2021 NBA Summer League Info - Page 2 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Old School · 08-10-2021, 02:37 AM

Old School · 08-10-2021, 06:03 AM

HoopsHype https://hoopshype.com/lists/oldest-p...summer-league/

Summer league is usually for recently drafted players or young free agents giving the NBA dream a shot, but not all time. There are also veterans who use that platform to try and reignite their NBA careers.

Among those older guys playing this summer are very recognizable names like Michael Beasley and Kenneth Faried, both of whom are suiting up for the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as Brandon Knight (Brooklyn Nets) and many others.

Below, check out the oldest players participating in summer league this year:

1. Michael Beasley (Portland)
32 years and seven months

2. Kenneth Faried (Portland)
31 years and eight months

3. Kyle Fogg (Utah)
31 years and six months

4. Jordon Crawford (Portland)
31 years and 24 days

5. Austin Hollins (Washington)
29 years and nine months

6. Tarik Black (Denver)
29 years and eight months

7. Brandon Knight (Brooklyn)
29 years and eight months

8. Eric Moreland (Atlanta)
29 years and seven months

9. Janis Timma (Orlando)
29 years and one month

10. Joseph Young (Washington)
29 years and 14 days

11. Semaj Christon (Denver)
28 years and nine months

12. Gary Payton II (Golden State)
28 years and eight months

13. Malcolm Miller (Minnesota)
28 years and five months

14. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (Atlanta)
28 years and two months

15. Zach Auguste (Boston)
28 years and one month

15. Grant Jerrett (Detroit)
28 years and one month

17. Josh Gray (Denver)
27 years and 11 months

18. Tim Williams (Golden State)
27 years and nine months

19. Erik McCree (Portland)
27 years and seven months

20. Keifer Sykes (Indiana)
27 years and seven months

21. Milton Doyle (Portland)
27 years and seven months

22. George King (Portland)
27 years and six months

23. Deonte Burton (Denver)
27 years and six months

24. Cullen Russo (Minnesota)
27 years and six months

25. Amida Brimah (Indiana)
27 years and five months

Old School · 08-11-2021, 01:42 AM

LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE

TOP PERFORMERS

NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-6

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos

GAME RESULTS

Atlanta 84 Indiana 83 https://www.nba.com/game/atl-vs-ind-...core#box-score

Boston 107 Denver 82 https://www.nba.com/game/bos-vs-den-...core#box-score

Chicago 92 San Antonio 89 https://www.nba.com/game/chi-vs-sas-...core#box-score

Houston 111 Detroit 91 https://www.nba.com/game/det-vs-hou-...core#box-score

Sacramento 89 Washington 75 https://www.nba.com/game/sac-vs-was-...core#box-score

Portland 89 LA Clippers 66 https://www.nba.com/game/lac-vs-por-...core#box-score

Old School · 08-11-2021, 12:07 PM

SI (Cunningham vs Green Rivalry) https://www.si.com/nba/2021/08/11/ca...-summer-league

Bleacher Report https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-summer-league

Grading Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green & Breakout Players at NBA Summer League

If you're into getting excited about and drawing grand, sweeping conclusions from the performances of players with zero NBA experience in exhibition games, then hot damn, Day 3 of the Las Vegas Summer League was for you.

Noted non-shooter Sharife Cooper is apparently actually one of the greatest shooters alive. Chris Duarte has yet to meet a buzzer-beater attempt he doesn't like—or can't make. It turns out Romeo Langford has a license to baptize.

And this is all before getting into the showdown between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green.

As a reminder, our summer league takeaways aren't designed to overstate. They are meant to analyze and identify notable outings that could, in theory, portend regular-season breakouts, and to keep tabs on performances from the top rookies. And while each talking point is inspired by the events of Day 3 in Sin City, hearkening back to previous contests and zooming out for bigger-picture musings remains fair game.

Cade Cunningham: A

Cade Cunningham's efficiency from the floor hasn't melted the mind, but so few, if any, players look as thoroughly in control.

Taking pull-back and behind-the-back dribble jumpers is already second nature. He drilled a viral edition of this shot against Jalen Green Tuesday night, the difficulty level on which was matched by the poise and control for the entire sequence.

Defenders already seem flummoxed by all he can do after putting the ball on the deck. He has the physicality—versus summer league opponents, anyway—to displace dudes with his shoulder and spins through traffic with clear intent. He has yet to attempt a free throw through two games, but little about his game signals this is more than an anomaly.

Modest assist totals (four in two games) don't do justice to his passing acumen. His patience in traffic is aspirational, and at 6'8", thickets of arms and doubles from bigs aren't enough to muddy his vision. He will drop extra dimes and commit fewer turnovers when he has more practice time with teammates.

Nothing, though, has impressed more than Cunningham's defense. Committing seven fouls like he did against the Houston Rockets won't fly in the regular season, but his disruption seems eminently translatable. He knows how to work angles in passing lanes without getting burned backdoor, and I, for one, am anxious to see how many jumpers he sends back during his rookie season.

Two games in Vegas isn't a lot to go on, and summer league isn't supposed to be profoundly indicative. But there is a universality to the way Cunningham plays, an impact that is everywhere and can take different forms. He even seems like more of a floor-spacing threat off the ball than anticipated, and though he prefers to break down defenses at a more deliberate pace, he has flashed changes in gear.

None of this is revelatory. It serves more as validation. Cunningham looks as advertised—and perhaps even better than that.

Jalen Green: A

Those who thrive off drama aren't going to like seeing a pair of "As" for two top rookies who just went up against one another. Tough noogies. They both deserve it.

Jalen Green continues to look like a portrait of inevitability on the offensive end. He is going take and make some tough shots. He's going to miss them, too. But the makes are invariably going to mean more and probably outnumber the misses. You can't teach his side-step three.

Personally, I'm not sure there's ever been a cooler 25-point performance in summer league than the one he cobbled together during Houston's win over the Detroit Pistons. He went 6-of-11 from the field and 10-of-11 at the charity stripe, showing much more of a penchant for attacking the basket and drawing contact than he did during his Las Vegas debut.

Green's capacity to toggle between central hub and off-ball threat might be more impressive than anything else. He can space the floor around other attackers—he buried a catch-and-shoot three in Cade Cunningham's face inside two minutes to play in the fourth quarter—but isn't only a bystander. He will blitz the rim after giving up the ball or slither his way through the lane more methodically until he finds an opening.

Better chemistry with his teammates should be a boon for his passing. He has often seemed predictable when putting the ball on the floor at full bore, but running the two-man game with one of his bigs is clearly inside his wheelhouse.

In all honesty, I'm not quite sure what to make of his defense just yet. I'm also not sure it matters. His shot-making bag is deep and sleek. He doesn't need to take on the toughest covers to leave his imprint—though, if summer league is any indication, the Rockets won't shy from testing his mettle.

Breakout Player Watch: Chris Duarte Is Clutcher Than You

On the one hand, two summer league games aren't enough to render any indisputable verdicts.

On the other, Chris Duarte and Damian Lillard take the same daily vitamins.

Duarte has hit three buzzer beaters through his first two games in Vegas, including two three-pointers to end the second and third quarters during the Indiana Pacers' Tuesday loss to the Atlanta Hawks. These aren't exactly on par with playoff-series winners, but still: Holy hell.

The hype isn't building solely off his late-clock heroics, either. Duarte has flashed a little of everything. His made buckets have been heavy on off-the-dribble triples, some of them in transition, but he's converted a handful of catch-and-shoot looks and drives to the hoop punctuated by finishes through contact and head fakes after he picks up his dribble.

Drooling over summer league defensive performances is shady business. Let's do it anyway. Duarte looks like someone who will effectively party crash two to three passing lanes per game away from the ball. His anticipation has largely been on point, even if a little risky at times, and those apparitions into opponents' sight lines should be a boon for Indy's transition attack.

Will the Pacers lean on him right away? It's tough to say. They could be a playoff lock at full strength and have a bundle of other bodies to roll out at the 2 and 3 spots: Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren, Torrey Craig, etc. It helps that Duarte is 24, and that Indiana can treat Malcolm Brogdon as a point guard while sliding some of their other wings up to the 4, but meaningful opportunities could be scarce.

That's a conversation for another day (read: month). For now, Duarate is leaving one heck of a first impression: that of a player who seems ready for minutes now, and who has the encyclopedic skill set of someone bound to carve out a long, productive career.

Breakout Player Watch: Boston's Kids May Be Coming Along

Bankable depth was hard to come by for the Boston Celtics last season. That figures to be the case again this year, unless one of their oft-forgotten kiddies goes kaboom, which is maybe, potentially, kind of looking possible.

Signing Dennis Schroder at a three-year, $78.1 million discount, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, does add more structure to the projected rotation. But it's far from settled.

Boston has seven givens: Schroder, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Josh Richardson, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams III. These playing-time formalities stretch to eight or more if you're vibing Kris Dunn, Enes Kanter or Jabari Parker. There should nevertheless be ample opportunity for Romeo Langord, Aaron Nesmith or Payton Pritchard to earn consistent burn.

They're all doing their damnedest to get it.

Langford hasn't turned in an otherworldly performance, but the fact he's healthy at all is a big friggin' deal. This is his first summer league stint, and he threw down a monstrous slam in Boston's win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, almost like he needed to remind everyone he's actually healthy.

Nesmith didn't turn many heads in his first summer league game. He sure did in his second one. He hung 33 points on the Nuggets while dropping in seven of his nine three-point attempts. His overall shot profile was a nice blend of off-the-bounce jumpers, quick-fire threes off the catch and buckets coming out of traffic.

Pritchard, meanwhile, played well enough versus Denver for people to call him "White Kyrie." First off: Please, for the love of everything, don't do that. Stick with Fast PP. Or come up with literally anything else.

Moving right along, though, Pritchard's 21-point, 12-assist, eight-rebound outing was certainly impressive enough to wonder whether he'll win the "Next guard up" mantle behind Richardson, Smart, Schroder and, if you consider him a 2, Brown. He tossed an assortment of pretty passes, put defenders on tilt with medium-speed handles and sprayed in five threes, both off the dribble and the catch.

If nothing else, the Celtics' primary prospects are teasing strides big enough for the team to overvalue them in future trade talks like Danny Ainge never left. That's pretty huge.

Breakout Player Watch: Sharife Cooper Already Looks Like a Caps-Lock

Loads of people were shocked Sharife Cooper fell all the way to the Atlanta Hawks at No. 48.

Sure, he knocked down just 35.0 percent of his two-point jumpers and 22.8 percent of his threes at Auburn, per Hoop-Math. And yes, he's "only" 6'1". But transcendent orchestration out of the pick-and-roll is hard to find, and he forecasts as someone who provides it. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman had him coming off the board at No. 24 in his final mock.

Still, Cooper's draft-day fall implied more concerns about his potential effectiveness at the NBA level. Never mind that he converted 82.5 percent of his free throws. The outside shooting was, it seems, a red flag many teams weren't willing to overlook.

And it appears that's going to be great news for the Hawks.

After uncorking only one three-point attempt (and missing it) in his summer league debut, Cooper made five of his eight deep balls against the Pacers on Tuesday, including what proved to be the game-winning bucket from the right corner—a shot Trae Young loved so much he (illegally) stormed the court once it hit the bottom of the net.

"You tell me I can't do something, you best believe I'm working on it," Cooper told NBA TV's Dennis Scott afterward.

A singular detonation in an exhibition game isn't prognostic or all-revealing. But Cooper's accuracy in college at the foul line always suggested he could reach a higher level from the perimeter. If he even sniffs league-average efficiency and volume from behind the rainbow, Atlanta will have likely bagged the biggest steal of the entire draft.

Whether Cooper gets the opportunity to overturn his outside limitations in the regular season remains to be seen. The Hawks fancy themselves fringe contenders and have Lou Williams, Delon Wright and even Bogdan Bogdanovic to pilot the second-unit offense. Twenty-year-olds also seldom factor into the rotation of should-be playoff locks. Cooper could spend a lot of his time shuttling to and from the College Park Skyhawks.

Then again, Atlanta's backup point guard carousel is hazy enough that he could get a bite at semi-regular minutes. Bogdanovic, Williams and Wright are more secondary playmakers than floor generals.

Regardless, though, "Steal of the Draft" isn't a superlative that should be awarded out of the gate. It takes years to understand how a rookie class unfolds. That Cooper has already hinted at strengthening his largest weakness is an encouraging sign both for what it could mean now and later.

Old School · 08-11-2021, 02:11 PM

NBC Sports (click for full article) https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/08/10...summer-league/

Jalen Suggs is completely on brand at Summer League

Jalen Suggs could not have been more on brand in his debut in an Orlando Magic uniform.

The Magic drafted him No. 5 because he played a fearless style at Gonzaga, always going all-out, never backing down from big moments, and he can make plays on both ends. With his Summer League debut game tied 83-83 with less than :30 seconds left, Suggs found himself the defender against a 2-on-1 Warriors break — and he got the game-saving block.

Then in overtime, Suggs scored the first six points as the Magic went on to win.

There is little as meaningless in basketball as a player’s first Summer League game, but a rebuilding Magic team hopes this is a sign of things to come for Suggs.

“The guy is a hooper. He is always ready to hoop and ready to play,” said fellow rookie Franz Wagner, who had five points in his debut. “I think his real personality comes out in the games. He had a great game today and I’m sure he is going to have a couple of more during the season.”

Suggs scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-22 shooting (3-of-6 from three) and added nine rebounds.

“Man, I felt like a little kid on Christmas, to be honest,” Suggs said. “It was so much fun, getting out and running a game, getting the rhythm, getting the flow. I haven’t played five-on-five, aside yesterday [during practice], since the [NCAA] national championship game. Just getting out there and running around, being with a bunch of teammates, it was fun.”

Suggs making plays at the end of games is what he expects and what the Magic hope to see more of

“Just wanting to be there I think is the biggest thing,” Suggs said of his mindset at the end of games. “I want to be the one who’s in position to make a play when it’s time to win. When it’s time to make winning plays, I want the ball in my hands.”

