Dailyn Swain
Dailyn Swain has seen some growing pains as a primary ball-handler off the bench but understands that it’s about the long game for him.
Paul Beaty/AP
There is a developmental plan in place for Dailyn Swain and it involves stints down in the G League.
No matter what the Bulls rookie does between now and the end of preseason play he can’t change the inevitable, but he can at least ease some minds.
An exercise that is still very much ongoing through two games.
With Tre Jones nursing a sore hip and the Bulls thin in the ball-handling department beyond starting point guard Josh Giddey, Swain has been thrown back into the fire of primary ball-handler off the bench.
The Bulls experimented with him in Summer League in that role and let’s just say he left Las Vegas rolling snake eyes.
Without question Swain has improved with the ball in his hands since July, but Friday’s 104-100 loss to Memphis was a reminder that the No. 15 overall draft pick needs work but is a quick learner.
In the opener against Phoenix on Wednesday, it was like the Suns popped in the tape on Swain from Summer League and made the decision to press him full-court. Good decision because he looked shaky at best.
In the second half of that game, coach Tiago Splitter used teammates to free Swain up with more of a screen game, but again evidence that he’s no Kyrie Irving.
“I just had to stop playing with the ball in the backcourt,” Swain said. “Just make a decision and go. People came back and helped on the ball, set screens in the backcourt so it just freed up things for me.”
And he played with more freedom after that.
Swain finished that game with six assists, as well as 3-of-3 from the field for 10 points. Not bad considering his first half was two turnovers and a minus-9 in the plus-minus category.
“I’m just trying to get as comfortable as I can out there play-by-play,” Swain said. “I got great vets and some of the young guys helping me out from the sidelines, letting me know what they see, so that helps me a lot.”
That showed up in the loss to the Grizzlies, especially with Splitter playing Swain both on the ball and off of it. He had an impressive backdoor dunk off a Buddy Hield feed and handed out four more assists in his 18 minutes of work.
Splitter reiterated that the organization sees Swain as a primary ball-handler long term. That’s where the G League comes into play. While the Windy City Bulls don’t start their regular-season play until early November, Swain has time to continue working on his craft with the big-boy roster and then jump into some G League games when the schedule allows.
Jones is considered day-to-day so should be fine for the start of the regular season, allowing some pressure to be taken off Swain.
The good news is he’s mentally in a better place than he was back in July, where he admittedly was hard on himself for his lackluster play.
Lessons learned.
“Just not beating myself up about it,” Swain said of his mindset in overcoming mistakes now. “There was so much volume on my Summer League performance and coming out there (Wednesday against the Suns) and things not going like I imagined (in that first-half stint), but just watching the film (at halftime), taking the advice and fixing it, I felt good. I felt more comfortable.
“It shows that it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. It’s a credit to my teammates for keeping my head up, credit to Coach for not allowing me to beat myself up, but also not like piling on. They encouraged me and did a great job with that.”