Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Brendan Marks sees a 'successful, long-term player' in Caleb Wilson (Hour 2)
24 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Caleb Wilson being drafted fourth overall?
We're getting there and definitely not where we want to be, but we're establishing an identity. I think that's really important for this organization, especially where we're at right now. Both Caleb and Daylon, they fit the bill. We're not addressing every skill yet. A lot of people might, where's the shooting at? And things of that nature. And I'm not typically worried about that right now.
There's just a certain mentality and a certain profile in a way that Coach Tiago and myself want to play. And we feel like today was a good layer for that.
That is Bryson Graham talking about his draft picks. And yeah, I'm laughing because, well, I'm one of the people asking about where the shooting is. Caleb Wilson going fourth overall and then 15th overall is Daylon Swain out of Texas. So we go to our hotline, and that is where we find Brendan Marks, who also joins us on Twitch, twitch.tv slash thescorechicago.
He's the national college basketball writer for The Athletic, based in Durham, North Carolina. Brendan, thanks for coming on today.
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me.
What are your thoughts at first blush of seeing Caleb Wilson, who we made a lot about here, of course, a very highly coveted draft pick, going to the Bulls at the fourth overall pick?
Yeah, to be honest with you, I couldn't love it anymore. I've been covering North Carolina players in general since about 2014. I've covered college basketball for the athletic for eight seasons now. And he is as competitive a player as I have covered at any school, but especially in North Carolina. You're asking for a personality, a guy who can be a leader, a guy who can unite people.
He has all of that. And then physically, I mean, he's still very much growing into his body, but he's already incredibly productive. He's a tremendous athlete, one of the best athletes in all of college basketball this year, one of the best athletes entering the NBA in this year's class. And I think it's going to be a couple of years until he puts it all together.
No, he's not a great shooter yet, but the flashes are so exciting. And knowing his demeanor and knowing how he operates, it's hard for me to imagine a situation in which he isn't a really successful long-term player.
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Chapter 2: How does Brendan Marks describe Caleb Wilson's competitive nature?
You know, his coach, Hubert Davis, was on the hot seat and ultimately did end up getting fired. And he was the centerpiece of one of the 10 highest paid rosters in all of college basketball. And from the get go, I mean, he was the definitive slam dunk, no doubt, leader of that team. They went where he went.
And, you know, there were periods where North Carolina, I think in their second game of the year, they got down by about 10 to Kansas and Darren Peterson. And in the second half, he said, all right, get on my back. Let's go. And North Carolina winds up winning that game. So I think he has dealt with this level of expectations before at North Carolina.
It's a shame that we didn't get to see him in the NCAA tournament because I think that he could have helped the Tar Heels make a little bit of a run. And then as far as like improvement on the court, you know, being the guy, being number one A on the scouting report, I get to learn how to play out of double teams.
That was something that took some adjusting for him, learning how to get his shot off, learning how to play through his teammates, learning how to give it up and trust that he was going to get it back. I think those are all things that are going to serve him well as a rookie and obviously down the road.
I look at the other three teams that picked ahead of the Bulls and you see other young stars or veteran stars when you talk about like Trey Young and Anthony Davis for the Wizards. It feels like this is the best landing spot for any of those four players because it's immediately on day one. You are the guy, right?
A hundred percent. And that's exactly what he wants. Again, knowing his personality and demeanor, that's exactly what he wants. And I do think, you know, we'll see how long-term some of the pieces that are already in Chicago, but, you know, he excelled playing with point guards who could get him the ball in the lob threat. You know, like Josh Gideon theory is going to be able to do that.
You know, he is going to set an athletic tone. He's going to run the floor. He's going to be one of the most athletic guys on the floor the first day that he steps on an NBA court. So, yeah,
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Chapter 3: What are Caleb Wilson's strengths as a player entering the NBA?
Yeah, I think as far as all the landing spots, he's not fitting in with anybody. You are now fitting the team around him and building around him, and it's going to require some patience. Again, I think it's a couple of years until we see him at his best, but he should still be immediately productive as a rookie.
Brendan, you mentioned how competitive he is, how petty in a good way he is. Those are really good personality traits, good competitive traits. He also comes across, at least from what I've seen in listening to interviews, as incredibly mature, incredibly smart. The guy was in the English Honor Society in high school.
Through your eyes and your experiences with him, is he as good and as mature of a kid as he appears to be?
Absolutely, he is. And, you know, kind of ironically, I think that he learned a lot of that playing alongside the guy who went one pick ahead of him and Cameron Boozer. You know, Caleb Wilson earlier in high school had the reputation as somebody who was maybe a little erratic, was still kind of figuring things out.