“I think he’s shown that in his time at Gonzaga, he has really shown he’s not afraid of the moment, but he’s also willing to trust his teammates at times and making the right plays at times,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said.

Having Suggs out there allowed the Magic to play up-tempo, something Mosley wants more of. He ran a little of Suggs/Cole Anthony/R.J. Hampton together and said he might try to do that a little more when the games matter this fall, again in the name of pace and space.

Having Suggs grab nine rebounds helps with the pace, also.

“We talk about good offense starts being able to secure the rebound defensively, and when you have guards who can rebound then get out and push it, it allows you to play with pace,” Mosley said.

Suggs has taken to watching film like he plays the game — intently. He said he focused on Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker “the way he gets to his spots, the way they move.”

It’s all good signs. Summer League is a chance to dream of what a player can be more than a valuable measuring stick (at least for rookies, it is a good way to benchmark the progress of older players). We are all a long way from knowing what kind of player Suggs will be in a couple of years.

But he has been as advertised so far, and that’s a good thing for Orlando.

Old School · 08-11-2021, 10:43 PM

LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE

TOP PERFORMERS

NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-7

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos

GAME RESULTS

Brooklyn 97 Milwaukee 91 https://www.nba.com/game/mil-vs-bkn-...core#box-score

Miami 97 Memphis 94 (2 OT) https://www.nba.com/game/mia-vs-mem-...core#box-score

Cleveland 94 Orlando 84 https://www.nba.com/game/cle-vs-orl-...core#box-score

New Orleans 80 Oklahoma 65 https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-nop-...core#box-score

Golden State 90 Toronto 84 https://www.nba.com/game/tor-vs-gsw-...core#box-score

Utah 81 Dallas 80 (2 OT) https://www.nba.com/game/uta-vs-dal-...core#box-score

New York 91 LA Lakers 82 https://www.nba.com/game/nyk-vs-lal-...core#box-score

Old School · 08-12-2021, 11:51 PM

Old School · 08-13-2021, 02:09 AM

NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/jalen-suggs...-summer-league

The Orlando Magic are taking the precautionary approach with their top Draft pick.

Jalen Suggs will miss the remainder of MGM Resorts 2021 NBA Summer League after an MRI confirmed a sprained left thumb.

The injury occurred during Thursday’s loss to the Boston Celtics. Suggs played 11 minutes and registered six points, two rebounds and two steals before exiting.

Quote:

https://twitter.com/Magic_PR
Orlando Magic PR @Magic_PR
INJURY UPDATE: During the first half against Boston yesterday,
@OrlandoMagic guard @jalensuggs suffered an injury to his left thumb. An MRI conducted today confirmed a left thumb sprain.

As a precautionary measure, Suggs will be sidelined for the remainder of NBA Summer League.

Suggs impressed during his first taste of Summer League, recording 24 points, nine boards, three blocks and two steals in his debut.

Old School · 08-13-2021, 02:21 AM

CBS Sports https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/j...ng-per-report/

Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, is expected to miss the remainder of the Las Vegas Summer League due to a sore hamstring, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. While the injury is not expected to be serious, he will undergo an MRI as a precaution, ESPN's Tim MacMahon added.

Green suffered the injury late in the first half of the Rockets matchup with the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night. With just under three minutes left in the second quarter, Green rose up for a pull-up jumper that fell short and started hobbling back the other way.

While it would have been nice for Green to get a few more reps with his future teammates, the good news for the Rockets is that this doesn't appear to be a serious issue. Barring some sort of setback, Green should be ready to go for training camp, which will get underway on Sept. 28.

Another positive for the Rockets is that Green was absolutely terrific when he was on the court in Vegas. He went for 23 points and five rebounds in his debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers and over two-plus games put up 61 points on 19-of-37 from the field and 10-of-19 from 3-point land.

Green spent last season playing for the G League Ignite, and as expected looked more than comfortable against this level of competition. Actual NBA games will be a step up, of course, but Green has the athleticism and scoring ability to contribute right from day one, which is why he's one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year next season.

Old School · 08-13-2021, 04:58 AM

NBA.com https://ca.nba.com/news/can-liangelo...o1ehw70bgul6i9

2021 NBA Summer League: Is LiAngelo Ball carving a path to the NBA with his performance?

A member of the Hornets Summer League team, LiAngelo Ball is making a name for himself, proving that he isn't a novelty addition to the summer squad of his younger brother's franchise. Can it translate to a concrete opportunity in the league?

LiAngelo Ball isn't just the brother of Lonzo and LaMelo.

A member of the Charlotte Hornets Summer League team, LiAngelo is making a name for himself in Las Vegas, proving that he wasn't simply a novelty addition to the summer squad of his younger brother's franchise. With limited opportunity, Ball has proven that he can hold his own at the Summer League stage, turning in double-digit performances in each of his first two games.

MORE: LiAngelo making most of opportunity with Hornets https://ca.nba.com/news/2021-nba-sum...j1wpkgtjchmcbl

But could it translate to a concrete opportunity in the league?

LiAngelo, the middle of the three Ball brothers, has taken a unique path to get to this point, but his profile isn't that far off of a typical NBA player. Coming out of high school in 2017, 247Sports ranked Ball 226th among high school seniors, ahead of current NBA players in McKinley Wright, Nicolas Claxton and Chris Duarte.

While he only took the floor for an exhibition game in Westwood, Ball's standing as a prospect is a reminder that UCLA doesn't just offer anyone a basketball scholarship.

Four years later, Ball is looking to crack an NBA roster, and he's got the measurables to do it.

On the Hornets' Summer League roster, Ball is listed as a 6-foot-5 forward that weighs in at 230 pounds. Of roughly 60 NBA players that measured around 6-foot-5 last season, Ball's measurements are most similar to those of Kelan Martin of the Indiana Pacers and Abdel Nader of the Phoenix Suns.

Aside from their measurables, Martin and Nader are similar in that they each shot over 40 percent - albeit on low volume - from beyond the arc in the 2020-21 season, in addition to providing some value on the defensive end.

A shooter by trade, LiAngelo has the smoothest jump shot in the family, putting his jumper on full display by shooting 5-for-8 from deep in his summer debut. In today's NBA, there's always a place for shooting, but given his size, Ball's release might not be speedy enough for him to be a 6-foot-5 specialist at the NBA level like the 6-foot-7 Duncan Robinson or 6-foot-10 Davis Bertans, both all-world shooters, to boot.

This isn't to say that Ball can't develop into that calibre of a shooter - Robinson's break came after an impressive showing in the 2018 Summer League - but it is a reminder that there is a stark contrast to going 6-for-12 in two Summer League games and shooting at a similar clip over the course of an 82-game season.

With that in mind, Ball's best bet to carve a path to the league is a commitment to being a difference-maker on the defensive end to work himself into the mould of a 3-and-D player. Ball's athleticism won't blow you away, but he has the strength to hold his own and the basketball pedigree to be a smart defender, something that can cause teams to give him an attentive look.

But from what teams? And what would that look even amount to?

Let's start with Charlotte.

The Hornets believed in LiAngelo Ball enough to extend him the Summer League invite, and he's made the most of the minutes he's been granted by coach Dutch Gaitley, but Charlotte's NBA roster is pretty crowded at all positions.

After a busy offseason, the Hornets have 17 players on a standard NBA contract, while their two Two-Way slots have been filled by 2021 draft pick Scottie Lewis and 2018 draft pick Arnoldas Kulboka. Rookie DJ Carton signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the franchise, which ensures a training camp invite and an incentive-laden pathway to the franchise's G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, should he be cut by the Hornets ahead of opening night of the 2021-22 NBA season.

Provided Charlotte doesn't trim down its roster over the next eight weeks, it could have its 20-man group for training camp already set.

That being said, LiAngelo Ball could still end up on a G League contract with the Greensboro Swarm, which is commonplace for Summer League standouts, even those that don't receive Exhibit 10 deals. Goodwill with the Hornets franchise could facilitate such a deal, which could also be a fast-track to a spot to join the roster at some point during the season.

Should a member of the Hornets' 15-man roster get traded or waived, a spot would become open. The same applies for the Two-Way players, each of whom could either be waived or see their contracts converted to a standard NBA deal, which could open a Two-Way contract.

Around the league, Ball's performance in the Summer League also doubles as an audition for 29 other teams. To keep things in the family, the Chicago Bulls have a number of roster openings, including both of their Two-Way spots.

LiAngelo Ball also has preexisting familiarity with the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder organizations, signing a deal with the Thunder's G League affiliate in March of 2020 and signing a training camp deal with the Pistons in December of 2020.

All this to say, it's not uncommon for teams to be enamoured with a player to the point that they sign them away from other teams during the Summer League.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that LiAngelo Ball isn't as far off from being an NBA player as many may have perceived, but there are still just 510 roster spots total, with thousands vying for each one of them, many of whom never suit up for a preseason game, let alone make a difference on the Summer League stage.

While it appears that the 23-year-old's best basketball is ahead of him, the path won't be any easier. This summer is proof to the world that LiAngelo Ball at least has a shot.

Old School · 08-13-2021, 08:56 PM

Old School · 08-13-2021, 11:35 PM

ESPN https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...-far-las-vegas

NBA summer league 2021: Biggest surprises and disappointments so far in Las Vegas

Which rookies and veterans have surprised the most after one week of summer league basketball? Who have been the biggest disappointments?

Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs have had stellar performances in their summer league debuts, but are they worthy of being named the MVP of Vegas? Players like Payton Pritchard and Immanuel Quickley have impressed as "veterans" thus far, but are they ready to break out and have a standout regular season? And with non-lottery picks like Alperen Sengun and Josh Christopher showing real promise, do the Houston Rockets have the best collection of rookies in the 2021 class?

Our experts answer the big questions and pick their 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League MVP after the first week of action in Las Vegas.

1. What has been the biggest surprise so far?

Tim Bontemps: While Jalen Johnson slipped to No. 20 in last month's NBA draft, it wasn't long ago that he was one of the most highly touted recruits in the country. And through the first few days in Las Vegas, it appears the Atlanta Hawks might've landed themselves a steal. Johnson was averaging 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks through his first three games, and shot over 56% from the field, flashing some impressive skills in the open court. He also has landed in a great situation, where he will play for a coach in Nate McMillan who will make him earn minutes, and on a team where he can be brought along slowly.

Andrew Lopez: When it was announced that LiAngelo Ball was going to be on the Charlotte Hornets' summer league roster, some might have scoffed at the idea that he was taking an opportunity away from someone else. So far in three games, he has proved that he's making the most of his chances. Ball has averaged 11.3 points while shooting 44.4% from 3-point range as he looks to assert himself as someone who could earn a training camp invitation, rather than someone who received it on his last name alone.

Kevin Pelton: The biggest surprise is that Kenneth Faried is here playing for the Portland Trail Blazers after two full seasons out of the league. He last played an NBA game in April 2019 and is averaging 8.3 rebounds in summer league thus far.

Mike Schmitz: While it won't come as a surprise to those who watched him at West Virginia, the New York Knicks have something in No. 36 pick Miles McBride, averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 63.6% from 2 and 61.5% from 3 through three summer league games. McBride could quickly become a Tom Thibodeau favorite with his relentless on-ball defense, possibly earning himself a spot in the rotation. With a 6-foot-9 wingspan, McBride can check either backcourt spot and has turned himself into a reliable floor spacer who doesn't need the ball to make an impact. That versatility should work alongside core players Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker.

Royce Young: The buzz around Alperen Sengun on draft night was that he is a lottery-level talent, and thus far he has looked the part. He has shown a high offensive skill level, quality rebounding and even a knack for weakside shot-blocking. Perhaps he fell to the Rockets at No. 16 -- after they moved up in a deal with Oklahoma City to get him -- because of concerns about his fit in the modern NBA as a more traditional big, but Sengun has a polished game and could be a solid rotation player this season for Houston.

2. What has been the biggest disappointment so far?

Lopez: No Elam Ending. Two double-overtime games on Wednesday (Miami-Memphis and Utah-Dallas) and another on Thursday (Brooklyn-Washington) were decided in a sudden-death situation. Miami won when Max Strus drained a 3-pointer on the first play of double OT, Utah won after Trent Forrest drew a foul on the first possession. Forrest missed the first free throw, adding a little suspense, before knocking down the next one and waving goodbye to the Mavericks' bench, in summer league! Cameron Thomas got Brooklyn the victory with a one-legged, shot-clock-beating runner for 3. Let's add excitement to these games with the Elam Ending and get game-winning shots every time.

Bontemps: This has nothing to do with him as a player, but it was disappointing that Thunder guard Josh Giddey played only a couple of minutes before being shut down with an ankle injury. Giddey was one of the most interesting players during the pre-draft process, with a bunch of the teams in the mid-to-late lottery interested in him -- only to wind up going No. 6 to Oklahoma City. It will be fun to watch Giddey play alongside newly extended Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next season. It's just too bad we couldn't see him play here.

Pelton: It has been a rough couple of games for Cole Anthony, who has shot 5-of-25 from the field and handed out just six assists playing alongside No. 5 pick Jalen Suggs in the Orlando Magic backcourt. With the addition of Suggs and return of Markelle Fultz, Anthony could find his playing time squeezed after he started in 34 games and averaged 27.1 minutes as a rookie.

Schmitz: Watching Cade Cunningham stand in the corner while either Killian Hayes or Saben Lee consistently started and ended possessions was maddening. Using Cunningham as only a part-time ball handler is stripping him of one of his best skills (passing) while making him look ordinary. The situation reminds me of when the Dallas Mavericks tried their best to make the Luka Doncic-Dennis Smith Jr. pairing work before ultimately giving Doncic the keys. With the ball-dominant Hayes clearly not the level of player the Pistons were hoping for when they surprisingly selected him seventh overall, Detroit would be wise to shift Hayes to a bench playmaker role, using Cunningham as the lead initiator with the starting unit.

