high-risk, high-reward approach to the game—the same thing that makes him so exhilarating to watch—will need disciplining before he can be trusted to execute in close games against top defensive units.
These are not disqualifying concerns for a 20-year-old who missed the final months of his college season to injury and is still in the early stages of professional development. They are precisely the kind of concerns that a good coaching staff and a few years of NBA experience can address.
The Historical Context
Chicago has not had a player generate this kind of excitement and buzz since Derrick Rose—and that statement carries enormous weight given what Rose meant to the franchise and the city during his MVP season in 2010-11. Whether Wilson can fulfill that kind of promise remains to be seen, and the comparison should not be taken as a prediction of equivalent stardom.
But the Bulls have not had a high-ceiling young forward with this kind of physical profile and competitive drive in a very long time. The franchise has been rebuilding patiently, and Caleb Wilson represents the kind of potential cornerstone that can reshape a roster’s trajectory.
None of that guarantees Caleb Will will be better than Dybantsa, Peterson, and Boozer. But all of it means he definitely can.
