The Great 2016 NBA Summer League Manifesto

Everything you ever wanted to know from all 97 NBA Summer League games across Orlando, Utah, and Vegas

There were 97 Summer League games in Orlando, Utah, and Vegas and I watched just about all of them. I lost count somewhere between 80 and 90… my apologies for missing the last ten or so. I’ve grown to love Summer League with all its quirks. It’s a great way to see who got next and a lot of fun to watch players develop from one summer to the next. It’s all about the future of the NBA unfolding before your eyes. And I watched it all. For you.

Below you’ll find 17,000 words about every team in the NBA and my analysis of their summer players. I didn’t hold back, so you’ll get my honest opinion — bearing in mind that most of these kids are 19–21 years old and can certainly change my mind over time. It happens…

First you’ll find my summer MVP and some make believe teams I put together along with a way-too-early redraft if we had to do it all again and a ranking of the last 3 years of players. Then it’s each team alphabetically with my thoughts on anything and everything about the notable players. Note that I was less interested in immediate results and more interested in long term NBA potential. You’re welcome to disagree, and you’re welcome to add to my notes or ask questions in the comments too. By all means, please share.

If this is all a little too much for you, I also published a condensed version for The Cauldron with a quick look-in at 25 top players. You can see that here:

All-NBA and All-Other Summer Teams

All Guys-That-Shouldn’t-Be-Here Team

G Emmanuel Mudiay DEN G Devin Booker PHX G Norm Powell TOR F Kyle Anderson SAS F Justise Winslow MIA

These are the guys that looked like NBA players playing pickup ball at the Y. They started the summer but didn’t finish — no need to. They’re NBA-ready and just showing off to the rest of these guys. Devin Booker was the MVP (hence the bold) and looks like an absolute star.

1st Team All Summer League

G D’Angelo Russell LAL G Kris Dunn MIN G Jordan McRae CLE F Kyle Anderson SAS F Trey Lyles UTA

These are the five standout players from all of Summer League, but note that the biggest focus was on the early Vegas games, which is when all of the best guys were playing. Dunn was good enough to qualify in only 2 games, but generally a guy had to play most of the summer to make it. Both Anderson and Lyles stood out in Utah and Vegas leagues.

2nd Team All Summer League

G Terry Rozier BOS G Tyus Jones MIN G Tyler Ulis PHX F Bobby Portis CHI F Kelly Oubre WAS

These five guys stood out too and most of them ended up playing longer and posting better stats than the 1st team, but they did it against lesser competition as the tournament went on. Tyus Jones was named Vegas MVP on Sunday night — he, Ulis, and Rozier look like a next generation of PGs.

All Non-Lottery 2016 Picks Team

G Tyler Ulis PHX G Dejounte Murray SAS G Patrick McCaw GSW F Juan Hernangomez DEN F Ivica Zubac LAL

These rookies impressed even though they were not among the top 14 draft picks. Hernangomez barely missed the cut at #15 but Zubac, Ulis, and McCaw were 2nd rounders that have surely earned roster spots on their respective teams. Leave it to the Spurs and Warriors to find two great sleepers late yet again.

All Surprising Team

G Kris Dunn MIN G Terry Rozier BOS F Skal Labissiere SAC F Thon Maker MIL F Henry Ellenson DET

This is all about exceeding expectations. As a T’Wolves fan, I absolutely hated the Dunn pick at #5 and thought he was a low ceiling George Hill or Avery Bradley type — at first look, I couldn’t be more wrong. I also thought Labissiere and Ellenson were huge busts waiting to happen; instead both fell a long ways in the draft and flashed their lottery talent this summer. Rozier sucked last summer but has come a long ways. And Thon? We’ll get back to him.

All Disappointing Team

G Buddy Hield NOP F Brandon Ingram LAL F Jaylen Brown as BOS rep F Dragan Bender PHX F Georgios Papagiannis SAC

Here’s the flipside of the Surprising Team, guys that didn’t live up to expectations — mine in particular. I had Hield, Ingram, and Bender as 3 of the 4 star talents in the draft, and none of them showed it so far this summer. Jaylen Brown wasn’t terrible but he gets MVP as a rep of the Celtics, a team with so many notable young guys that they struggled to find playing time for them all, and yet I’m not sure I saw a bona fide NBA player in the whole mix. As for Sacto’s Greek big man? I had the lowest of expectations and yet he was even worse than I could have imagined.

All Summer Crush Team

G Kris Dunn MIN PG Jamal Murray DEN F Thon Maker MIL F Juan Hernangomez DEN F Justise Winslow MIA

These are the guys I fell in love with and just could not stop watching. And after watching almost 80 Summer League games, you need a few guys like that, the ones that keep you tuning in. Summer League Crush All Star Emeriti include Karl-Anthony Towns, Dennis Schroeder, Bobby Portis, and now-down-to-just-one-year-away Bruno Caboclo.

Thon Maker is my new summer league crush d’jour. You’ll see more about him and Kris Dunn. Justise is a summer-long crush, starting back when he was logging crunch time playoff minutes at center on offense and picking up the point guard on defense coming back. And then there are those Baby Nugs, Hernangomez and point-guard-only Jamal Murray. We’ll get back to that.