Young: Josh Giddey. Not because of anything he has done, but because we haven't had the opportunity to see what he can do. He played only five minutes in his summer league debut, throwing down a nice two-handed dunk off a slick crossover move, but then tweaked his ankle and hasn't played since. I'm just disappointed we haven't been able to see more.

3. Who has been the summer league MVP thus far?

Young: Jalen Suggs. There is a belief that Suggs is a culture changer, a player who can lift up a franchise with his polished professionalism and hard-charging competitive motor. So far in Orlando, that has been the case. He looks like the kind of player who wants to do it all, from rebounding and defending to scoring, passing and leading. There are some Russell Westbrook vibes to Suggs' makeup, and the Magic have to be thrilled that he fell to them at No. 5.

Lopez: The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA draft is going to put up some big numbers for the Rockets this season, and he's showing why in summer league. Jalen Green averaged 24 points on .514/.526/.929 splits in his first three games, and the Rockets went 2-1. Green's scoring ability has been on full display, and it's why he'll be in the mix for Rookie of the Year, no matter how Houston's season plays out.

Pelton: There's nothing more valuable in summer league than a competent point guard, and Payton Pritchard has given the Celtics exactly that during their 3-0 start, with 26 assists against just four turnovers. Pritchard also has shot 15-of-26 (57.7%) from 3-point range and has even contributed 17 rebounds in two games.

Schmitz: Max Strus edges out other standouts because of the chutzpah it took to pull up from 30 feet in the first possession of a sudden-death overtime game. If you count the California Classic, Strus has now scored 72 points in 95 summer league minutes, shooting 15-of-37 (40.5%) from distance. Strus is looking like a clear rotational player who can distort defenses with the threat of his on-the-move shooting at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds. Strus has earned himself an uptick in minutes this season with his play thus far.

Bontemps: Though he left his third game with a hand injury, Suggs showed the Magic, and their fans, everything they could have hoped for. Suggs, who dominated last year as a freshman at Gonzaga, has the potential to finally galvanize a Magic team that has been in desperate need of a true tentpole star to build around. He plays with a rugged, aggressive style at both ends of the court that's easy to fall for, and he can do it all on the court, as he showed by averaging 20 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals through those first two games.

4. Who has been the best 'veteran' at summer league?

Schmitz: Though he's far from a "veteran," Tyrese Maxey has really caught my eye thus far. After shooting just 30.1% from 3 as a rookie and often turning down open looks in favor of downhill attacks, Maxey has been hunting pull-up 3s from well beyond the arc. If Maxey's improved shooting is a sign of things to come, I'd expect him to make a huge jump this upcoming season when you consider his already impressive rim attacks and defensive activity.

Young: Patrick Williams. Williams was an underrated rookie last season, quietly playing solid, efficient basketball in a more limited role for the Bulls. But after averaging 21.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in his first three games in Vegas, he looks like a prime breakout candidate for this upcoming season.

Bontemps: Payton Pritchard has looked terrific for the Boston Celtics -- who have also looked terrific, though that should come to the surprise of no one, given that half their roster is composed of players on NBA contracts. But Pritchard, who has a chance to carve out an even bigger role than the one he immediately filled as a rookie last year in the wake of Kemba Walker's departure, has looked like someone who is too good to be playing in summer league -- a good first step to carving out that kind of role.

Lopez: Because there wasn't a summer league last season, a lot of second-year NBA players are making their Vegas debuts. Memphis' Desmond Bane -- who played in 68 games last season and averaged 9.2 points while shooting 43.2% from 3 -- is making the most of his time. In his first game, Bane dropped 32 points while shooting 6-of-8 from 3. He followed that up by hitting 3-of-5 from 3 in Game 2.

Pelton: Besides Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley. Quickley hasn't shot the ball well thus far (7-of-29 on 3s), but has shown greater mastery of the game than he did as a surprise rookie for the Knicks. Quickley has handed out 23 assists against seven turnovers in three games and is getting to the free throw line repeatedly, where he's 19-of-19. Quickley is too good for this competition.

5. What has been your biggest takeaway from the first week?

Young: The five players everyone thought would be pretty good do, indeed, look pretty good. Drawing major conclusions from summer league is one of the seven deadly sins of the NBA, but there is an old adage that you can determine who can't play with a few looks in Vegas. And so far, there have been no red flags with the top five picks. The belief was this draft was unique in that it had five players qualified to be a No. 1 overall-caliber player, and so far, that appears to be holding true.

Bontemps: The idea that summer league was going to become a devalued part of the NBA calendar has died a quick death. Usman Garuba's arrival means that all 30 of this year's first-round picks are playing, silencing concerns that arose in 2019 when many top prospects didn't play.

Lopez: The Pelicans are going to get major minutes from rookie Trey Murphy III this season. Drafted at No. 17, Murphy had 26 points and nine rebounds in his debut, showing off his touch from deep and his willingness to fight around the rim. He also had a nice poster for his efforts. But on a team that wanted to add shooting and defense this summer, Murphy checks both boxes. He told reporters one of the main reasons he wanted to transfer to Virginia before last season was to work on his defense. Mission accomplished.

Schmitz: Even if Cade Cunningham hasn't had a true signature game quite yet, the depth of the 2021 class has lived up to the hype. Jalen Green is scoring from all over the floor. Evan Mobley is making pull-up 3s and passing like a guard. Jalen Suggs is making winning plays. Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga have flashed moments of brilliance. Davion Mitchell looks like a future DPOY candidate. Chris Duarte is raining 3s from deep range. Non-lottery picks like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper are shining. This draft will go down as one of the all-time greats.

Pelton: The league's future is in good hands. Nobody can say exactly how this year's rookie class will develop, but as Mike Schmitz noted earlier this week, there seems to be an unusually high number of players who bring strong defensive effort and look like great teammates. That bodes well for their development.

Fact or Fiction: The Rockets have the best rookies from this class

Bontemps: Fact. The combination of Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun has been impressive so far, while Josh Christopher has had some moments and Usman Garuba is now back. Then again, Houston ought to have the most talent here with four first-round picks, including two of the top 16 selections in the draft. But there has been an impressive amount of talent on display this week across the board, as many members of this year's rookie class -- plus the second-year guys in attendance -- have had their moments.

Lopez: Fiction. Houston's depth stands out -- Green, Sengun, Garuba and Christopher -- but I like the high-end potential of both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody in Golden State. The Warriors legitimately could have picked either player at No. 7, and they wound up with both players. They are also going into a win-now situation with the Warriors with the right setup around both of them, surrounded by veterans who are going to push them to make the most of their contributions.

Pelton: Fact. Houston's rookie corps got even stronger Thursday when No. 23 pick Garuba made his debut after completing a buyout with Spanish power Real Madrid. That depth is unmatched by any other team.

Schmitz: Fact. Green is torching defenses with the scoring instincts of a longtime All-Star, Sengun looks like the steal of the draft, and Christopher is more than backing up his first-round selection. With that said, I think Atlanta has also been one of the big winners with Jalen Johnson looking like a top-10 pick and Cooper showing his incredible natural ability.

Young: Fiction. The Magic's Suggs and Franz Wagner are the best group so far. Suggs has been off to a roaring start as expected, while Wagner showcased some versatility with his shooting and ballhandling, and even stood tall defensively against No. 3 overall pick Evan Mobley.

Old School · 08-14-2021, 12:28 AM

SI https://www.si.com/college/washingto...-summer-league

Former Husky Naz Carter Resurfaces in NBA Summer League

Rebuilding a tarnished personal reputation, Naz Carter played in an organized basketball game the other night, turning up in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

This was noteworthy because it the first outing for the 6-foot-6 swingman in 18 months, since his junior season ended, and the University of Washington later dropped him from Mike Hopkins' program over allegations of sexual misconduct.

On Thursday night, Carter logged 13 minutes for the Atlanta Hawks in a 96-88 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers. He took 4 shots and hit 1, and contributed a rebound, a steal and an assist, while drawing 3 personal fouls.

Carter ended up with the Hawks for the summer after working out for the Sacramento Kings prior to the NBA draft last month and he then went undrafted.

Coming out from under a dark cloud, Carter is attempting to resume his basketball career after the UW investigated claims of misbehavior made by multiple women and the school determined that he couldn't play his senior season for the Huskies and suspended him.

No criminal charges were ever filed. Carter quickly left school.

The nephew of entertainers Jay Z and Beyonce, the New York native was one of Hopkins' first UW recruits and he played three seasons in Seattle. Starting only as a junior, he averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 points per game.

In all, Carter played 102 games for the Huskies. At one time, he was considered an NBA prospect, appearing in a handful of mock drafts.

Old School · 08-14-2021, 09:15 AM

Bleacher Report https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-summer-league

There is only one thing for us to do now that the 2021 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is three or four games old for each team: Check in with every top-10 draft pick.

Nearly all of them have seen extensive court time so far. Josh Giddey, the sixth overall selection, is the lone exception, and even he saw the floor for a few minutes before suffering a left ankle sprain. Maybe I still have pandemic brain, but it feels like roughly forever since every top-10 draft prospect saw run in Sin City. Hence the impulse for a progress report.

Do not take these report cards as referendums beyond recall. They are merely thoughts and feels and questions based off first impressions. They are meant to change. They are also meant to take the newness of everyone into account.

Profound summer-league conclusions are for romantics or controversy artists. This aims to hover somewhere in the middle, indulging the anything's possible-ness incumbent of exhibition outings and de-emphasizing the box score without pretending that every rookie is actually perfect and on the super-duper-mega-star track.

10. Ziaire Williams, Memphis Grizzlies

Pleasant Surprise: Game-readiness

Maybe this shouldn't even count. The idea that Ziaire Williams needs extensive time to marinate was predicated on taking his performance with Stanford at face value.

Shooting 36.0 percent on two-point jumpers and 29.1 percent from deep, per Hoop-Math, still doesn't look good. Ditto for his averaging more turnovers than the assists. But college basketball, like the rest of our world, unfolded amid a global pandemic. And Williams played in California, a state that had some of the most rigid restrictions in place. Couldn't his struggles just be a symptom of relative limitation?

If how Williams has played so far hints at what to come, they absolutely will be.

Though his most recent outing against the Sacramento Kings saw him miss all six of his three-pointers, his offensive feels has flirted with divinity. He has looked at home working off the baseline, dribbled into some jumpers, taken drives all the way to the rim, got off catch-and-fire treys and even uncorked an impossible-to-guard step-back.

Biggest Question: What will his role be in Memphis next season?

Trading Jonas Valanciunas, taking on the salaries of Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe and doing absolutely nothing during free agency suggests the Memphis Grizzlies are all-in on the big picture and the developmental window it creates.

Then again, they've obliterated expectations in each of the past two seasons, so who knows.

Regardless of their immediate direction, their angle with Williams is fuzzy. He should be able to give them minutes across the 3 and 4, but they're hardly barren at those spots. The Grizzlies have to this point treated Jaren Jackson Jr. like a power forward, which is also where Xavier Tillman logged a chunk of his minutes last season. The wing rotation, meanwhile, includes a steady mix of Kyle Anderson, Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane, the latter of whom has demanded a more prominent role with his play in Vegas.

So, like, where does Williams fall amid this hodgepodge? It gets a little easier hashing out a spot in the rotation if Jackson mans the middle more often, but even then, do the Grizzlies have the stomach to withstand Williams' learning curve? Figuring out how to incorporate a bunch of playable talent into the rotation is a great problem to have, but it's a problem all the same—and one made more complicated by Williams' summer-league contributions.

Overall Grade: B+

9. Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings

Pleasant Surprise: Off-the-dribble three

Davion Mitchell drew comps to Patrick Beverley coming out of Baylor. They were not unwarranted. He profiled as a similar player in the NBA: someone under 6'3" who could defend much larger and would, in the absence of top-shelf playmaking, make his dent off the ball.

Beverley no longer feels like the most apt comparison Mitchell. He is already more of a floor general than Beverley and, in Vegas, has revealed a serviceable off-the-bounce jumper.

Each of his four made threes in Friday's win over the Grizzlies went unassisted. They're not all straightaway looks he moseys into, either. He has torched defenses all week with glimpses into his step-back J.

Biggest Question: Will the Kings play a three point guard lineup?

Oh, how times have changed in such a short amount of time. The Kings turned themselves into a Twitter punchline by drafting the 6'2" Mitchell when they already had De'Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield. Flipping Delon Wright for Tristan Thompson didn't initially shift anything.

Now, here I am, wondering whether Mitchell is showing enough in Vegas to mandate he play beside both Fox and Haliburton. The answer, in my book, should be yes.

Mitchell has been that convincing. His on-ball defense isn't exhaustive; it's murderous. He doesn't end possessions; he erases people from the planet. Combined with his mix of set and off-the-dribble shooting, he should mesh with both Fox and Haliburton. That 1-2-3 combo will want for size, but I seriously, totally don't give a damn. Haliburton is 6'7" and Mitchell is muuuuuuch better suited to defending wings than Hield.

Make it happen, Sacramento.

Grade: A

8. Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic

Pleasant Surprise: Decision-making in space

Franz Wagner isn't putting together a summer league to remember—not for the right reasons, anyway. But his performance isn't without its silver linings.

Touted as more of a three-and-D prospect coming out of Michigan, he has unveiled layers to his offensive game. And that's huge, because his three-ball isn't currently falling.

Depending too much on his right hand will get Wagner in trouble at the next level. The Orlando Magic don't have enough bankable floor spacing for him to work solely outside of traffic. But he has demonstrated more wiggle on the ball when afforded breathing room.

Most recently, during Thursday's shellacking against the Boston Celtics, he shot-faked into an explosive baseline drive and froze the defense with twitchy shoulders and head pumps off the bounce. Both plays saw him use his strong hand while going right. But reliance isn't necessarily presage to predictability. He has some variance in his bag.

Biggest Question: Will the three-ball start to fall?

Through three games, Wagner has attempted 12 threes. He's made one of them.

That's miles from ideal, particularly when he's not subsisting on self-engineered, contested triples. He is missing wide-open threebies, with the same long, low release that contributed to his pre-draft red flags.

