Caleb Wilson curled around a screen midway through the first quarter of Wednesday’s 133-127 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Chicago Bulls rookie didn’t need much space — a single step, a half-second of clearance from his defender — to see a bright green light. He pulled up, hands lofted high to arc a shot toward the basket. Every aspect of the shot felt natural, comfortable, confident. And yet, the ball still fell a few inches short, kissing the front of the United Center rim.
This isn’t anything new. Before Wednesday night, Wilson was not hitting his shots. Not from deep, anyway. The rookie has made only eight of his 36 shots from 3-point range, three of which occurred against the Knicks. He’s shooting 22.2% from deep.
Despite his low accuracy, Wilson is the second-most-prolific shooter on the Bulls roster. He averages 7.2 shots per game from behind the arc, trailing only Norman Powell (8.2). And Wilson has taken more shots from deep than any other member of the 2026 rookie class, although the Sacramento Kings’ Darius Acuff Jr. has him beat in per-game statistics (8.5).
Most of Wilson’s 3s aren’t falling. But Tiago Splitter does not want the rookie to stop shooting — regardless of his percentage. The coach believes this is simply a painful part of a young player’s NBA growth.
“It’s part of their development,” Splitter said. “If you’re open, you’ve got to shoot it. You practice it every day and you’ve got to take them.”
This encouragement has been one of the cornerstones of Wilson’s season. Splitter believes in his forward’s offensive creativity as both a shooter and a passer. The expectations must fall within reason, of course. Splitter doesn’t like to police the shot diet of his players — especially Wilson, who is still establishing his style of play — but he needs his rookies to learn the difference between a good and bad shot.
Wilson feels that lesson is beginning to click into place after his first week in the league. The heightened athleticism of the NBA often is highlighted through physicality or finishing at the rim. But Wilson has noticed one of the greatest challenges in adjusting to this level of play is adapting to the speed at which windows of opportunity open and close.
“Honestly, it’s just a comfort-level thing,” Wilson said. “Playing in the NBA is so different than every other level of basketball I’ve played before. You might be wide open for a second, and then a closeout comes and you’re not.”
Shooting the deep ball sat at the top of the to-do list for Wilson as he entered his rookie season — his 3-point shot was perhaps the most questioned aspect of his game throughout the draft process. Wilson took only 27 shots from behind the arc in his lone year at North Carolina, making only seven for 25.9% — which paired a low volume and efficiency that earned plenty of questions.
After months of listening to this discourse, Wilson made a statement by knocking down seven 3-pointers in his summer league debut. That performance certainly made the impact he was hoping, but his shooting has since leveled out. For Wilson, that’s not a problem. He has the rest of the season to get his point across.
“I’m just going to keep proving I’m a shooter,” Wilson said.
In the fourth quarter against Knicks, Wilson ran up the court in transition, collected a pass at the top of the key and fired off another 3 with the same signature lack of hesitation. This time, the ball found its ideal arc and dropped through the net with a crisp swish.
The confidence of that shot attempt is why Splitter will never slow Wilson at the 3-point arc. Wilson isn’t rattled by misses. He trusts that his aim is true. The rookie missed his first three attempts against the Knicks, then sank his final three. With time, he believes, everything will come around.
But is Wilson at risk of losing confidence if his shots don’t start falling more frequently?
“No, because I know who I am,” Wilson said. “I just know that it’s going to happen. It’s the beginning of my first year in the NBA. You expect some type of hardship no matter what. It’s just like starting a new job.”