Top 25 NBA Players from the Last 3 Drafts

You’re only allowed to play 3 years in Summer League, so the league is mostly full of rookies and sophomores, a few handfuls of third-year guys, and some random veterans trying to catch on. So at the end of each summer, I like to look back at the last 3 drafts and imagine if you threw all 180 guys into one pool and drafted them again. This takes into account every player as they are today, with exact age, health, and development.

Here they are, ready for you to disagree with, all separated nicely into tiers:

Franchise-changing Superstars

Karl-Anthony Towns

Game-changing All Stars

D’Angelo Russell Ben Simmons Andrew Wiggins Devin Booker Kris Dunn

Not the Best Guy on a Title Team but Put Em on My Team Plz

Kristaps Porzingis Justise Winslow Myles Turner Brandon Ingram Zach LaVine ← yes, that’s 4 Wolves in the top 11 Nikola Jokic

Bona Fide NBA Starter with Star Upside

Jabari Parker Jamal Murray Emmanuel Mudiay Thon Maker

Useful NBA Players that Can Start for a Good Team

Dragan Bender Stanley Johnson Rodney Hood Dario Saric Jahlil Okafor Marcus Smart Aaron Gordon Buddy Hield Joel Embiid

Way Too Early 2016 NBA Re-Draft

The 2016 NBA Draft wasn’t even a month ago, so it’s way too early to throw everything out and start over again. (cue The Grinder) But what if we did?

This is a redo of the 14 lottery picks — not based on team needs or selection, just a player ranking. This is a Bayesian approach, still weighing what we knew and thought we knew 3 weeks ago pretty heavily but adding in new knowledge and recency bias from Summer League.

1 Ben Simmons 2 Kris Dunn 3 Brandon Ingram 4 Thon Maker 5 Dragan Bender

6 Jamal Murray 7 Buddy Hield 8 Skal Labissiere 9 Juan Hernangomez 10 Marquess Chriss

11 Henry Ellenson 12 Timothe Luwawu 13 Patrick McCaw 14 Ivica Zubac

Enough previewing and summaries.

Without further ado, let’s get to all the teams…

Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta made a big draft day deal in the 3-way trade that sent Jeff Teague to Indiana and George Hill to Utah, netting them the 12th pick in the draft. In retrospect, it should have been a red flag that this deal happened before the draft, showing that Atlanta might be reaching for a guy that they were certain would be available at #12. Even still, I was a bit shocked by the pick:

Despite all that, I actually like Taurean Prince for Atlanta. He missed the first few summer games because the trade hadn’t been finalized yet but impressed once he got on the court. It looks like Atlanta found a guy they hope to replicate what they’ve lost in DeMarre Carroll, as the raw skill looks pretty similar. Prince stands out physically (and should, at age 22) and uses his size and physicality well on both ends. He flashed a lot of different skills — post offense, a decent looking shot, solid passing and cutting on offense, and good with the ball driving or creating. He’s definitely not the player Carroll is defensively yet. He was good in transition and help D but pretty weak on the ball, consistently sagging off his guy and getting beat with jumpers. I still think this was a reach, but I see what Atlanta likes in him and they have a good track record of developing guys so there’s hope.

DeAndre Bembry was the other first round pick for the Hawks, and he didn’t stand out much. He’s a nice athlete for sure. He played a role on the team on both ends, but I’m not sure that’s really what you’re looking for in Summer League. I was much more impressed with Edy Tavares, Atlanta’s raw big man. He looked awesome defensively at times. He’s a super athlete and flashed the early makings of a DeAndre Jordan type skill set on both ends. Offensively he rolls to the rim well and can defintiely finish there, but he’s at his best on defense. He does the Roy Hibbert verticality thing well and uses his length and hands to frustrate guys at the rim, and he collected blocks by the handfuls. Dwight Howard is the perfect guy for him to learn behind.

Boston Celtics

There’s a lot to unpack here.

Boston has so many young draft picks that they actually got a bit lucky that #23 pick Ante Zizic wasn’t ready to come play too — they honestly didn’t have enough playing time for everyone. And that was without Marcus Smart or Kelly Olynyk playing or obviously guys like Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, or Al Horford. Personally I’d have rather seen Smart or Olynyk starring here and a lot less from the guys at the end of the bench.

Let’s start with #3 pick Jaylen Brown, conspicuously missing from my 14 lottery pick redraft above. Like almost all of the Summer Celtics, I was not impressed. Brown was advertised as a top athlete still working on the rest of his game — and that much at least is true. He’s one of the best athletes out there but his athleticism doesn’t translate to the game. He hasn’t really learned how to use his athleticism well (especially compared to a similar player Marquess Chriss). His hoops IQ is so poor that he never seemed to be in the right spot to use his athletic abilities to make the easy play, on either end of the court. The best part about Brown’s game is his ability to get to the rim and draw a lot of fouls and free throw attempts. That kept a pretty respectable ppg, and that was a carryover from Cal too. He can’t finish at the rim to save his life though, and his free throw shot is shaky at best. In fact his shot in general is broken, badly. His elbows and form are all over the place, and so too are the shot results. Even Brown’s one big game that got the crowd excited was mostly from him finally hitting a bunch of poor contested shots and getting fouled by bad defenders. Brown just didn’t look like a #3 pick to me, even in a weak draft. Brad Stevens has his work cut out.