Optimists can and should point out that Wagner isn't grossly whiffing on these looks. Most of his misfires are on line and hitting the front of the rim. His clip on wide-open threes should climb in time—though this is certainly a situation in which he may need to quicken his motion and/or change his point of release if he's going to hit his absolute peak.

Overall Grade: C-

7. Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors

Pleasant Surprise: Holy finishing

Aspects of Jonathan Kuminga's game—most notably his shooting—remain a project. His finishing, on the other hand, looks game-ready.

Kuminga has spent his time in Las Vegas converting baskets while going through and around brick walls. He should be a devastating rim-runner if the Golden State Warriors have enough shooters on the floor and is reading defenses at a higher level than advertised. The frequency with which he's putting the ball on the deck and changing the angle of attempts at the basket and around bodies is prophetic.

Biggest Question: How much will the Warriors lean on him?

This is not the most surgical question, but it bears asking all the same. The Warriors are the rare team trying to incorporate three lottery picks from the past two drafts while reopening their title-contention window.

Having Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and, eventually, Klay Thompson should limit their reliance on the kiddies for playmaking and scoring. (Moses Moody, drafted at No. 14, might actually be the most immediately important youngster.) But development takes reps, and only so much can be done by shuttling players to and from Santa Cruz.

Golden State's roster isn't set up to tether its two primary rookies to the G-League. Its depth chart goes maybe four or five bodies deep, at full strength, of proven players who can log heavy minutes and make a high impact.

Whether that means Kuminga will be treated as a key rotation player or brought along more slowly is a matter of course. The Warriors are, for now, trying to juggle two separate windows, and it isn't yet clear how committed they are to intertwining the two.

Overall Grade: B+

6. Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder

Pleasant Surprise: He scored within the first 15 seconds of his summer-league career

This is cheating. But it comes from a good place.

Josh Giddey logged just over five minutes before suffering a left ankle sprain that has sidelined him ever since. On his first possession of the game, though, he scooted around a ball screen, scampered down the lane and finished a two-handed slam. That's not exactly the first impression you'd expect from someone billed as extremely pass-first coming out of Australia.

Biggest Question: Can he be a consistent scoring threat?

Summer league projected as the perfect environment for Giddey, a setting in which he'd be gifted full control over the offense and ample opportunity to address concerns that he's too passive of a scorer.

Welp.

Assuming his left ankle sprain isn't serious and his absence is more precautionary, the 18-year-old should get plenty of chances to steward the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's the benefit of playing on a team not, let's say, actively chasing wins.

At the same time, summer-league settings are unique. Giddey would've been The Guy. At worst, he'd have been Theo Maledon's Sidekick. His reps will be somewhat curtailed by the former and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the regular season. (But not Kemba Walker!)

Anyway...Will Giddey consistently look for his own shot out of the pick-and-roll? Does he have an off-the-dribble three we don't know about? Will defenses respect his range and scoring enough to do more than play all the way back on him? We're no closer to knowing the answers.

Put another way: Injuries suck.

Overall Grade: Incomplete

5. Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic

Pleasant Surprise: Offensive balance

Jalen Suggs always figured to contend with Jalen Green for "Best Scorer of This Draft Class" honors. (Related: Cam Thomas will want a word if he gets regular-season minutes.) But that competition can imply one-track usage. And Suggs is not just a scorer.

The methods by which gets buckets vary. He compiled a highlight reel's worth of made from-scratch jumpers during his summer-league debut. Then, in his second outing, he showcased a capacity to play off others, relocating around the arc and barrelling through cracks and chasms in the defense away from the ball.

That second game, a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, also saw Suggs cake in more table-setting. He sprayed kick-outs and even hinted at a little misdirection in the form of a no-look pass the led to an easy two under the basket.

Ample opportunity is Suggs' rite of arrival. The Magic don't have any other pure bucket-getters on the roster. They need him to be high volume. But the role that should await him is not merely a byproduct of circumstance. It's one for which he looks (mostly) ready.

Biggest Question: How will he handle physical defenses?

Suggs never profiled as someone who would enter the league and get to the line in droves. Even by that standard, he seemed to fade for possessions at a time when facing defenses that move him around.

Cleveland had success forcing the ball out of his hands, and Suggs' drives were too compromised on the occasions he did try to blaze through contact. Life won't change much for him during the regular season. The Magic don't have many other shot-creators to spell him, and with limited spacing around him, his is an approach that, right now, looks like it'll stall out well before the rim.

Overall Grade: B+

4. Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

Pleasant Surprise: Fluency Off the Bounce

Pay no mind to Scottie Barnes' shooting splits. Evaluating new kids on the block has to go beyond raw returns. For those in primary roles, quality efficiency should be viewed as a pleasant surprise, not the immediate standard.

That Barnes can work off the dribble so seamlessly is more telltale than his percentages from the floor. He doesn't just need unoccupied spaces to navigate. He has gone right at guys, created separation with his shoulder, hit shots going away from the basket, flashed a neat-o push shot and even given us a looksy at change-of-direction handles.

Everyone, everywhere, should still be thinking about the turnaround jumper he buried over Jonathan Kuminga after faking left. If he ever melds this all-encompassing attack mode with more consistent shot-making—he looks like he'll convert standalone threes in time—the Toronto Raptors should have another cornerstone on their ends.

Biggest Question: Do his minutes need to be monitored next season?

Barnes has shown signs of fatigue at various points in summer league—stretches in which he doesn't account for defenders catching up to him from behind, settles for shots that'll make Raptors head coach Nick Nurse's eyes pop out of their socket and racks up misses that aren't even close.

He has labored through moments of disengagement, too. After leaving the Raptors' Thursday night game against the Houston Rockets for a beat, he looked out of sorts and not particularly aggressive and didn't get his first made field goal until the fourth quarter.

Conditioning is a gradual process, if that's even his issue. But given some of his summer-league lows, Toronto may need to monitor his minutes like a hawk as it brings him along and expects him to remain hyper-active on defense.

Overall Grade: B

3. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers

Pleasant Surprise: Playmaking

Four summer-league games are not enough to declare Evan Mobley the next Point Big Man. With that in mind: Don't rule it out.

Mobley's feel for setting up teammates defies his size. The Cleveland Cavaliers have him spearheading fast breaks and initiating the half-court offense from above the break. He's responded by flinging an array of swanky and witty dimes.

Standstill tosses, pitches on the move, leading teammates open, slick bounce passes, pick-and-roll orchestration—he does it all. His comfort launching jumpers off the dribble only strengthens his facilitation. Defenses cannot plan around a seven-footer with the handle, vision and face-up scoring chops of a wing.

Biggest Question: How will his offense look next to Jarrett Allen?

Joining the actual Cavaliers will invariably help Mobley. Nobody can hope for a 20-year-old big to come in and steer the offense. His role will be streamlined beside Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio, allowing him to focus more on finishing rather than creation and, thus, dabble in the best of both worlds to start his career.

Still, while Mobley is willing to sling threes and can fire over the top of defenders off the bounce, his floor game doesn't unfold with the speed of a guard. Not yet. Maybe not ever. His jump shots are not exactly givens right now, either.

He is still best suited at the 5, which is perfectly fine. But he will have to soak up reps at the 4 after Cleveland signed Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100 million deal. Neither Mobley's offensive utility nor defensive mobility will be as stark of a mismatch in dual-big lineups. This doesn't mean the frontcourt partnership is doomed. But it does mean the extent to which he can coexist beside Allen will dictate how the Cavs proceed in the years to come.

Overall Grade: A-

2. Jalen Green, Houston Rockets

Pleasant Surprise: Efficiency

A right hamstring flare-up has limited Jalen Green to roughly 2.5 appearances, but that's all he needed to leave his mark.

His shooting splits suggest a role without frills. He's slashing 51.4/52.6(!)/92.9 for crying out loud. But his offense is coming within superstar context: tough jumpers, brain-bending sidestep threes, physical finishes, the whole nine.

Calling him a human bucket undersells his body of work. His scoring was known. This marriage of volume and efficiency, on this stage, having faced off against Cade Cunningham, is nothing short of revelatory.

Biggest Question: Will his offense IMMEDIATELY translate?

Using Green's detonations against him feels lame. Full stop. It's also a fair question

Summer league is almost supposed to be Green's playground after spending last year with the G-League Ignite. Once more, with feeling, the efficiency he sustained amid his mode of operation is bonkers. But his shot selection lends itself to streakiness. Tracking the ebbs and flows of his rookie-year performance will be an interesting exercise.

Count me among those who believe he'll be mostly OK. He may not shoot infinity percent on off-the-dribble threes, but he did a rock-solid job toggling between focal-point usage and complementary finishing. He can space the floor around other ball-handlers and will hotfoot his way down the lane after giving up the ball.

Playing beside other snazzy shot creators on the Houston Rockets—Eric Gordon, Kevin Porter Jr., John Wall, Josh Christopher—should enable him to balance out his scoring.

Overall Grade: A

1. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Pleasant Surprise: Off-ball feel

Plenty of people wondered how Cade Cunningham would work within an offense that also featured Killian Hayes. (Aside: If you're a masochist, go ahead and check out Killian Hayes Twitter takes.) That concern, while fair, no longer seems like a real issue.

Stepping into catch-and-shoot jumpers seemed reflexive for Cunningham and doesn't appear content to stand stationary when dotting the corners. The Detroit Pistons should try to get him moving off the ball even more, if only for duck-ins, but the dynamic between he and Hayes—and, for that matter, any other ball-handler—will be just fine.

Bonus point: His off-ball effectiveness on defense is similarly tantalizing. He already has a good feel for party crashing passing lanes without losing sight of everything else that happens around him.

Biggest Question: Will turnovers be a yearlong issue?

Cunningham's size, handle, patience and overall vision should allow him to throw whatever pass he wants. His line of sight cannot be obscured by trees, and he's capable of hitting all sorts of angles.

Right now, though, he's too often leaving his feet. That, in turn, has seemed to muck up his timing. Growing pains are part of being a rookie, but this is something to watch if, as expected, he assumes control of Detroit's offense from Day 1.

Overall Grade: A-

Old School · 08-14-2021, 08:22 PM

NBA.com https://www.nba.com/magic/news/revie...eague-20210814

Jalen Suggs has been ruled out for the remainder of summer league after spraining his left thumb during Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics. The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder played just under 66 minutes over three games and averaged 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals.

Selected fifth overall by the Orlando Magic in last month’s draft, Suggs had an unsurprisingly impressive start to his NBA career. All the things he excelled at in his one season at Gonzaga, which with Suggs’ leadership made it all the way to the NCAA championship game, were on display in Las Vegas.

Let’s break down what the 20-year-old did well and where he must improve.

PLAYMAKING

Suggs’ top strengths are his passing and game management. Some have compared him to Jason Kidd for that reason. Both in pick-and-roll and in the open floor, he makes excellent reads and decisions while surveying the court.

Using a nice blend of agility, craftiness, and ingenuity, the Saint Paul, Minnesota native routinely got into the paint and made sound choices. The Magic haven’t shot the ball well at summer league, so Suggs didn’t rack up a ton of assists. But many of the good looks Orlando got stemmed from his savviness and prudence.

Spotting open teammates on the perimeter after collapsing the defense on drives is something he’s elite at doing.

OFFENSIVE AGGRESSIVNESS

Suggs played on a stacked team at Gonzaga. For that reason, it wasn’t critical for him to always have a scorer’s mentality. Based on his approach at summer league, it appears he’s more than capable of taking over games if necessary.

Although he only shot 41.5 percent from the field, Suggs was able to show off some of his offensive creativity. Interesting about him is that he’s very unpredictable. It’s hard for defenders to guess whether he’s going to accelerate all the way to the basket, stop on a dime and attempt a pull-up jumper or create separation using his good footwork, ball handling and shiftiness.

Initiating contact on drives is something else he thrived at. He took nine free throws.

DEFENSIVE VERSATLITY/INTENSITY

Deflections aren’t officially tallied in summer league, but just based on the eye test, it appeared Suggs had a lot of them. He has incredible instincts and anticipation. Several passes attempted by the Magic’s opponents didn’t reach the intended target because of Suggs’ peskiness and alertness.

What also stood out on the defensive end was Suggs’ timing, both when guarding the ball and when rising to block a shot. He had a huge block on Moses Moody in the win over the Warriors and a steal on Carsen Edwards against the Celtics just before injuring his left hand.

REBOUNDING

The Magic are unique in that all their young guards are good rebounders. Suggs, Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton and Markelle Fultz are unafraid to mix it up with the big boys in the paint. In Suggs’ case, he will use his supreme athleticism to fly in for rebounds.

AREAS TO IMPROVE

As mentioned earlier, Suggs only shot 41.5 percent from the floor. Obviously, that’s not a good mark. He has a nice touch on his floater and good mechanics on his jumper, so it would be somewhat surprising if he wasn’t more efficient in his career. But it’s too early to tell whether he’s someone that can go on scoring tears. He made five of his 14 3-point attempts. Once again, his form is good, but does he have it in him to knock down shots from various ranges consistently?

Another thing that’s still a bit ambiguous and maybe misunderstood is Suggs’ blow-by speed. While a spectacular vertical athlete and electrifying in the open floor, he’s not necessarily someone that’s going to zip by every defender in his path. He relies more on shiftiness to elude and outfox opponents. But when he goes full force downhill, he’s tough to contain because of his excellent balance, body control, strength and coordination.