And then he went and played grassroots basketball with with Caden and Cameron Boozer and really ironed out a lot of those things. and saw, okay, this is how you win. You know, this is how you lead. This is how you handle yourself and carried a lot of those traits over.
And, you know, there's some bad blood between those guys just because of where they both went to school and the results of some of those games. But there's also a friendship and a level of respect. And so I think that Caleb learned a lot of those things. Then it was able to implement them at North Carolina. But no, you're 100% right.
I mean, he was effectively an ambassador for the entire university last year, not just the basketball program. And You know, in the community in Chicago, I would expect them to do the same thing.
We are talking with Brendan Marks, the National College basketball writer for The Athletic based in Durham, North Carolina. And I also want to ask you about, did you hear any takeaways just from Wilson's pre-draft relationship with the Bulls? We know that he had developed one, that that was part of the pre-draft process for him.
And if so, how did you see that fitting together with what we're trying to figure out this team's identity becomes under Bryson Graham and Tiago Splitter?
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Chapter 4: What areas does Caleb Wilson need to improve in his game?
Mara was the best passer on that team. I mean, behind the back, lobs, no looks. I mean, he can get anywhere on the floor. And so you combine those two skills, he's going to have to play drop coverage. He can't get out on the perimeter. But I think that he's a really interesting kind of like, you know, I kind of look at him like a reliever in baseball. He's going to come in.
He's going to give you three or four innings. He's going to be a 15-, 20-minute player, and he might not show up on the box score, but he's going to build a force field around the rim. He's going to throw some incredible passes, and if you dump it down low, how many guys are going to be able to actually hold up to a 7'9 or whatever it is wingspan?
It's a luxury the Thunder can afford that I don't know that a lot of teams could, but he took a lot of strides last year at Michigan, and I'm encouraged to see, curious to see what it looks like at the next level.
Brendan, this has been great. Thanks for catching up with us today.
Thanks so much, Brendan. Yeah, thanks for having me. Enjoy Caleb Wilson. He's an absolute treat.
That is great. That is Brendan R. Marks on Twitter. Brendan Marks, the National College basketball writer for The Athletic. He is based in Durham, North Carolina. Today, the Cubs play a doubleheader in New York against the Mets. Game 1 pregame coverage coming up in just moments at 11.35. First pitch at 12.10. Game 2 pregame begins at 5.35 tonight. First pitch is at 6.10.
All of today's action can be heard on 104.3 The Score and the Northwestern Medicine Cubs Radio Network. We have a lineup... And Alex Bregman is not in the lineup.
So you're saying he's not in the two-hole by definition of him being not in the lineup.
Well, you hear who is. Pete Crow Armstrong is batting leadoff. Then it's Michael Conforto against his former team in right field batting second. Michael Bush, Seiya Suzuki, DH, he is batting cleanup. Ian Happ batting fifth. Nico Horner, Pedro Ramirez is at third in his stead for Bregman. Miguel Amaya is catching. Dansby Swanson batting eighth.
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Chapter 5: How does Caleb Wilson's mindset contribute to his potential success?
They kind of need to get Conforto going a little bit. because he's had his, I wouldn't even say struggles, but I mean.
He hasn't really been playing much lately, has he?
He's 0 for 12 over the last seven games, and he's 3 for 28 over the last 15 games. So you need to get him going. I don't know that I would have had him in the 2-hole, but I get it.
I get it. The 2-hole was a bold choice.
Well, the 2-hole has been a bold choice for Craig Council for quite some time, in my opinion.
Sadly, 1 through 5 is a bit of a toss-up.
But PCA, can he do it again? First of all, would you sit PCA one of these games or would you just let PCA play through?
Oh man, it is the Mets. It is New York. This is from whence he came. So I think Craig gets some of that. I think PCA plays both games.
No, PCA I'm not concerned about. He's one of your only consistent offensive producers right now. For me, it's more about, is that the best use of putting Conforto in the lineup at that spot?
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Chapter 6: What role will Caleb Wilson play in the Chicago Bulls' rebuild?
Okay, and then Caldwell is... He's just still...
He's just playing catch before he goes back.
Got him. How's Jamison Tyone? What's his progress?
He's good. He had a good day today. We're, I'd say, right now on the positive end of kind of progress. So hopefully with some good days here we've had in a row, we can get to a mound, get to the mound quickly here.
He just threw a flat ground today.
He's just thrown through, yeah. Not just a blank catch.
Is Boyd on track for tomorrow?
Boyd will pitch tomorrow, yes. And that's kind of as far as we're at.
I mean, obviously with Edward going down, just how important is it not only getting Boyd back, but hopefully the consistency that you guys need from a veteran like him?
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