Then there are the shooting wings RJ Hunter and James Young. I’ve already given up on both. Hunter is a chucker. He plays like an old 90s SG and looks to put the ball up literally any time he touches it. His shot is actually solid, and he does a nice job catching the ball in shooting position ready to fire, but he needs to develop at least a little bit of a conscious and some IQ. Right now he shoots like he’s Steph, and he is not. You don’t get to chuck from 4 feet behind the arc with 18 on the shot clock yet RJ, and don’t shoot with a foot on the line either. You gotta earn it. Hunter is a miserable defender too, and his lack of defensive effort led to a lot of transition leak outs and bad fouls. As for James Young, he was worse — a lot worse. His shot doesn’t even look that good, and he was mostly invisible on both ends of the court. Pass.

The one Celtic that impressed was Terry Rozier, which was a pleasant surprise after he looked awful last summer, his most memorable moment probably coming when he made his signature spaghetti and sugar sandwich on The Starters. This summer Rozier made moments on the court instead, though mostly for himself. He’s crazy quick and can get to any spot on the court including the rim whenever he wants. He also has worked on his shot and hit some threes this year after looking poor a year ago. I’m not sure he’s much of a point guard yet — he’s much better creating for himself and needs to keep his eyes up when he drives and look to see what’s open with the defense collapsing. But he had some big games including 23/7/6 and a deep 4-point play in the final seconds to win the Utah league, then averaged 21ppg in Vegas with a pair of steals too. I’m still not totally sold, but Rozier might be good enough now to allow Boston to package IT4 or Smart in a trade and move Rozier into some regular backup minutes.

Guerschon Yabusele was a shock pick in the middle of the first round, followed immediately after by heaps of praise from guys you have to believe had never seen him play. He was supposed to be a French Draymond and at first glance in game one, I thought he looked more like Boris Diaw. Oh sorry, I forgot a few words — I thought he looked more like he ate Boris Diaw. He is an absolute tank, an undersize 4 only in height, and he definitely needs conditioning work… but also got a lot better and more comfortable as the summer leagues went on (Boston played in Utah and Vegas). Yabusele gets after it and actually shows some solid athleticism despite his size, driving past a guy and throwing it down in one surprise moment. He struggled against guys like Portis and Felicio but was decent against others fighting to make the NBA. I can see some potential down the road, but there’s no way this guy makes an impact this season.

Boston had other guys that could’ve been fun to watch on opponents’ teams but they didn’t get enough of the ball or playing time here to notice much. Demetrius Jackson has a nice looking shot on catch-and-shoot situations but is small and didn’t stand out doing much else. Ben Bentil is a natural scorer and one of those Mo Speights type guys that plays without a conscience. He gets the ball and attacks the basket and looks to shoot every time — but there’s some scoring talent there. Center Jordan Mickey didn’t really show much, lost in the fray.

One big takeaway from the Summer Celtics — just having a billion young players doesn’t actually mean they are all assets. I still think Boston is the most likely destination for Russell Westbrook, but not in a 4-for-1 send-all-our-young-talent-to-OKC type deal because there’s just not enough talent there. Boston goes 20+ deep right now but outside of Smart and maybe Olynyk, Yabusele, or I guess Brown, there’s not much I’d get excited about trading for. And even those guys are throw-ins, not centerpieces. If I was trading with the Celtics, I’d push hard to get those Brooklyn picks instead so I can draft my own guys, or go the veteran route and push for IT4 or Crowder or at least Bradley.

Brooklyn Nets

Unfortunately for Brooklyn fans (is that a thing?), there’s not much to see here. Despite its awful season, Brooklyn’s #3 pick went to Boston and their second rounder went to the Clips. They did have one first rounder from the Thad Young trade — but used that to pick Caris LeVert, ever-injured guard out of Michigan who was unable to play this summer.

The Summer Nets were pretty bad, and that’s not great considering most of the starters will see regular minutes this year and a couple will probably start in the real games. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is a strange one. I liked him in the draft last year and then thought he was abysmal in summer play, but then he was great early in the season for Brooklyn… before getting injured and missing most of a year of development. Now he was back at Summer League and I was excited to see why he was so good — and he was terrible again. He scored just 3 points in the first game in 24 minutes along with 5 turnovers. It looks like Brooklyn was trying to have him create and it was rough. RHJ shouldn’t have the ball in his hands, but he might have to this season. He did have 7 steals in a game, and defense is really where he’s supposed to have a top impact so Summer League isn’t really his place to shine. But still, he didn’t stand out like the other sophomores and really genuinely struggled to score.

I like Chris McCullough. He is an athletic 6'11 dude that uses his size well and is able to get to the rim. He needs to work on his touch around the rim, going 2/14 in one game, but there’s some talent there. Hopefully he’s not stuck behind Luis Scola and Trevor Booker at the 4 this year. He was easily the best guy on the Summer Nets. Isaiah Whitehead and Sean Kilpatrick had a great opportunity to impress and push for real playing time at the Nets crazy weak guard spots. They didn’t. Whitehead is supposed to be a volume scorer and the Nets need a 2, but he consistently scored around 9 or 10 a game and missed his opportunity. Kilpatrick was better and was able to get to the line often and play some needed hero ball, but he didn’t make much of an impression beyond that either.