08-10-2021, 06:03 AM	#17
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Oldest Players Playing In Las Vegas Summer League HoopsHype https://hoopshype.com/lists/oldest-p...summer-league/ Summer league is usually for recently drafted players or young free agents giving the NBA dream a shot, but not all time. There are also veterans who use that platform to try and reignite their NBA careers. Among those older guys playing this summer are very recognizable names like Michael Beasley and Kenneth Faried, both of whom are suiting up for the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as Brandon Knight (Brooklyn Nets) and many others. Below, check out the oldest players participating in summer league this year: 1. Michael Beasley (Portland) 32 years and seven months 2. Kenneth Faried (Portland) 31 years and eight months 3. Kyle Fogg (Utah) 31 years and six months 4. Jordon Crawford (Portland) 31 years and 24 days 5. Austin Hollins (Washington) 29 years and nine months 6. Tarik Black (Denver) 29 years and eight months 7. Brandon Knight (Brooklyn) 29 years and eight months 8. Eric Moreland (Atlanta) 29 years and seven months 9. Janis Timma (Orlando) 29 years and one month 10. Joseph Young (Washington) 29 years and 14 days 11. Semaj Christon (Denver) 28 years and nine months 12. Gary Payton II (Golden State) 28 years and eight months 13. Malcolm Miller (Minnesota) 28 years and five months 14. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (Atlanta) 28 years and two months 15. Zach Auguste (Boston) 28 years and one month 15. Grant Jerrett (Detroit) 28 years and one month 17. Josh Gray (Denver) 27 years and 11 months 18. Tim Williams (Golden State) 27 years and nine months 19. Erik McCree (Portland) 27 years and seven months 20. Keifer Sykes (Indiana) 27 years and seven months 21. Milton Doyle (Portland) 27 years and seven months 22. George King (Portland) 27 years and six months 23. Deonte Burton (Denver) 27 years and six months 24. Cullen Russo (Minnesota) 27 years and six months 25. Amida Brimah (Indiana) 27 years and five months

08-11-2021, 01:42 AM	#18
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Game results (Aug 10) LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE TOP PERFORMERS NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-6 GAME HIGHLIGHTS NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos GAME RESULTS Atlanta 84 Indiana 83 https://www.nba.com/game/atl-vs-ind-...core#box-score Boston 107 Denver 82 https://www.nba.com/game/bos-vs-den-...core#box-score Chicago 92 San Antonio 89 https://www.nba.com/game/chi-vs-sas-...core#box-score Houston 111 Detroit 91 https://www.nba.com/game/det-vs-hou-...core#box-score Sacramento 89 Washington 75 https://www.nba.com/game/sac-vs-was-...core#box-score Portland 89 LA Clippers 66 https://www.nba.com/game/lac-vs-por-...core#box-score
	Last edited by Old School; 08-11-2021 at 04:23 AM.

08-11-2021, 12:07 PM	#19
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Cade Cunningham & Jalen Green Rivalry Plus Breakout Summer League Players SI (Cunningham vs Green Rivalry) https://www.si.com/nba/2021/08/11/ca...-summer-league Bleacher Report https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-summer-league *Grading Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green & Breakout Players at NBA Summer League* If you're into getting excited about and drawing grand, sweeping conclusions from the performances of players with zero NBA experience in exhibition games, then hot damn, Day 3 of the Las Vegas Summer League was for you. Noted non-shooter Sharife Cooper is apparently actually one of the greatest shooters alive. Chris Duarte has yet to meet a buzzer-beater attempt he doesn't like—or can't make. It turns out Romeo Langford has a license to baptize. And this is all before getting into the showdown between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green. As a reminder, our summer league takeaways aren't designed to overstate. They are meant to analyze and identify notable outings that could, in theory, portend regular-season breakouts, and to keep tabs on performances from the top rookies. And while each talking point is inspired by the events of Day 3 in Sin City, hearkening back to previous contests and zooming out for bigger-picture musings remains fair game. Cade Cunningham: A Cade Cunningham's efficiency from the floor hasn't melted the mind, but so few, if any, players look as thoroughly in control. Taking pull-back and behind-the-back dribble jumpers is already second nature. He drilled a viral edition of this shot against Jalen Green Tuesday night, the difficulty level on which was matched by the poise and control for the entire sequence. Defenders already seem flummoxed by all he can do after putting the ball on the deck. He has the physicality—versus summer league opponents, anyway—to displace dudes with his shoulder and spins through traffic with clear intent. He has yet to attempt a free throw through two games, but little about his game signals this is more than an anomaly. Modest assist totals (four in two games) don't do justice to his passing acumen. His patience in traffic is aspirational, and at 6'8", thickets of arms and doubles from bigs aren't enough to muddy his vision. He will drop extra dimes and commit fewer turnovers when he has more practice time with teammates. Nothing, though, has impressed more than Cunningham's defense. Committing seven fouls like he did against the Houston Rockets won't fly in the regular season, but his disruption seems eminently translatable. He knows how to work angles in passing lanes without getting burned backdoor, and I, for one, am anxious to see how many jumpers he sends back during his rookie season. Two games in Vegas isn't a lot to go on, and summer league isn't supposed to be profoundly indicative. But there is a universality to the way Cunningham plays, an impact that is everywhere and can take different forms. He even seems like more of a floor-spacing threat off the ball than anticipated, and though he prefers to break down defenses at a more deliberate pace, he has flashed changes in gear. None of this is revelatory. It serves more as validation. Cunningham looks as advertised—and perhaps even better than that. Jalen Green: A Those who thrive off drama aren't going to like seeing a pair of "As" for two top rookies who just went up against one another. Tough noogies. They both deserve it. Jalen Green continues to look like a portrait of inevitability on the offensive end. He is going take and make some tough shots. He's going to miss them, too. But the makes are invariably going to mean more and probably outnumber the misses. You can't teach his side-step three. Personally, I'm not sure there's ever been a cooler 25-point performance in summer league than the one he cobbled together during Houston's win over the Detroit Pistons. He went 6-of-11 from the field and 10-of-11 at the charity stripe, showing much more of a penchant for attacking the basket and drawing contact than he did during his Las Vegas debut. Green's capacity to toggle between central hub and off-ball threat might be more impressive than anything else. He can space the floor around other attackers—he buried a catch-and-shoot three in Cade Cunningham's face inside two minutes to play in the fourth quarter—but isn't only a bystander. He will blitz the rim after giving up the ball or slither his way through the lane more methodically until he finds an opening. Better chemistry with his teammates should be a boon for his passing. He has often seemed predictable when putting the ball on the floor at full bore, but running the two-man game with one of his bigs is clearly inside his wheelhouse. In all honesty, I'm not quite sure what to make of his defense just yet. I'm also not sure it matters. His shot-making bag is deep and sleek. He doesn't need to take on the toughest covers to leave his imprint—though, if summer league is any indication, the Rockets won't shy from testing his mettle. Breakout Player Watch: Chris Duarte Is Clutcher Than You On the one hand, two summer league games aren't enough to render any indisputable verdicts. On the other, Chris Duarte and Damian Lillard take the same daily vitamins. Duarte has hit three buzzer beaters through his first two games in Vegas, including two three-pointers to end the second and third quarters during the Indiana Pacers' Tuesday loss to the Atlanta Hawks. These aren't exactly on par with playoff-series winners, but still: Holy hell. The hype isn't building solely off his late-clock heroics, either. Duarte has flashed a little of everything. His made buckets have been heavy on off-the-dribble triples, some of them in transition, but he's converted a handful of catch-and-shoot looks and drives to the hoop punctuated by finishes through contact and head fakes after he picks up his dribble. Drooling over summer league defensive performances is shady business. Let's do it anyway. Duarte looks like someone who will effectively party crash two to three passing lanes per game away from the ball. His anticipation has largely been on point, even if a little risky at times, and those apparitions into opponents' sight lines should be a boon for Indy's transition attack. Will the Pacers lean on him right away? It's tough to say. They could be a playoff lock at full strength and have a bundle of other bodies to roll out at the 2 and 3 spots: Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren, Torrey Craig, etc. It helps that Duarte is 24, and that Indiana can treat Malcolm Brogdon as a point guard while sliding some of their other wings up to the 4, but meaningful opportunities could be scarce. That's a conversation for another day (read: month). For now, Duarate is leaving one heck of a first impression: that of a player who seems ready for minutes now, and who has the encyclopedic skill set of someone bound to carve out a long, productive career. Breakout Player Watch: Boston's Kids May Be Coming Along Bankable depth was hard to come by for the Boston Celtics last season. That figures to be the case again this year, unless one of their oft-forgotten kiddies goes kaboom, which is maybe, potentially, kind of looking possible. Signing Dennis Schroder at a three-year, $78.1 million discount, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, does add more structure to the projected rotation. But it's far from settled. Boston has seven givens: Schroder, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Josh Richardson, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams III. These playing-time formalities stretch to eight or more if you're vibing Kris Dunn, Enes Kanter or Jabari Parker. There should nevertheless be ample opportunity for Romeo Langord, Aaron Nesmith or Payton Pritchard to earn consistent burn. They're all doing their damnedest to get it. Langford hasn't turned in an otherworldly performance, but the fact he's healthy at all is a big friggin' deal. This is his first summer league stint, and he threw down a monstrous slam in Boston's win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, almost like he needed to remind everyone he's actually healthy. Nesmith didn't turn many heads in his first summer league game. He sure did in his second one. He hung 33 points on the Nuggets while dropping in seven of his nine three-point attempts. His overall shot profile was a nice blend of off-the-bounce jumpers, quick-fire threes off the catch and buckets coming out of traffic. Pritchard, meanwhile, played well enough versus Denver for people to call him "White Kyrie." First off: Please, for the love of everything, don't do that. Stick with Fast PP. Or come up with literally anything else. Moving right along, though, Pritchard's 21-point, 12-assist, eight-rebound outing was certainly impressive enough to wonder whether he'll win the "Next guard up" mantle behind Richardson, Smart, Schroder and, if you consider him a 2, Brown. He tossed an assortment of pretty passes, put defenders on tilt with medium-speed handles and sprayed in five threes, both off the dribble and the catch. If nothing else, the Celtics' primary prospects are teasing strides big enough for the team to overvalue them in future trade talks like Danny Ainge never left. That's pretty huge. Breakout Player Watch: Sharife Cooper Already Looks Like a Caps-Lock Loads of people were shocked Sharife Cooper fell all the way to the Atlanta Hawks at No. 48. Sure, he knocked down just 35.0 percent of his two-point jumpers and 22.8 percent of his threes at Auburn, per Hoop-Math. And yes, he's "only" 6'1". But transcendent orchestration out of the pick-and-roll is hard to find, and he forecasts as someone who provides it. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman had him coming off the board at No. 24 in his final mock. Still, Cooper's draft-day fall implied more concerns about his potential effectiveness at the NBA level. Never mind that he converted 82.5 percent of his free throws. The outside shooting was, it seems, a red flag many teams weren't willing to overlook. And it appears that's going to be great news for the Hawks. After uncorking only one three-point attempt (and missing it) in his summer league debut, Cooper made five of his eight deep balls against the Pacers on Tuesday, including what proved to be the game-winning bucket from the right corner—a shot Trae Young loved so much he (illegally) stormed the court once it hit the bottom of the net. "You tell me I can't do something, you best believe I'm working on it," Cooper told NBA TV's Dennis Scott afterward. A singular detonation in an exhibition game isn't prognostic or all-revealing. But Cooper's accuracy in college at the foul line always suggested he could reach a higher level from the perimeter. If he even sniffs league-average efficiency and volume from behind the rainbow, Atlanta will have likely bagged the biggest steal of the entire draft. Whether Cooper gets the opportunity to overturn his outside limitations in the regular season remains to be seen. The Hawks fancy themselves fringe contenders and have Lou Williams, Delon Wright and even Bogdan Bogdanovic to pilot the second-unit offense. Twenty-year-olds also seldom factor into the rotation of should-be playoff locks. Cooper could spend a lot of his time shuttling to and from the College Park Skyhawks. Then again, Atlanta's backup point guard carousel is hazy enough that he could get a bite at semi-regular minutes. Bogdanovic, Williams and Wright are more secondary playmakers than floor generals. Regardless, though, "Steal of the Draft" isn't a superlative that should be awarded out of the gate. It takes years to understand how a rookie class unfolds. That Cooper has already hinted at strengthening his largest weakness is an encouraging sign both for what it could mean now and later.

08-11-2021, 02:11 PM	#20
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Jalen Suggs (Orlando) Summer League Debut NBC Sports (click for full article) https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/08/10...summer-league/ *Jalen Suggs is completely on brand at Summer League* Jalen Suggs could not have been more on brand in his debut in an Orlando Magic uniform. The Magic drafted him No. 5 because he played a fearless style at Gonzaga, always going all-out, never backing down from big moments, and he can make plays on both ends. With his Summer League debut game tied 83-83 with less than :30 seconds left, Suggs found himself the defender against a 2-on-1 Warriors break — and he got the game-saving block. Then in overtime, Suggs scored the first six points as the Magic went on to win. There is little as meaningless in basketball as a player’s first Summer League game, but a rebuilding Magic team hopes this is a sign of things to come for Suggs. “The guy is a hooper. He is always ready to hoop and ready to play,” said fellow rookie Franz Wagner, who had five points in his debut. “I think his real personality comes out in the games. He had a great game today and I’m sure he is going to have a couple of more during the season.” Suggs scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-22 shooting (3-of-6 from three) and added nine rebounds. “Man, I felt like a little kid on Christmas, to be honest,” Suggs said. “It was so much fun, getting out and running a game, getting the rhythm, getting the flow. I haven’t played five-on-five, aside yesterday [during practice], since the [NCAA] national championship game. Just getting out there and running around, being with a bunch of teammates, it was fun.” Suggs making plays at the end of games is what he expects and what the Magic hope to see more of “Just wanting to be there I think is the biggest thing,” Suggs said of his mindset at the end of games. “I want to be the one who’s in position to make a play when it’s time to win. When it’s time to make winning plays, I want the ball in my hands.” “I think he’s shown that in his time at Gonzaga, he has really shown he’s not afraid of the moment, but he’s also willing to trust his teammates at times and making the right plays at times,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. Having Suggs out there allowed the Magic to play up-tempo, something Mosley wants more of. He ran a little of Suggs/Cole Anthony/R.J. Hampton together and said he might try to do that a little more when the games matter this fall, again in the name of pace and space. Having Suggs grab nine rebounds helps with the pace, also. “We talk about good offense starts being able to secure the rebound defensively, and when you have guards who can rebound then get out and push it, it allows you to play with pace,” Mosley said. Suggs has taken to watching film like he plays the game — intently. He said he focused on Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker “the way he gets to his spots, the way they move.” It’s all good signs. Summer League is a chance to dream of what a player can be more than a valuable measuring stick (at least for rookies, it is a good way to benchmark the progress of older players). We are all a long way from knowing what kind of player Suggs will be in a couple of years. But he has been as advertised so far, and that’s a good thing for Orlando.

