The Bulls' training camp will not officially open until mid-September, but Xu Yong is not alone in his return to Chicago.

Because every year before the training camp starts, other players will report in advance.

Xu Yong met those people on his first day at the United Center training hall.

Johnson, Gibson and Richard, who participated in the Summer League together, are all here. As newcomers and marginal players, they need to do more than others to get a chance to play in the new season.

However, the appearance of one person surprised Xu Yong a little.

One of the Kings' biggest rivals in the first half of his life, Sudanese basketball legend, Deng Yingchao, Luol Deng.

A hot fact is that Deng is actually from the same class as James.

James was the top high school student in the class of 2003, and Deng was second.

However, unlike James who participated in the NBA draft after finishing high school, Deng chose to enter Duke University and played for a year before entering the NBA.

Perhaps it was because of his university experience, or perhaps because he was born into a political family (his father was a national minister and deputy prime minister of Sudan), Deng gave people the impression of being very cultured and extremely friendly.

Even Xu Yong thinks so.

By the way, Deng has also won the NBA Morality Award and the Kennedy Citizen Award, which is fundamentally different from other players who have established their own personalities.

Of course, that was off the court.

In the training camp before this training camp, Xu Yong still felt the toughness of this top small forward on the court.

Deng played tough on the court and his defense was suffocating.

In other words, this was also the first time Xu Yong experienced the strength of a top NBA defender.

It's not just talent, it's the perfect combination of skills and experience.

Although Jordan was also very skilled, he was only 46 years old after all, and could not compare with a player like Deng who was at his peak.

It was difficult for Xu Yong to score in front of him.

But it was precisely because of this that Xu Yong felt excited.

The haters say that the summer league is not worth mentioning, but Xu Yong actually knows this better than them.

This is also the reason why he did not feel proud at all after scoring 48 points, but instead immediately went to Olajuwon to practice post-up play.

Although he trained in Tempe for a summer, the defensive level of DeRozan, Harden, and later Butler was limited.

Those training sessions were more to help him become proficient in his moves. To truly improve, he would have to compete against players of Deng's level.

Deng didn't feel anything at first, and Xu Yong looked similar to when Rose came to the team last year, with a good physique but a rather raw technique.

But as the training continued, he began to realize that something was wrong.

Xu Yong's progress is so fast!

His turnaround layup was blocked the day before, but the next day he was able to score a step-back jump shot.

That damn feeling of himself being an experienced baby, even he felt weird about it.

So much so that by mid-September, Xu Yong was able to fight him on equal terms in one-on-one offense and defense.

This is not because Xu Yong is cheating, but because he is strong in confrontation, and has excellent pull-up and breakthrough techniques. After being tempered in actual combat, he can connect these technical moves with his back to the basket. It's like turning a one-wheeled carriage into a double-wheeled carriage and taking off.

Of course, one-on-one and official games are two different concepts, because in the game you will encounter double-teaming and assist defense.

Those are the key factors that determine whether this technology has been successfully learned.

But this was enough to surprise Deng and make him look forward to it.

He has played in the NBA for five years and has long since left the category of "young Deng". Instead, he has begun the rising stage of his career and it is time for him to achieve results.

Last season, they lost to the defending champion Celtics in seven games, so the future is worth looking forward to.

As a result, the Bulls traded away two of last season's main players in the summer, and had to start from scratch again.

Even as honest as he is, he can't help feeling disappointed.

But Xu Yong's performance has made up for his disappointment.

And there's Gibson.

Although Gibson is a rookie and seems to have no ceiling, he is very mature in all aspects and is a player who can fight immediately among the rookies.

He also has a very stable mid-range jump shot, so it might be more effective to have him replace Thomas.

So it is equivalent to replacing Salmons with Xu Yong, and the new season is worth looking forward to.

At this time, the Bulls' training camp officially began. Except for Rose who arrived late due to an ankle injury, everyone else arrived.

Xu Yong also got a glimpse of the Bulls' roster.