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets only played in Orlando and didn’t have much to see there anyway. Aaron Harrison played a ton of minutes and took a lot of shots but was not very good, averaging 14/4/3 in 34 minutes a game while shooting just 31% from the field and 19% from deep. He had over 4 turnovers a game and may have cost himself a roster spot. I thought Deshaun Thomas would be a Summer League All Star, but he wasn’t even that. He’s too small and can’t hit the boards. The most memorable Hornet was probably point guard Brandon Paul, the best guy on the court and a nice rebounder. He’s not related to CP3, but he does have a brother and a dad named Cliff Paul. So there’s that.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are in the Vegas title game Monday night against Minnesota and that should give fans some hope after a strange offseason that has seen Derrick Rose finally depart only to be replaced by Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade. The real Bulls are a strange island of misfit toys right now and it’s unclear how Hoiberg will put all the pieces together or if any of these kids will get real rotation time (4 of them certainly should). The Bulls were lauded by some as avoiding a rebuild by bringing in Rondo, Wade, and Robin Lopez, but you have to wonder if they’re only taking 90+ minutes a game away from these Summer Bulls guys.

Bobby Portis is a fan favorite and a personal favorite (disclosure: I’m a Bulls fan). I wrote a lot about him last summer and saw a lot of the same things I loved again now. Portis is an absolute menace. He plays with intensity and fire at every second of the game, a Thibs player that never got to play for Thibs like two ships passing in the night. Portis is relentless on the boards, attacking every rebound with high energy, the sort of guy that fires up the team and the crowd. He’s got that KG intensity, the bulging eyes, the loud yells and stares into the crowd. And he’s got talent to go with all of that. He’s consistently in good rebounding position and he’s got a nice budding offensive game. He has a nice looking shot with range all the way out to the 3 point line, and he can put the ball on the floor and drive or post up a bit too. Portis is the sort of guy that is a B+ at everything, so he doesn’t stand out but is a great player any team would love to have, the perfect 4th or 5th starter on a good team. He is Taj Gibson with more polish and skill, and I think he’s Chicago’s second most important piece behind Jimmy Butler. He dominated the title game putting up 26/10 with four 3s.

I was excited to get a look at new PG Jerian Grant but was disappointed. He obviously hasn’t been terrible, playing point on an undefeated team playing in the title game, but he hasn’t been that great either. There’s just nothing about Grant that really looks like a lasting NBA skill. He’s an average passer, though his PNR skills got better as the week went on, and he’s a below average athlete, shooter, and defender. He’ll be 24 before the season starts, the same age as Kyrie Irving, and he won’t see much time behind Rondo. I’m calling him DOA… and all of that was written before Monday night’s title game when Jerian put up a monster 24/10/5 game including 5 OT points in route to winning title game MVP and leading the Bulls to the Vegas title. He used his size and PNR skills well in this one, but I’m still pretty skeptical.

Denzel Valentine was a guy I loved going into the draft, but he’s been just okay in summer play. He’ll be 23 himself when the season starts, another guy that doesn’t have much room to improve. In his case that’s especially a problem since he’s just not very athletic and his body has probably mostly reached its peak already. His lack of athleticism leaves you wanting on defense — Draymond Green he is not. But he does have a nice versatile offensive game. He has a good looking shot and has NBA range already, and he has excellent vision and playmaking skills. He’s excellent with the ball in his hands, but that’s a bit of a problem since he’s a wing and not a point. I could see a role for him off the bench running the second team offense, a useful rotation piece on a good team, but the ceiling is limited. He did of course have those two incredible shots at the end of the summer to send the Vegas title game to OT and then win it at the buzzer and no one will ever be able to take that away from him, not even Middle Tennessee State.

Cristiano Felicio is a useful NBA big man. He bodies up well and is solid on defense and on the boards, and he has a growing post game. He has really soft hands for a big guy. At the very least, he looks like a passable 8th or 9th man and a rotation big, and at age 24 (yet another one) he may never develop into more than that.

And that’s really the problem with these Baby Bulls. Portis, Valentine, Grant, and Felicio would make for a really great bench unit or, clearly, a great summer team, but I’m not sure they’re going to amount to much more than that.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs made it all the way to the Vegas semis, pushing for a second straight (though admittedly a bit less important) title before falling to the Bulls. I’m sure I wasn’t the only Bulls fan to feel grateful that we finally made it past Cleveland to get to a finals. Sigh.

Despite that, there’s not a lot to see from this roster. Like the 00s Cavs, it’s mostly one dude: Jordan McRae, my Summer League MVP. McRae was drafted near the end of the second round two years ago (by the Spurs of course) and bounced around a bit before averaging 23ppg for Delaware in the D-league this year, highlighted by a league-record 61 point outburst in January. That was the sort of game he brought to the Summer Cavs. Imagine if you took Jamal Crawford and placed him on a Summer League roster, and now you have a pretty good picture of McRae. He’s a scorer and a good one, and even playing hero ball, he managed to score well within the flow of the game. He’s got a good shot, though a few too many Kobe mid-range jumpers for me. I liked him better when he drove to the paint, which he did pretty much on command against the Lakers and other teams. McRae ended up over 25ppg and looks ready for real minutes and shots this year, at least in the regular season. Could he be a JR Smith replacement if negotiations don’t end well?