08-11-2021, 10:43 PM	#21
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Game results (Aug 11) LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE TOP PERFORMERS NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-7 GAME HIGHLIGHTS NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos GAME RESULTS Brooklyn 97 Milwaukee 91 https://www.nba.com/game/mil-vs-bkn-...core#box-score Miami 97 Memphis 94 (2 OT) https://www.nba.com/game/mia-vs-mem-...core#box-score Cleveland 94 Orlando 84 https://www.nba.com/game/cle-vs-orl-...core#box-score New Orleans 80 Oklahoma 65 https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-nop-...core#box-score Golden State 90 Toronto 84 https://www.nba.com/game/tor-vs-gsw-...core#box-score Utah 81 Dallas 80 (2 OT) https://www.nba.com/game/uta-vs-dal-...core#box-score New York 91 LA Lakers 82 https://www.nba.com/game/nyk-vs-lal-...core#box-score
	Last edited by Old School; 08-12-2021 at 04:20 AM.

08-12-2021, 11:51 PM	#22
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Game Results (Aug 12) LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE TOP PERFORMERS NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-8 GAME HIGHLIGHTS NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos GAME RESULTS San Antonio 106 Charlotte 105 https://www.nba.com/game/sas-vs-cha-...core#box-score Minnesota 78 Chicago 59 https://www.nba.com/game/chi-vs-min-...core#box-score Brooklyn 84 Washington 81 (2 OT) https://www.nba.com/game/was-vs-bkn-...core#box-score Indiana 97 Portland 64 https://www.nba.com/game/ind-vs-por-...core#box-score Boston 108 Orlando 71 https://www.nba.com/game/orl-vs-bos-...core#box-score Toronto 92 Houston 76 https://www.nba.com/game/hou-vs-tor-...core#box-score Philadelphia 96 Atlanta 88 (OT) https://www.nba.com/game/phi-vs-atl-...core#box-score Phoenix 90 Denver 84 https://www.nba.com/game/phx-vs-den-...core#box-score
	Last edited by Old School; 08-13-2021 at 04:32 AM.

08-13-2021, 02:21 AM	#24
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Jalen Green To Miss Rest Of Summer League Due To Sore Hamstring CBS Sports https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/j...ng-per-report/ Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, is expected to miss the remainder of the Las Vegas Summer League due to a sore hamstring, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. While the injury is not expected to be serious, he will undergo an MRI as a precaution, ESPN's Tim MacMahon added. Green suffered the injury late in the first half of the Rockets matchup with the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night. With just under three minutes left in the second quarter, Green rose up for a pull-up jumper that fell short and started hobbling back the other way. While it would have been nice for Green to get a few more reps with his future teammates, the good news for the Rockets is that this doesn't appear to be a serious issue. Barring some sort of setback, Green should be ready to go for training camp, which will get underway on Sept. 28. Another positive for the Rockets is that Green was absolutely terrific when he was on the court in Vegas. He went for 23 points and five rebounds in his debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers and over two-plus games put up 61 points on 19-of-37 from the field and 10-of-19 from 3-point land. Green spent last season playing for the G League Ignite, and as expected looked more than comfortable against this level of competition. Actual NBA games will be a step up, of course, but Green has the athleticism and scoring ability to contribute right from day one, which is why he's one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year next season.
	Last edited by Old School; 08-13-2021 at 09:06 PM.

08-13-2021, 04:58 AM	#25
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	LiAngelo Ball Trying To Become The Third Ball Brother In The NBA NBA.com https://ca.nba.com/news/can-liangelo...o1ehw70bgul6i9 2021 NBA Summer League: Is LiAngelo Ball carving a path to the NBA with his performance? A member of the Hornets Summer League team, LiAngelo Ball is making a name for himself, proving that he isn't a novelty addition to the summer squad of his younger brother's franchise. Can it translate to a concrete opportunity in the league? LiAngelo Ball isn't just the brother of Lonzo and LaMelo. A member of the Charlotte Hornets Summer League team, LiAngelo is making a name for himself in Las Vegas, proving that he wasn't simply a novelty addition to the summer squad of his younger brother's franchise. With limited opportunity, Ball has proven that he can hold his own at the Summer League stage, turning in double-digit performances in each of his first two games. MORE: LiAngelo making most of opportunity with Hornets https://ca.nba.com/news/2021-nba-sum...j1wpkgtjchmcbl But could it translate to a concrete opportunity in the league? LiAngelo, the middle of the three Ball brothers, has taken a unique path to get to this point, but his profile isn't that far off of a typical NBA player. Coming out of high school in 2017, 247Sports ranked Ball 226th among high school seniors, ahead of current NBA players in McKinley Wright, Nicolas Claxton and Chris Duarte. While he only took the floor for an exhibition game in Westwood, Ball's standing as a prospect is a reminder that UCLA doesn't just offer anyone a basketball scholarship. Four years later, Ball is looking to crack an NBA roster, and he's got the measurables to do it. On the Hornets' Summer League roster, Ball is listed as a 6-foot-5 forward that weighs in at 230 pounds. Of roughly 60 NBA players that measured around 6-foot-5 last season, Ball's measurements are most similar to those of Kelan Martin of the Indiana Pacers and Abdel Nader of the Phoenix Suns. Aside from their measurables, Martin and Nader are similar in that they each shot over 40 percent - albeit on low volume - from beyond the arc in the 2020-21 season, in addition to providing some value on the defensive end. A shooter by trade, LiAngelo has the smoothest jump shot in the family, putting his jumper on full display by shooting 5-for-8 from deep in his summer debut. In today's NBA, there's always a place for shooting, but given his size, Ball's release might not be speedy enough for him to be a 6-foot-5 specialist at the NBA level like the 6-foot-7 Duncan Robinson or 6-foot-10 Davis Bertans, both all-world shooters, to boot. This isn't to say that Ball can't develop into that calibre of a shooter - Robinson's break came after an impressive showing in the 2018 Summer League - but it is a reminder that there is a stark contrast to going 6-for-12 in two Summer League games and shooting at a similar clip over the course of an 82-game season. With that in mind, Ball's best bet to carve a path to the league is a commitment to being a difference-maker on the defensive end to work himself into the mould of a 3-and-D player. Ball's athleticism won't blow you away, but he has the strength to hold his own and the basketball pedigree to be a smart defender, something that can cause teams to give him an attentive look. But from what teams? And what would that look even amount to? Let's start with Charlotte. The Hornets believed in LiAngelo Ball enough to extend him the Summer League invite, and he's made the most of the minutes he's been granted by coach Dutch Gaitley, but Charlotte's NBA roster is pretty crowded at all positions. After a busy offseason, the Hornets have 17 players on a standard NBA contract, while their two Two-Way slots have been filled by 2021 draft pick Scottie Lewis and 2018 draft pick Arnoldas Kulboka. Rookie DJ Carton signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the franchise, which ensures a training camp invite and an incentive-laden pathway to the franchise's G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, should he be cut by the Hornets ahead of opening night of the 2021-22 NBA season. Provided Charlotte doesn't trim down its roster over the next eight weeks, it could have its 20-man group for training camp already set. That being said, LiAngelo Ball could still end up on a G League contract with the Greensboro Swarm, which is commonplace for Summer League standouts, even those that don't receive Exhibit 10 deals. Goodwill with the Hornets franchise could facilitate such a deal, which could also be a fast-track to a spot to join the roster at some point during the season. Should a member of the Hornets' 15-man roster get traded or waived, a spot would become open. The same applies for the Two-Way players, each of whom could either be waived or see their contracts converted to a standard NBA deal, which could open a Two-Way contract. Around the league, Ball's performance in the Summer League also doubles as an audition for 29 other teams. To keep things in the family, the Chicago Bulls have a number of roster openings, including both of their Two-Way spots. LiAngelo Ball also has preexisting familiarity with the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder organizations, signing a deal with the Thunder's G League affiliate in March of 2020 and signing a training camp deal with the Pistons in December of 2020. All this to say, it's not uncommon for teams to be enamoured with a player to the point that they sign them away from other teams during the Summer League. It's becoming clearer and clearer that LiAngelo Ball isn't as far off from being an NBA player as many may have perceived, but there are still just 510 roster spots total, with thousands vying for each one of them, many of whom never suit up for a preseason game, let alone make a difference on the Summer League stage. While it appears that the 23-year-old's best basketball is ahead of him, the path won't be any easier. This summer is proof to the world that LiAngelo Ball at least has a shot.

08-13-2021, 08:56 PM	#26
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Game Results (Aug 13) LAS VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE TOP PERFORMERS NBA.com https://www.nba.com/news/2021-summer...tandouts-day-9 GAME HIGHLIGHTS NBA Video https://www.youtube.com/c/NBA/videos GAME RESULTS Minnesota 91 Milwaukee 64 https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-mil-...core#box-score Utah 84 Miami 65 https://www.nba.com/game/mia-vs-uta-...core#box-score New Orleans 87 Cleveland 74 https://www.nba.com/game/nop-vs-cle-...core#box-score Golden State 94 Oklahoma City 84 https://www.nba.com/game/gsw-vs-okc-...core#box-score Detroit 93 New York 87 https://www.nba.com/game/nyk-vs-det-...core#box-score Sacramento 90 Memphis 75 https://www.nba.com/game/mem-vs-sac-...core#box-score LA Lakers 86 LA Clippers 84 https://www.nba.com/game/lal-vs-lac-...core#box-score
	Last edited by Old School; 08-14-2021 at 04:07 AM.

