Rookie guard Dalen Terry looks forward to learning the ropes in the regular season

There’s nothing like on-the-job training for rookie Dalen Terry.

© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

It's been a long journey for Chicago Bulls rookie guard Dalen Terry. Chicago is a long way from Arizona, where Terry grew up and played college ball. But now that he's finally made it to the big leagues, Terry is excited to learn all he can about playing in the NBA while also helping the Bulls reach new heights this season.

Fearless

Terry — the 18th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft — has impressed coaches and players alike with his fearlessness on the floor and curiousness off it.

"He's not afraid," head coach Billy Donovan said.

Rookie @DalenTerry plays with HEART.

11 pts | 5-7 FG | 7 reb | 2 stl pic.twitter.com/zhWWpsKgpl

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 5, 2022

While the numbers don't jump off the page right away -- 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.8 steals -- they do once you realize he did all these in just 16 minutes of action. The modest taste of success has done little to satisfy Terry as he continues to soak up all the knowledge he can from his veteran teammates and coaches. One player Terry always sides up to is Alex Caruso.

"The way he just comes in every day, he's a hard worker. Scrappy, defensive, and he makes the right plays on offense. Any time I can talk to him off the court about stuff on the court, it's always great," Terry said.

Inspiration

Despite the injury of starting point guard Lonzo Ball, Terry will still likely be out of the rotation due to the team's many backcourt options. But should the 20-year-old young man need inspiration, he need not look further than Ayo Dosunmu — the team's 38th pick last year who was named the Bulls starting point guard this season. Caruso shared that Terry and Dosunmu share similar qualities, which bodes well for the latter.

"He has a lot of the same learning qualities that Ayo had last year as far as the want-to to get better, the ability to get better, the eagerness to learn," Caruso said.

"That's part of being a good player as a young player and getting better, just realizing and being humble enough to understand that other people have seen more than you, they know more than you. Just constantly trying to expand your game, expand your knowledge."

The rookie @DalenTerry gets the start tonight in our preseason finale! pic.twitter.com/LCQ1q7jC79

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 11, 2022