The other fun player on the roster was LeBron favorite Kay Felder. Felder is tiny, 5'9 in thick-soled sneakers, and his lack of size made him pretty useless on defense. Felder led the NCAA with 9.3 assists a game for Oakland this year and flashed his passing ability this summer. He loves to drive and kick, usually to McRae. He’s so tiny, like Earl Boykins tiny, so I’m not sure if he can see real time but maybe he’ll get some garbage time run.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have a nasty habit of trading away draft picks, so there wasn’t a lot to see on the summer roster. This year’s draft pick AJ Hammons was absolutely terrible. He started every Mavericks game in Vegas yet never once had more than 7 points or rebounds in a game, usually finishing with more fouls and/or turnovers. He was so bad he could barely stay on the court. Justin Anderson was the one really good Mav, by far the best player in the league. He is a consistent scorer and has a good steady game, a smooth natural shooter that scores in the flow of the game. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him start for Dallas rather than $94 million splashed on Harrison Barnes, but he’ll be a useful piece off the bench. Jonathan Gibson did well for himself. The 28 year old PG averaged 42ppg in China last season and had a couple big summer games though he’s definitely a shoot first, shoot second PG, with just 9 assists in 5 games. He signed with Dallas and is a fun story. Maybe he can have a Jason Terry type scoring impact off the bench.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets have a ton of interesting pieces on their team — they’ve quietly stockpiled even more trade assets than Boston outside of the Brooklyn picks. But only a few of the pieces saw real time this summer, Jamal Murray and Juan Hernangomez. Mudiay and Harris each played only one game, and first round pick Malik Beasley sat out with a stress fracture.

Emmanuel Mudiay only needed 1 game to show that he didn’t belong at Summer League. He really stood out and looked great. His offensive game is really starting to come together now. His shot has improved a lot over the last year, and you can see he’s much more willing to shoot now, but he’s still a pass first guy first and that’s ok. Mudiay is great with the ball in his hands and can make plays for himself and for others, and he drew fouls well driving to the basket and a nice developing post-up game too. He’s still really poor defensively, getting beat consistently by Kris Dunn in the rookie’s first game so that needs work. And weirdly I keep seeing him not involve his other guard well — not sure if that’s on him or the team. Mudiay looked terrific, though I’m reminded that he was really good last summer now. And really, he should look good… he’s been a pro in two different leagues now already. It’s time for him to retire from Summer League and put it together with the big boy Nugs.

We also saw only one game of Gary Harris, though I’m not sure why — maybe he had an injury or was shut down to stay healthy for trade bait? He definitely didn’t look like a guy that was just too good for summer. His shot is average and he’s small and plays that way. It seemed like he was forcing a lot of shots trying to get into the flow, and he doesn’t show much ability to create or play D. There are a lot of guys in Denver including a guy in Murray that should be getting starter minutes. Harris could be in trouble. The better 2 guard may have been Jimmer Fredette, but that was probably only because the Vegas fans were eager to cheer everything he did. Which wasn’t much.

Speaking of Jamal Murray, he was really good… once he got to play point and run the offense. He struggled in the first couple games especially when he played off the ball at SG like he did at Kentucky. He would be invisible for large stretches before showing up briefly with some nice drives and finishes once they put the ball in his hands. I thought Murray was Kentucky’s best player by far last year and, like Trey Lyles a year ago, miscast out of position. He’s an average shooting guard prospect but an excellent point gaurd one.

Once Denver sat Mudiay and played Murray exclusively at the point, he started to really stand out. Like he did as an 18 year old for the Canadian national team at the Pan Am games last summer, Murray shows great maturity and moxie leading a team of older players. He has a way of slowing everything down and taking what is there. He’s great at dribbling around a bit and finding the open space for a mid-range, and his shooting skills make that a good play. He can dribble and create his own shot too, or get into the paint at times.

His game reminded me some of Mike Conley or Tony Parker, the type of guy that does more old school point guard stuff and will end up perennially underrated despite doing everything well. I’m not sure Murray is going to be a game changer but looks like a good team leader. He finished summer strong with game tying and then go ahead buckets in the final seconds of a quarterfinal loss to Phoenix on a long buzzer beater. I really like Murray but I’m worried about his fit in Denver. Both he and Mudiay should be playing 30+ minutes a game running point, and Mudiay will surely get first crack. He could struggle to adjust to life off the ball.

One of my favorite Summer League finds was Juan Hernangomez, a guy I liked going into the draft too. He looks like a prototypical European stretch 4 prospect, the sort of guy the Suns hope Dragan Bender will develop into someday (and Hernangomez is older and has played pro, so that’s not a diss really). Hernangomez’s body isn’t totally ready yet but you can see a lot of skill there. He’s a really springy player who gets up quickly and had a bunch of nice putback plays in the paint. He can dribble well for a big guy and can drive a bit and finish in the paint, and his athleticism should make up for a bit of a lack of defensive ability. And he plays smart too, fitting well into the team flow, cutting off ball, putting himself in the right place. Hernangomez finished with 1.14 points per possession, one of the best rookies. He takes what is there in the flow of the offense and moves the ball well otherwise, and he uses his size well on both ends. He looks like an excellent role player that will flourish in the right system.

Detroit Pistons

Detroit played in the Orlando league only, which feels like ages ago at this point. I liked what I saw from their guys.