08-13-2021, 11:35 PM	#27
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Biggest Surprises & Disappointments ESPN https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...-far-las-vegas *NBA summer league 2021: Biggest surprises and disappointments so far in Las Vegas* Which rookies and veterans have surprised the most after one week of summer league basketball? Who have been the biggest disappointments? Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs have had stellar performances in their summer league debuts, but are they worthy of being named the MVP of Vegas? Players like Payton Pritchard and Immanuel Quickley have impressed as "veterans" thus far, but are they ready to break out and have a standout regular season? And with non-lottery picks like Alperen Sengun and Josh Christopher showing real promise, do the Houston Rockets have the best collection of rookies in the 2021 class? Our experts answer the big questions and pick their 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League MVP after the first week of action in Las Vegas. 1. What has been the biggest surprise so far? Tim Bontemps: While Jalen Johnson slipped to No. 20 in last month's NBA draft, it wasn't long ago that he was one of the most highly touted recruits in the country. And through the first few days in Las Vegas, it appears the Atlanta Hawks might've landed themselves a steal. Johnson was averaging 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks through his first three games, and shot over 56% from the field, flashing some impressive skills in the open court. He also has landed in a great situation, where he will play for a coach in Nate McMillan who will make him earn minutes, and on a team where he can be brought along slowly. Andrew Lopez: When it was announced that LiAngelo Ball was going to be on the Charlotte Hornets' summer league roster, some might have scoffed at the idea that he was taking an opportunity away from someone else. So far in three games, he has proved that he's making the most of his chances. Ball has averaged 11.3 points while shooting 44.4% from 3-point range as he looks to assert himself as someone who could earn a training camp invitation, rather than someone who received it on his last name alone. Kevin Pelton: The biggest surprise is that Kenneth Faried is here playing for the Portland Trail Blazers after two full seasons out of the league. He last played an NBA game in April 2019 and is averaging 8.3 rebounds in summer league thus far. Mike Schmitz: While it won't come as a surprise to those who watched him at West Virginia, the New York Knicks have something in No. 36 pick Miles McBride, averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 63.6% from 2 and 61.5% from 3 through three summer league games. McBride could quickly become a Tom Thibodeau favorite with his relentless on-ball defense, possibly earning himself a spot in the rotation. With a 6-foot-9 wingspan, McBride can check either backcourt spot and has turned himself into a reliable floor spacer who doesn't need the ball to make an impact. That versatility should work alongside core players Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker. Royce Young: The buzz around Alperen Sengun on draft night was that he is a lottery-level talent, and thus far he has looked the part. He has shown a high offensive skill level, quality rebounding and even a knack for weakside shot-blocking. Perhaps he fell to the Rockets at No. 16 -- after they moved up in a deal with Oklahoma City to get him -- because of concerns about his fit in the modern NBA as a more traditional big, but Sengun has a polished game and could be a solid rotation player this season for Houston. 2. What has been the biggest disappointment so far? Lopez: No Elam Ending. Two double-overtime games on Wednesday (Miami-Memphis and Utah-Dallas) and another on Thursday (Brooklyn-Washington) were decided in a sudden-death situation. Miami won when Max Strus drained a 3-pointer on the first play of double OT, Utah won after Trent Forrest drew a foul on the first possession. Forrest missed the first free throw, adding a little suspense, before knocking down the next one and waving goodbye to the Mavericks' bench, in summer league! Cameron Thomas got Brooklyn the victory with a one-legged, shot-clock-beating runner for 3. Let's add excitement to these games with the Elam Ending and get game-winning shots every time. Bontemps: This has nothing to do with him as a player, but it was disappointing that Thunder guard Josh Giddey played only a couple of minutes before being shut down with an ankle injury. Giddey was one of the most interesting players during the pre-draft process, with a bunch of the teams in the mid-to-late lottery interested in him -- only to wind up going No. 6 to Oklahoma City. It will be fun to watch Giddey play alongside newly extended Shai Gilgeous-Alexander next season. It's just too bad we couldn't see him play here. Pelton: It has been a rough couple of games for Cole Anthony, who has shot 5-of-25 from the field and handed out just six assists playing alongside No. 5 pick Jalen Suggs in the Orlando Magic backcourt. With the addition of Suggs and return of Markelle Fultz, Anthony could find his playing time squeezed after he started in 34 games and averaged 27.1 minutes as a rookie. Schmitz: Watching Cade Cunningham stand in the corner while either Killian Hayes or Saben Lee consistently started and ended possessions was maddening. Using Cunningham as only a part-time ball handler is stripping him of one of his best skills (passing) while making him look ordinary. The situation reminds me of when the Dallas Mavericks tried their best to make the Luka Doncic-Dennis Smith Jr. pairing work before ultimately giving Doncic the keys. With the ball-dominant Hayes clearly not the level of player the Pistons were hoping for when they surprisingly selected him seventh overall, Detroit would be wise to shift Hayes to a bench playmaker role, using Cunningham as the lead initiator with the starting unit. Young: Josh Giddey. Not because of anything he has done, but because we haven't had the opportunity to see what he can do. He played only five minutes in his summer league debut, throwing down a nice two-handed dunk off a slick crossover move, but then tweaked his ankle and hasn't played since. I'm just disappointed we haven't been able to see more. 3. Who has been the summer league MVP thus far? Young: Jalen Suggs. There is a belief that Suggs is a culture changer, a player who can lift up a franchise with his polished professionalism and hard-charging competitive motor. So far in Orlando, that has been the case. He looks like the kind of player who wants to do it all, from rebounding and defending to scoring, passing and leading. There are some Russell Westbrook vibes to Suggs' makeup, and the Magic have to be thrilled that he fell to them at No. 5. Lopez: The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA draft is going to put up some big numbers for the Rockets this season, and he's showing why in summer league. Jalen Green averaged 24 points on .514/.526/.929 splits in his first three games, and the Rockets went 2-1. Green's scoring ability has been on full display, and it's why he'll be in the mix for Rookie of the Year, no matter how Houston's season plays out. Pelton: There's nothing more valuable in summer league than a competent point guard, and Payton Pritchard has given the Celtics exactly that during their 3-0 start, with 26 assists against just four turnovers. Pritchard also has shot 15-of-26 (57.7%) from 3-point range and has even contributed 17 rebounds in two games. Schmitz: Max Strus edges out other standouts because of the chutzpah it took to pull up from 30 feet in the first possession of a sudden-death overtime game. If you count the California Classic, Strus has now scored 72 points in 95 summer league minutes, shooting 15-of-37 (40.5%) from distance. Strus is looking like a clear rotational player who can distort defenses with the threat of his on-the-move shooting at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds. Strus has earned himself an uptick in minutes this season with his play thus far. Bontemps: Though he left his third game with a hand injury, Suggs showed the Magic, and their fans, everything they could have hoped for. Suggs, who dominated last year as a freshman at Gonzaga, has the potential to finally galvanize a Magic team that has been in desperate need of a true tentpole star to build around. He plays with a rugged, aggressive style at both ends of the court that's easy to fall for, and he can do it all on the court, as he showed by averaging 20 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals through those first two games. 4. Who has been the best 'veteran' at summer league? Schmitz: Though he's far from a "veteran," Tyrese Maxey has really caught my eye thus far. After shooting just 30.1% from 3 as a rookie and often turning down open looks in favor of downhill attacks, Maxey has been hunting pull-up 3s from well beyond the arc. If Maxey's improved shooting is a sign of things to come, I'd expect him to make a huge jump this upcoming season when you consider his already impressive rim attacks and defensive activity. Young: Patrick Williams. Williams was an underrated rookie last season, quietly playing solid, efficient basketball in a more limited role for the Bulls. But after averaging 21.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in his first three games in Vegas, he looks like a prime breakout candidate for this upcoming season. Bontemps: Payton Pritchard has looked terrific for the Boston Celtics -- who have also looked terrific, though that should come to the surprise of no one, given that half their roster is composed of players on NBA contracts. But Pritchard, who has a chance to carve out an even bigger role than the one he immediately filled as a rookie last year in the wake of Kemba Walker's departure, has looked like someone who is too good to be playing in summer league -- a good first step to carving out that kind of role. Lopez: Because there wasn't a summer league last season, a lot of second-year NBA players are making their Vegas debuts. Memphis' Desmond Bane -- who played in 68 games last season and averaged 9.2 points while shooting 43.2% from 3 -- is making the most of his time. In his first game, Bane dropped 32 points while shooting 6-of-8 from 3. He followed that up by hitting 3-of-5 from 3 in Game 2. Pelton: Besides Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley. Quickley hasn't shot the ball well thus far (7-of-29 on 3s), but has shown greater mastery of the game than he did as a surprise rookie for the Knicks. Quickley has handed out 23 assists against seven turnovers in three games and is getting to the free throw line repeatedly, where he's 19-of-19. Quickley is too good for this competition. 5. What has been your biggest takeaway from the first week? Young: The five players everyone thought would be pretty good do, indeed, look pretty good. Drawing major conclusions from summer league is one of the seven deadly sins of the NBA, but there is an old adage that you can determine who can't play with a few looks in Vegas. And so far, there have been no red flags with the top five picks. The belief was this draft was unique in that it had five players qualified to be a No. 1 overall-caliber player, and so far, that appears to be holding true. Bontemps: The idea that summer league was going to become a devalued part of the NBA calendar has died a quick death. Usman Garuba's arrival means that all 30 of this year's first-round picks are playing, silencing concerns that arose in 2019 when many top prospects didn't play. Lopez: The Pelicans are going to get major minutes from rookie Trey Murphy III this season. Drafted at No. 17, Murphy had 26 points and nine rebounds in his debut, showing off his touch from deep and his willingness to fight around the rim. He also had a nice poster for his efforts. But on a team that wanted to add shooting and defense this summer, Murphy checks both boxes. He told reporters one of the main reasons he wanted to transfer to Virginia before last season was to work on his defense. Mission accomplished. Schmitz: Even if Cade Cunningham hasn't had a true signature game quite yet, the depth of the 2021 class has lived up to the hype. Jalen Green is scoring from all over the floor. Evan Mobley is making pull-up 3s and passing like a guard. Jalen Suggs is making winning plays. Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga have flashed moments of brilliance. Davion Mitchell looks like a future DPOY candidate. Chris Duarte is raining 3s from deep range. Non-lottery picks like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper are shining. This draft will go down as one of the all-time greats. Pelton: The league's future is in good hands. Nobody can say exactly how this year's rookie class will develop, but as Mike Schmitz noted earlier this week, there seems to be an unusually high number of players who bring strong defensive effort and look like great teammates. That bodes well for their development. Fact or Fiction: The Rockets have the best rookies from this class Bontemps: Fact. The combination of Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun has been impressive so far, while Josh Christopher has had some moments and Usman Garuba is now back. Then again, Houston ought to have the most talent here with four first-round picks, including two of the top 16 selections in the draft. But there has been an impressive amount of talent on display this week across the board, as many members of this year's rookie class -- plus the second-year guys in attendance -- have had their moments. Lopez: Fiction. Houston's depth stands out -- Green, Sengun, Garuba and Christopher -- but I like the high-end potential of both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody in Golden State. The Warriors legitimately could have picked either player at No. 7, and they wound up with both players. They are also going into a win-now situation with the Warriors with the right setup around both of them, surrounded by veterans who are going to push them to make the most of their contributions. Pelton: Fact. Houston's rookie corps got even stronger Thursday when No. 23 pick Garuba made his debut after completing a buyout with Spanish power Real Madrid. That depth is unmatched by any other team. Schmitz: Fact. Green is torching defenses with the scoring instincts of a longtime All-Star, Sengun looks like the steal of the draft, and Christopher is more than backing up his first-round selection. With that said, I think Atlanta has also been one of the big winners with Jalen Johnson looking like a top-10 pick and Cooper showing his incredible natural ability. Young: Fiction. The Magic's Suggs and Franz Wagner are the best group so far. Suggs has been off to a roaring start as expected, while Wagner showcased some versatility with his shooting and ballhandling, and even stood tall defensively against No. 3 overall pick Evan Mobley.

08-14-2021, 12:28 AM	#28
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Naz Carter Resurfaces At NBA Summer League With Atlanta Hawks SI https://www.si.com/college/washingto...-summer-league *Former Husky Naz Carter Resurfaces in NBA Summer League* Rebuilding a tarnished personal reputation, Naz Carter played in an organized basketball game the other night, turning up in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. This was noteworthy because it the first outing for the 6-foot-6 swingman in 18 months, since his junior season ended, and the University of Washington later dropped him from Mike Hopkins' program over allegations of sexual misconduct. On Thursday night, Carter logged 13 minutes for the Atlanta Hawks in a 96-88 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers. He took 4 shots and hit 1, and contributed a rebound, a steal and an assist, while drawing 3 personal fouls. Carter ended up with the Hawks for the summer after working out for the Sacramento Kings prior to the NBA draft last month and he then went undrafted. Coming out from under a dark cloud, Carter is attempting to resume his basketball career after the UW investigated claims of misbehavior made by multiple women and the school determined that he couldn't play his senior season for the Huskies and suspended him. No criminal charges were ever filed. Carter quickly left school. The nephew of entertainers Jay Z and Beyonce, the New York native was one of Hopkins' first UW recruits and he played three seasons in Seattle. Starting only as a junior, he averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 points per game. In all, Carter played 102 games for the Huskies. At one time, he was considered an NBA prospect, appearing in a handful of mock drafts.