Then his feeling was, Emmm…it can’t be said to be average, but there is indeed a difference of 100 million points.

At point guard, second-year player Rose is the main force, with Hinrich as the substitute, and then there are Genillo Pargo and Chucky Atkins on the bench.

Hinrich was the No. 7 pick by the Bulls in 2003, but he never really flourished and was a substitute last season, averaging just 9.9 points and 3.9 assists per game.

As for the two on the bench, Pago is the kind of player you spend 500,000 each to make up a lineup when playing management games like Fantasy Basketball Manager.

Atkins was traded to the Bulls during the offseason.

After completing the trade for the second pick, the Bulls turned around and used the expiring contract of a future second-round pick, Gaitan Thomas, to trade with the Thunder in exchange for Atkins and Damien Wilkins to fill the backcourt.

Then the main body of this transaction is actually Wilkins. As a 35-year-old guard who is less than 1.8 meters tall, it is still unknown whether Atkins can stay until the start of the season.

However, this configuration is already the best among the five positions of the Bulls.

At shooting guard, Xu Yong, like Rose last year, will most likely start directly, and his substitute will be the Wilkins mentioned earlier.

Of course, this Wilkins is not that Wilkins. He is the nephew of "the essence of human film" Dominic Wilkins. He is 29 years old this year and is at his peak.

It’s just that the peak height is a bit low.

He was in his fifth year with the Thunder last season, averaging 5.3 points per game for a bad team.

The only good thing is that he is a forward-guard swingman with enough size and good defense.

Then, the only person left on the bench is Lindsay Hunter, who only hardcore fans have heard of, the tenth pick, but in 1993.

This December, he will be 39 years old...

At small forward, Luol Deng is the main player, and James Johnson will most likely be a substitute, competing with veteran Tim Thomas.

The power forward position is the worst off, with rookies Gibson and Darius Songaila competing for the starting spot, and sitting on the bench is Kris Richard, who was retained from the summer league due to his good performance.

As for the center, Noah, a third-year player who averaged 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game on the bench last season, will most likely become the starter, and veteran Brad Miller will be a substitute. On the bench will be Aaron Gray, the 59th pick in 2007, and Jerome James, a player who was on a famous garbage contract created by the Knicks that year.

When Jordan saw this lineup, he shook his head, and the others ran away overnight.

But this is not because Foreman is incompetent, but because the mess left by his predecessor was too bad.

You have to know that three years ago, the Bulls were still fifth in the Eastern Conference, and that was the team that Kobe Bryant wanted to join in the summer.

But in these three years, except for Deng and Hinrich who failed to be trained, the rest were all gone.

Not only did they finish the job, they also left behind a bunch of junk contracts.

Just take a look at the salary table and you may get a deep understanding of this.

The highest paid player on the Bulls right now is Brad Miller at $12.25 million, followed by Deng at $10.37 million, and then Hinrich at $9.5 million.

Except for Deng, the first three are all not worth their worth.

But at least they can still play, ranking fourth and fifth in the team, Jerome James at 6.6 million and Tim Thomas at 6.47 million, these are pure garbage contracts.

Then you know, except for Deng, all the main players of the Bulls next season are still on rookie contracts.

It's no wonder that the outside world thinks the Bulls can't make the playoffs. I don't think you're at the bottom because of Deng and Rose.

Of course, Xu Yong didn’t think so.

In history, Jimmy Butler was able to lead a group of undrafted players and overpaid contracts to complete the black eight and reach the finals. Their lineup is somewhat similar. Even if they can't reach that level, they still have great hopes of making the playoffs.

You have to know that the overall strength of the Eastern Conference has been relatively weak in recent years, and there are only a few strong teams.

And he knows that whether it is Rose, Noah, or even Gibson, their strength is stronger than their seemingly thin NBA resumes.

Of course, the most important thing is that after being able to compete on equal terms with Luol Deng in the training camp, he is also looking forward to seeing how he will perform in a real NBA game.