Stanley Johnson impressed again after looking good last summer too. One look at him and you immediately see an NBA body, with athleticism to match Justise Winslow but not quite the same instincts or IQ yet. He has a ton of defensive potential but often finds himself out of position, and he’s still fairlly limited offensively. He was great attacking in transition and I was pleasantly surprised with how well he shot the ball on C&S 3s. He also got the chance to be a playmaker a bit as the games went on, and he had moderate success there though his handle neds work. Johnson still forces things a bit too much on offense but he’ll be much better on a real team where he isn’t the guy with the ball in his hands so much. He’s a nice player.

One guy I thought was going to be a bust and have completely changed my mind on is Henry Ellenson, a Kevin Love clone out of Marquette. Ellenson is actually a pretty solid athlete (yes, for a white dude) and at age 19, you can see that his body will still grow up a bit and fill out, which will be important. I really like Ellenson’s offensive skills. He has nice footwork to get around screens and shows a good ability to catch the ball and create enough space to get a good looking shot off. And that shot is good, even if he’s still developing NBA range and a little too eager to get it off. He also drew a lot of fouls on jumpers too, though that might have just been poor defense from opposing bigs. He even has the Dirk 1-legged fadeaway already. Ellenson is not good defensively, especially in the post, but he reminded me a lot of Minnesota Kevin Love. With a year or two to develop, he could be the Ryan Anderson to Andre Drummond’s Dwight Howard for Stan Van Gundy.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors were a fun watch, with a lot of fun guys — even if most of them aren’t entirely relevant. Mamadou N’Diaye is an absolute giant, a 7'6 Senegalese dude out of UC-Irvine. He can’t move or stay on the court but boy was he fun to see next to Keifer Sykes. It was fun to see Stephen F. Austin’s Thomas Walkup again after his March Madness success. We probably won’t see him on a roster anytime soon. And little Kiefer Sykes is a tiny dude but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him wiggle his way into some Ws garbage time or push Ian Clark for time. He’s a good athlete and can make plays, a really quick dribbler that doesn’t play as small as he looks, though his size is a liability on defense.

First rounder Damion Jones is injured and didn’t get to play, so the Summer Ws were all about second round pick Patrick McCaw and he looks like a steal already, a guy that maybe should’ve gone in the lottery pick and will almost certainly see minutes next June. McCaw is one of those 3-and-D guys. His body is a bit more Corey Brewer right now, but you can bet he’ll learn a ton from Andre Iguodala and probably be developed as his eventual replacement. McCaw is a real pest on defense already, though he needs to add some muscle so he doesn’t just get beaten physically in the NBA. He has great placement on defense and uses his hands well, and he also smartly moves his feet to stay in front of the attacker. And he’s already looking useful on offense. He has a nice shot especially on C&S, which is obviously what he’ll be doing in Oakland. And he had a good feel for where to sit in the offense and await an open shot. He’s not as good dribbling and will need to work on his handle. McCaw is a guy that had a great opportunity in Summer League and seized it, looking for his shot and really developing over the week of games. He looks like another great late find by the Warriors and already had league execs whining and proposing silly rule changes one week in.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets had a lot of interesting players but not really any that stood out once you watched the games. Michael Beasley played a bit, which was stupid honestly. The guy was one of the more prolific scorers in the NBA per minute this year and was the MVP in China averaging 32 points and 13 boards. He was shot hunting in Vegas as always and it was dumb that he was there.

Gary Payton looks like the defensive pest his father was. He’s a good athlete too, but his offense is sorely lacking. This was a chance to be more aggressive and he didn’t do much offensively. He’s a decent backup to Patrick Beverley. KJ McDaniels was solid on the wing. He still shows 3-and-D wing potential but his offensive game too is pretty limited. He’s an energy guy. On a D’Antoni team featuring Harden, Gordon, and Anderson, they need guys like these two.

Montrezl Harrell is pretty much what you expect. He was really good last summer but didn’t stand out as much this year. He’s an undersized energy guy who fights hard on both ends. The one Rocket that looked like more than a bit player was Sam Dekker, who grew into the game as the week went on. He’s still recovering from a back surgery that cost him last season, and his athleticism comes and goes. At times it limits him and he had trouble creating separation or handling physical players on defense, but he also shows good offensive movement off the ball and flashed some athletic abilities at times hitting the rim. Assuming he’s still recovering from injury, you can see a useful wing player down the line that fit’s D’Antoni well.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers only played in Orlando league which is a bummer because I was eager to get a look at some of their guys against real competition. Glenn Robinson Jr is a nice scorer and has good offensive positioning, but looks like a Quadruple-A player to use a baseball term, a Summer League All Star whose game may not be good enough to last in the NBA. He can get hot but the talent isn’t totally there.

Joe Young reminded me a ton of a couple other guys on Indiana’s roster, Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis. He’s a smaller dude that has great quickness and excellent ball handling skills. He’s a pretty good playmaker that plays with a lot of energy and can usually get to his spot on the court, though he doesn’t always finish very well at the rim when he gets there. I was actually pretty excited about Young’s upside right up until I realize that his name is a misnomer. He’s not young at all — he’s 24 and may not have a ton of upside still compared to other young PG prospects. Still, with Teague and Monta only under contract in a year, he could be a cheap replacement.

