Maryland Basketball: Jake Layman explodes against Chicago Bulls

Jake Layman didn’t play a whole lot as a rookie for the Portland Trail Blazers.

On Wednesday, Layman put together his best performance of the Summer League with 22 points (8-of-18 shooting) and seven rebounds in a 88-77 win over the Chicago Bulls. He also recorded three assists and three steals while hitting all five of his free throw attempts.

The only aspect where Layman struggled was beyond the arc. The former Maryland star hit just one of his six attempts from long-range.

His 22 points were a team-high in 35:12 of playing time. Layman was one of four Trail Blazers to finish in double figures along with R.J. Hunter, former Purdue standout Caleb Swanigan, and Jarnell Stokes.

With the win, Portland moves on to the Second Round of the Summer League playoffs where they’ll face the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.

Layman’s performance was huge due to the fact that he’s had his fair share of struggles throughout Summer League play. On Tuesday, he scored just three points and grabbed three rebounds in a 99-85 loss against the San Antonio Spurs.

He played over 30 minutes in that contest. In addition, Layman connected on just one of his 13 field goal attempts against the Boston Celtics last Sunday.

Layman appeared in just 35 games during the 2016-17 season and averaged 2.2 points. He did played in eight games in the D-League for the Windy City Bulls and averaged 17.9 points and 6.0 rebounds.

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Layman certainly is working towards becoming a permanent fixture in Portland’s rotation. More performances like this will definitely be feathers in his cap and could lead to achieving that goal.