08-14-2021, 09:15 AM	#29
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Top 10 Drafted Rookies: Biggest Surprises, Questions & Grades At Summer League Bleacher Report https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-summer-league There is only one thing for us to do now that the 2021 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is three or four games old for each team: Check in with every top-10 draft pick. Nearly all of them have seen extensive court time so far. Josh Giddey, the sixth overall selection, is the lone exception, and even he saw the floor for a few minutes before suffering a left ankle sprain. Maybe I still have pandemic brain, but it feels like roughly forever since every top-10 draft prospect saw run in Sin City. Hence the impulse for a progress report. Do not take these report cards as referendums beyond recall. They are merely thoughts and feels and questions based off first impressions. They are meant to change. They are also meant to take the newness of everyone into account. Profound summer-league conclusions are for romantics or controversy artists. This aims to hover somewhere in the middle, indulging the anything's possible-ness incumbent of exhibition outings and de-emphasizing the box score without pretending that every rookie is actually perfect and on the super-duper-mega-star track. 10. Ziaire Williams, Memphis Grizzlies Pleasant Surprise: Game-readiness Maybe this shouldn't even count. The idea that Ziaire Williams needs extensive time to marinate was predicated on taking his performance with Stanford at face value. Shooting 36.0 percent on two-point jumpers and 29.1 percent from deep, per Hoop-Math, still doesn't look good. Ditto for his averaging more turnovers than the assists. But college basketball, like the rest of our world, unfolded amid a global pandemic. And Williams played in California, a state that had some of the most rigid restrictions in place. Couldn't his struggles just be a symptom of relative limitation? If how Williams has played so far hints at what to come, they absolutely will be. Though his most recent outing against the Sacramento Kings saw him miss all six of his three-pointers, his offensive feels has flirted with divinity. He has looked at home working off the baseline, dribbled into some jumpers, taken drives all the way to the rim, got off catch-and-fire treys and even uncorked an impossible-to-guard step-back. Biggest Question: What will his role be in Memphis next season? Trading Jonas Valanciunas, taking on the salaries of Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe and doing absolutely nothing during free agency suggests the Memphis Grizzlies are all-in on the big picture and the developmental window it creates. Then again, they've obliterated expectations in each of the past two seasons, so who knows. Regardless of their immediate direction, their angle with Williams is fuzzy. He should be able to give them minutes across the 3 and 4, but they're hardly barren at those spots. The Grizzlies have to this point treated Jaren Jackson Jr. like a power forward, which is also where Xavier Tillman logged a chunk of his minutes last season. The wing rotation, meanwhile, includes a steady mix of Kyle Anderson, Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane, the latter of whom has demanded a more prominent role with his play in Vegas. So, like, where does Williams fall amid this hodgepodge? It gets a little easier hashing out a spot in the rotation if Jackson mans the middle more often, but even then, do the Grizzlies have the stomach to withstand Williams' learning curve? Figuring out how to incorporate a bunch of playable talent into the rotation is a great problem to have, but it's a problem all the same—and one made more complicated by Williams' summer-league contributions. Overall Grade: B+ 9. Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings Pleasant Surprise: Off-the-dribble three Davion Mitchell drew comps to Patrick Beverley coming out of Baylor. They were not unwarranted. He profiled as a similar player in the NBA: someone under 6'3" who could defend much larger and would, in the absence of top-shelf playmaking, make his dent off the ball. Beverley no longer feels like the most apt comparison Mitchell. He is already more of a floor general than Beverley and, in Vegas, has revealed a serviceable off-the-bounce jumper. Each of his four made threes in Friday's win over the Grizzlies went unassisted. They're not all straightaway looks he moseys into, either. He has torched defenses all week with glimpses into his step-back J. Biggest Question: Will the Kings play a three point guard lineup? Oh, how times have changed in such a short amount of time. The Kings turned themselves into a Twitter punchline by drafting the 6'2" Mitchell when they already had De'Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield. Flipping Delon Wright for Tristan Thompson didn't initially shift anything. Now, here I am, wondering whether Mitchell is showing enough in Vegas to mandate he play beside both Fox and Haliburton. The answer, in my book, should be yes. Mitchell has been that convincing. His on-ball defense isn't exhaustive; it's murderous. He doesn't end possessions; he erases people from the planet. Combined with his mix of set and off-the-dribble shooting, he should mesh with both Fox and Haliburton. That 1-2-3 combo will want for size, but I seriously, totally don't give a damn. Haliburton is 6'7" and Mitchell is muuuuuuch better suited to defending wings than Hield. Make it happen, Sacramento. Grade: A 8. Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic Pleasant Surprise: Decision-making in space Franz Wagner isn't putting together a summer league to remember—not for the right reasons, anyway. But his performance isn't without its silver linings. Touted as more of a three-and-D prospect coming out of Michigan, he has unveiled layers to his offensive game. And that's huge, because his three-ball isn't currently falling. Depending too much on his right hand will get Wagner in trouble at the next level. The Orlando Magic don't have enough bankable floor spacing for him to work solely outside of traffic. But he has demonstrated more wiggle on the ball when afforded breathing room. Most recently, during Thursday's shellacking against the Boston Celtics, he shot-faked into an explosive baseline drive and froze the defense with twitchy shoulders and head pumps off the bounce. Both plays saw him use his strong hand while going right. But reliance isn't necessarily presage to predictability. He has some variance in his bag. Biggest Question: Will the three-ball start to fall? Through three games, Wagner has attempted 12 threes. He's made one of them. That's miles from ideal, particularly when he's not subsisting on self-engineered, contested triples. He is missing wide-open threebies, with the same long, low release that contributed to his pre-draft red flags. Optimists can and should point out that Wagner isn't grossly whiffing on these looks. Most of his misfires are on line and hitting the front of the rim. His clip on wide-open threes should climb in time—though this is certainly a situation in which he may need to quicken his motion and/or change his point of release if he's going to hit his absolute peak. Overall Grade: C- 7. Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors Pleasant Surprise: Holy finishing Aspects of Jonathan Kuminga's game—most notably his shooting—remain a project. His finishing, on the other hand, looks game-ready. Kuminga has spent his time in Las Vegas converting baskets while going through and around brick walls. He should be a devastating rim-runner if the Golden State Warriors have enough shooters on the floor and is reading defenses at a higher level than advertised. The frequency with which he's putting the ball on the deck and changing the angle of attempts at the basket and around bodies is prophetic. Biggest Question: How much will the Warriors lean on him? This is not the most surgical question, but it bears asking all the same. The Warriors are the rare team trying to incorporate three lottery picks from the past two drafts while reopening their title-contention window. Having Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and, eventually, Klay Thompson should limit their reliance on the kiddies for playmaking and scoring. (Moses Moody, drafted at No. 14, might actually be the most immediately important youngster.) But development takes reps, and only so much can be done by shuttling players to and from Santa Cruz. Golden State's roster isn't set up to tether its two primary rookies to the G-League. Its depth chart goes maybe four or five bodies deep, at full strength, of proven players who can log heavy minutes and make a high impact. Whether that means Kuminga will be treated as a key rotation player or brought along more slowly is a matter of course. The Warriors are, for now, trying to juggle two separate windows, and it isn't yet clear how committed they are to intertwining the two. Overall Grade: B+ 6. Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder Pleasant Surprise: He scored within the first 15 seconds of his summer-league career This is cheating. But it comes from a good place. Josh Giddey logged just over five minutes before suffering a left ankle sprain that has sidelined him ever since. On his first possession of the game, though, he scooted around a ball screen, scampered down the lane and finished a two-handed slam. That's not exactly the first impression you'd expect from someone billed as extremely pass-first coming out of Australia. Biggest Question: Can he be a consistent scoring threat? Summer league projected as the perfect environment for Giddey, a setting in which he'd be gifted full control over the offense and ample opportunity to address concerns that he's too passive of a scorer. Welp. Assuming his left ankle sprain isn't serious and his absence is more precautionary, the 18-year-old should get plenty of chances to steward the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's the benefit of playing on a team not, let's say, actively chasing wins. At the same time, summer-league settings are unique. Giddey would've been The Guy. At worst, he'd have been Theo Maledon's Sidekick. His reps will be somewhat curtailed by the former and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the regular season. (But not Kemba Walker!) Anyway...Will Giddey consistently look for his own shot out of the pick-and-roll? Does he have an off-the-dribble three we don't know about? Will defenses respect his range and scoring enough to do more than play all the way back on him? We're no closer to knowing the answers. Put another way: Injuries suck. Overall Grade: Incomplete 5. Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic Pleasant Surprise: Offensive balance Jalen Suggs always figured to contend with Jalen Green for "Best Scorer of This Draft Class" honors. (Related: Cam Thomas will want a word if he gets regular-season minutes.) But that competition can imply one-track usage. And Suggs is not just a scorer. The methods by which gets buckets vary. He compiled a highlight reel's worth of made from-scratch jumpers during his summer-league debut. Then, in his second outing, he showcased a capacity to play off others, relocating around the arc and barrelling through cracks and chasms in the defense away from the ball. That second game, a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, also saw Suggs cake in more table-setting. He sprayed kick-outs and even hinted at a little misdirection in the form of a no-look pass the led to an easy two under the basket. Ample opportunity is Suggs' rite of arrival. The Magic don't have any other pure bucket-getters on the roster. They need him to be high volume. But the role that should await him is not merely a byproduct of circumstance. It's one for which he looks (mostly) ready. Biggest Question: How will he handle physical defenses? Suggs never profiled as someone who would enter the league and get to the line in droves. Even by that standard, he seemed to fade for possessions at a time when facing defenses that move him around. Cleveland had success forcing the ball out of his hands, and Suggs' drives were too compromised on the occasions he did try to blaze through contact. Life won't change much for him during the regular season. The Magic don't have many other shot-creators to spell him, and with limited spacing around him, his is an approach that, right now, looks like it'll stall out well before the rim. Overall Grade: B+ 4. Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors Pleasant Surprise: Fluency Off the Bounce Pay no mind to Scottie Barnes' shooting splits. Evaluating new kids on the block has to go beyond raw returns. For those in primary roles, quality efficiency should be viewed as a pleasant surprise, not the immediate standard. That Barnes can work off the dribble so seamlessly is more telltale than his percentages from the floor. He doesn't just need unoccupied spaces to navigate. He has gone right at guys, created separation with his shoulder, hit shots going away from the basket, flashed a neat-o push shot and even given us a looksy at change-of-direction handles. Everyone, everywhere, should still be thinking about the turnaround jumper he buried over Jonathan Kuminga after faking left. If he ever melds this all-encompassing attack mode with more consistent shot-making—he looks like he'll convert standalone threes in time—the Toronto Raptors should have another cornerstone on their ends. Biggest Question: Do his minutes need to be monitored next season? Barnes has shown signs of fatigue at various points in summer league—stretches in which he doesn't account for defenders catching up to him from behind, settles for shots that'll make Raptors head coach Nick Nurse's eyes pop out of their socket and racks up misses that aren't even close. He has labored through moments of disengagement, too. After leaving the Raptors' Thursday night game against the Houston Rockets for a beat, he looked out of sorts and not particularly aggressive and didn't get his first made field goal until the fourth quarter. Conditioning is a gradual process, if that's even his issue. But given some of his summer-league lows, Toronto may need to monitor his minutes like a hawk as it brings him along and expects him to remain hyper-active on defense. Overall Grade: B 3. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers Pleasant Surprise: Playmaking Four summer-league games are not enough to declare Evan Mobley the next Point Big Man. With that in mind: Don't rule it out. Mobley's feel for setting up teammates defies his size. The Cleveland Cavaliers have him spearheading fast breaks and initiating the half-court offense from above the break. He's responded by flinging an array of swanky and witty dimes. Standstill tosses, pitches on the move, leading teammates open, slick bounce passes, pick-and-roll orchestration—he does it all. His comfort launching jumpers off the dribble only strengthens his facilitation. Defenses cannot plan around a seven-footer with the handle, vision and face-up scoring chops of a wing. Biggest Question: How will his offense look next to Jarrett Allen? Joining the actual Cavaliers will invariably help Mobley. Nobody can hope for a 20-year-old big to come in and steer the offense. His role will be streamlined beside Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio, allowing him to focus more on finishing rather than creation and, thus, dabble in the best of both worlds to start his career. Still, while Mobley is willing to sling threes and can fire over the top of defenders off the bounce, his floor game doesn't unfold with the speed of a guard. Not yet. Maybe not ever. His jump shots are not exactly givens right now, either. He is still best suited at the 5, which is perfectly fine. But he will have to soak up reps at the 4 after Cleveland signed Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100 million deal. Neither Mobley's offensive utility nor defensive mobility will be as stark of a mismatch in dual-big lineups. This doesn't mean the frontcourt partnership is doomed. But it does mean the extent to which he can coexist beside Allen will dictate how the Cavs proceed in the years to come. Overall Grade: A- 2. Jalen Green, Houston Rockets Pleasant Surprise: Efficiency A right hamstring flare-up has limited Jalen Green to roughly 2.5 appearances, but that's all he needed to leave his mark. His shooting splits suggest a role without frills. He's slashing 51.4/52.6(!)/92.9 for crying out loud. But his offense is coming within superstar context: tough jumpers, brain-bending sidestep threes, physical finishes, the whole nine. Calling him a human bucket undersells his body of work. His scoring was known. This marriage of volume and efficiency, on this stage, having faced off against Cade Cunningham, is nothing short of revelatory. Biggest Question: Will his offense IMMEDIATELY translate? Using Green's detonations against him feels lame. Full stop. It's also a fair question Summer league is almost supposed to be Green's playground after spending last year with the G-League Ignite. Once more, with feeling, the efficiency he sustained amid his mode of operation is bonkers. But his shot selection lends itself to streakiness. Tracking the ebbs and flows of his rookie-year performance will be an interesting exercise. Count me among those who believe he'll be mostly OK. He may not shoot infinity percent on off-the-dribble threes, but he did a rock-solid job toggling between focal-point usage and complementary finishing. He can space the floor around other ball-handlers and will hotfoot his way down the lane after giving up the ball. Playing beside other snazzy shot creators on the Houston Rockets—Eric Gordon, Kevin Porter Jr., John Wall, Josh Christopher—should enable him to balance out his scoring. Overall Grade: A 1. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons Pleasant Surprise: Off-ball feel Plenty of people wondered how Cade Cunningham would work within an offense that also featured Killian Hayes. (Aside: If you're a masochist, go ahead and check out Killian Hayes Twitter takes.) That concern, while fair, no longer seems like a real issue. Stepping into catch-and-shoot jumpers seemed reflexive for Cunningham and doesn't appear content to stand stationary when dotting the corners. The Detroit Pistons should try to get him moving off the ball even more, if only for duck-ins, but the dynamic between he and Hayes—and, for that matter, any other ball-handler—will be just fine. Bonus point: His off-ball effectiveness on defense is similarly tantalizing. He already has a good feel for party crashing passing lanes without losing sight of everything else that happens around him. Biggest Question: Will turnovers be a yearlong issue? Cunningham's size, handle, patience and overall vision should allow him to throw whatever pass he wants. His line of sight cannot be obscured by trees, and he's capable of hitting all sorts of angles. Right now, though, he's too often leaving his feet. That, in turn, has seemed to muck up his timing. Growing pains are part of being a rookie, but this is something to watch if, as expected, he assumes control of Detroit's offense from Day 1. Overall Grade: A-

08-14-2021, 08:22 PM	#30
Old School Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 28, 2020 Location: Earth Posts: 2,137	Breaking Down Jalen Suggs' Overall Skills At NBA Summer League NBA.com https://www.nba.com/magic/news/revie...eague-20210814 Jalen Suggs has been ruled out for the remainder of summer league after spraining his left thumb during Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics. The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder played just under 66 minutes over three games and averaged 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals. Selected fifth overall by the Orlando Magic in last month’s draft, Suggs had an unsurprisingly impressive start to his NBA career. All the things he excelled at in his one season at Gonzaga, which with Suggs’ leadership made it all the way to the NCAA championship game, were on display in Las Vegas. Let’s break down what the 20-year-old did well and where he must improve. PLAYMAKING Suggs’ top strengths are his passing and game management. Some have compared him to Jason Kidd for that reason. Both in pick-and-roll and in the open floor, he makes excellent reads and decisions while surveying the court. Using a nice blend of agility, craftiness, and ingenuity, the Saint Paul, Minnesota native routinely got into the paint and made sound choices. The Magic haven’t shot the ball well at summer league, so Suggs didn’t rack up a ton of assists. But many of the good looks Orlando got stemmed from his savviness and prudence. Spotting open teammates on the perimeter after collapsing the defense on drives is something he’s elite at doing. OFFENSIVE AGGRESSIVNESS Suggs played on a stacked team at Gonzaga. For that reason, it wasn’t critical for him to always have a scorer’s mentality. Based on his approach at summer league, it appears he’s more than capable of taking over games if necessary. Although he only shot 41.5 percent from the field, Suggs was able to show off some of his offensive creativity. Interesting about him is that he’s very unpredictable. It’s hard for defenders to guess whether he’s going to accelerate all the way to the basket, stop on a dime and attempt a pull-up jumper or create separation using his good footwork, ball handling and shiftiness. Initiating contact on drives is something else he thrived at. He took nine free throws. DEFENSIVE VERSATLITY/INTENSITY Deflections aren’t officially tallied in summer league, but just based on the eye test, it appeared Suggs had a lot of them. He has incredible instincts and anticipation. Several passes attempted by the Magic’s opponents didn’t reach the intended target because of Suggs’ peskiness and alertness. What also stood out on the defensive end was Suggs’ timing, both when guarding the ball and when rising to block a shot. He had a huge block on Moses Moody in the win over the Warriors and a steal on Carsen Edwards against the Celtics just before injuring his left hand. REBOUNDING The Magic are unique in that all their young guards are good rebounders. Suggs, Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton and Markelle Fultz are unafraid to mix it up with the big boys in the paint. In Suggs’ case, he will use his supreme athleticism to fly in for rebounds. AREAS TO IMPROVE As mentioned earlier, Suggs only shot 41.5 percent from the floor. Obviously, that’s not a good mark. He has a nice touch on his floater and good mechanics on his jumper, so it would be somewhat surprising if he wasn’t more efficient in his career. But it’s too early to tell whether he’s someone that can go on scoring tears. He made five of his 14 3-point attempts. Once again, his form is good, but does he have it in him to knock down shots from various ranges consistently? Another thing that’s still a bit ambiguous and maybe misunderstood is Suggs’ blow-by speed. While a spectacular vertical athlete and electrifying in the open floor, he’s not necessarily someone that’s going to zip by every defender in his path. He relies more on shiftiness to elude and outfox opponents. But when he goes full force downhill, he’s tough to contain because of his excellent balance, body control, strength and coordination.