I really liked what I saw from Georges Niang but wish I could’ve seen him against better competition. We already know he can dominate college level ball since he did so for for what felt like a decade at Iowa State before finally going pro — he’s 23 already. He put up a 17/12/5 in his first game and showed a ton of his usual playmaking skills. I can see him finding a role on the right team that uses his abilities like the Spurs or Warriors, but I’m not sure Indiana is that team — and it’s a weird bit of a red flag that Hoiberg didn’t take him for Chicago too. Niang has great vision and can really create but I’m not convinced he can do it at the next level.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers were another Orlando-only team and there wasn’t much to see. They did have two talented bigs, both of whom could see some rotation time when Blake and DAJ inevitably miss injury time this year. The first round pick Brice Johnson did not impress me. He looks like a college star that already maxed out on his potential. In college he dominated with basic post skills using his physical advantage. Without that advantage here, he struggled and picked up a ton of fouls, often visibly frustrated. And he was a 4-year guy so he’s someone you really expect to dominate right away. He’s a miss.

I’m more excited about Diamond Stone for the Clips. Once a lottery talent, Stone slid all the way to the second round but looks like a nice pickup. He has soft hands and a nice touch around the rim, and he has pretty good natural big man skills on offense. The problem is that he’s a 6'10 center that plays small, and he’s not very athletic. He got a few of his shots blocked and wasn’t too useful defensively. I like the raw game and upside much more than Brice Johnson, but I’m not sold on either.

I didn’t love the Summer Clips, but they were a fun team. Here’s Caleb Lay on those Summer Clips and 9 other interesting summer players:

Los Angeles Lakers

Summer League is when the Lakers fans really come out of the woodwork over these last few years — it’s not like they have anything much to root for the rest of the year. Based on how good some of their young guys played in Vegas, that may not be true much longer, but they still have a ways to go. The Baby Lakers play too often like my intramural team, with a couple guys waving their hands “open” on the perimeter and guys taking turns playing hero ball. There’s a lot of talent there but the sum is less than the parts right now. That’s ok — it takes time. The fans are absurdly loud and gave a genuine home advantage, and they made Summer League fun.

Of course Brandon Ingram is the guy they were all excited to see. And I’m gonna be honest… I was a little disappointed. There were just way too many times when he blended in with everyone else out there. Ingram is a twig right now, 6'9 and 190 pounds only when soaking wet and wearing four layers. His body is far from NBA ready. He’s going to take a pounding and he got pushed off the ball or out of the post way too easily. That will change in time. Ingram has an excellent first step and that plus his length get him quickly to the rim. And you can see the pretty looking shot, but the results were streaky in ways that look like the shot still needs work — he was missing wide or way long.

Ingram did a lot better when they put the ball in his hands but he really struggled to be part of the play off the ball, just standing on the perimeter far too often. He had his best game with 20/5/3 with Russell out in more of a playmaking role but he needs to learn how to use a screen and go get the ball. He ended up average just 12/4 for the summer on 41% shooting. You can see why people call him the next Kevin Durant, but that’s not fair or accurate. KD was far better at Texas and at this stage of his career. Ingram is more of a Rudy Gay prospect right. There’s a ton of raw talent but a long ways to go.

The real Lakers star, and maybe the star of the Vegas league, was unquestionably D’Angelo Russell. DAR looks like a franchise player. He reminded me a lot of a young Russell Westbrook, both for better and for worse. He’s not the same athlete (who is, really) but has the same ability to attack the basket and get to the rim with reckless abandon. Put the ball in DAR’s hands and get out of the way. He was able to take over the entire game for stretches, sometimes a whole quarter, but would also drift out of games too.

And like young Russ, he’s an awesome attacker but inadvertently ends up freezing out his teammates sometimes, much better right now at creating for himself than others. That’s a bit strange since he showed off a huge arsenal of passes from every angle last summer, a Showtime Lakers type skill set, so I wonder if he was given instruction to attack for himself this summer or maybe if it’s just a developmental phase. Either way, his success often seemed to come at the expense of someone like Ingram, so they’ll need to balance that.

DAR plays like an emotional young Russ too. He made a huge game-tying shot against Philly that sent the crowd into a tizzy, but it was a long 2 with his foot on the line instead of a 3 and he also celebrated the tie and allowed his man McConnell to go right past him end-to-end for a go-ahead layup. But of course he then hit a long game-winning 3 too. You’re getting the whole entertainment package here, for better and for worse. Russell needs to mature on and off the court, but his talent is special and looks like the whole package. He averaged 22/6/4 in Vegas and he’s a star.

A couple years ago, Minnesota had a Kevin Love that everyone knew Cleveland wanted and they wouldn’t part with him unless Andrew Wiggins came back. If I’m OKC, I’m doing the same thing with Westbrook and DAR, one Russell for another. DAR is the single best piece they might be able to get for Westbrook.

Ingram and D’Angelo weren’t the only Lakers of note. Larry Nance Jr is a Summer League gem and a crowd favorite after playing his college career at Wyoming and often in Nevada. Nance is a high energy player with terrific athleticism. He must have had like 5 or more huge highlight dunks, and his blocks and hustle were huge crowd pleasers. Nance suffers from Chron’s disease so it’s all the more impressive to see him log big minutes day after day and play well. As for actual basketball skills, Nance still has a pretty rickety shot and can’t do much dribbling, so his offensive impact is pretty limited, but he looks like a useful bench player at least.

But wait, there’s more! Anthony Brown didn’t do a ton but got going in the final game, showing some skill in creation with the ball in his hands (running point with Russell out). Zach Auguste looks like a useful player too. He’s a tweener and I’m not sure where he plays but he is really good in the post and knows how to use his size well especially in mismatches. He plays with effort and stays with the play. Guys like Auguste and Nance are always useful.

And then there was one of my biggest surprises of the summer, Croatian rookie big man Ivica Zubac. Zubac was the second pick of the 2nd round and looks like an absolute steal, maybe the best center in the draft. He’s a solid athlete that runs well in transition, and he is a really smart player. He blocks a lot of shots and doesn’t just obliterate them into the stands but blocks them soft, the sort of play that keeps the ball in play and starts a transition to the other end of the court. Zubac has good verticality in post defense and was pretty good helping on D too. He’s got a decent looking shot with range out to 15–18 feet and a nice touch around the rim. The whole package, really. I don’t think he’s a star, but I’d rather play (and pay) him than Mozgov right now. He looks like a real find. When DAR sat out the final game of summer, it was Zubac not Ingram that stood out with 16/11 and 6 blocks.

It’s in my blood to hate the Lakers, but this team is pretty likeable and fun, and don’t forget they still have Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle too. LA is coming.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies had themselves a nice summer, resigning Mike Conley and adding Chandler Parsons, and they’re adding some nice young pieces too. I was really looking forward to seeing Deyonta Davis play and not sure why he didn’t actually make it onto the court — maybe because he was busy negotiating a big 3-year deal with more guaranteed money than half of the 1st round picks, the biggest 2nd round deal ever. Guess the Grizz like him too.

We did get to see new Memphis PG Wade Baldwin and it’s probably a good thing that Conley is back to run the show — Baldwin isn’t even close to ready. He struggled to make an impact early and wasn’t always very visible on court, which is hard to do when you’re the point guard. He had poor shooting numbers and missed a lot of jumpers, and he didn’t get many assists. He also struggled defensively, often the guy that players like Jamal Murray and Tyus Jones put up their best game of the summer against. Honestly, I didn’t see a ton I liked in Baldwin. I’m not sure he’s even ready to be Conley’s backup.

That job might end up going to Andrew Harrison for now. I liked him a lot at Kentucky and he has improved a lot since flopping last summer. Harrison is a good dribbler and creates opportunities pretty well both for himself and others. He’s a combo guard that can play on the ball or off and looks like a useful role player. He’s added some physicality and showed off a nice shot and a good ability to get to the line. He’s not a star but he did do well enough to land a contract with the Grizz and he may get some time too.

DJ Stephens was this summer’s Jonathan Simmons, an athletic high flying 4 that brought a ton of energy and hops. He had a handful of huge alley oop and putback dunks and was great on the boards. I could see him catching on somewhere.

Miami Heat

One of my favorite players from last year’s draft was Justise Winslow, and he got some more run in Summer League. He is a tank; he’s added a ton of muscle and has huge upper body strength now, a big filled out NBA body. Winslow is such a unique NBA player because of what he offers defensively, and it was amazing that Miami was already using him as a full stopper in the playoffs. Here’s a 20 year old rookie 6'7 dude starting a Game 7 at center for the first time in his life but then picking up the point guard defensively too — pretty crazy.

Winslow’s defensive switches often lead to mismatches on offense too and give him a ton of chances to use his athleticism in transition, which he showed off this summer. He could also grab the rebound or a steal and take the ball on the break himself, and Miami is clearly trying to develop some point forward playmaking skills in him too with moderate success. Winslow’s shot still needs a lot of work, and I’m not entirely sure what he is on offense. He’ll need to score more this year with no Wade around. Either way, you start to see why Boston would have wanted to give up 4 picks for this guy a year ago.

I was eager to get another look at Josh Richardson, last year’s second round find. He has a sweet shot but actually I didn’t see a ton besides that. There’s not a lot of off ball movement and he disappeared for stretches, looking like little more than a catch and shoot guy for now. There are flashes of occasional playmaking or defensive athleticism but they’ll need more from him this year. Briante Weber was a pesky little point guard and had great hands and quickness, forcing a bunch of steals and generally just annoying other PGs. You can see him carving out a Patrick Beverley type role behind Dragic.

Milwaukee Bucks

The young Bucks are loaded and I think they just got another exciting piece with untapped unlimited potential in Thon Maker, my newest summer crush. At first instinct, I was absolutely blown away by Maker, and he mesmerized me every time I put a Bucks game on. You can hardly look away from a 7'1 South Sudanese player with this sort of skill set.

Maker has incredible skill for a 7 foot player. He has excellent dribbling skills and a really nice and natural looking shooting touch. These are well developed natural skills for any young player, let alone a 7 foot dude — they reminded me of a young Kevin Garnett. And Garnett is an interesting comparison since both he and Maker never had any college experience before coming to the NBA. More than anything, Maker just looks like raw untapped ability. It’s so obvious that he’s never really played for a college coach or system before. There are basic things he needs to work on, like bending his knees more to get into a defensive stance and getting into better position for rebounds.

Still, you can see just a ton of natural basketball IQ in Thon. It came and went on defense — sometimes he does a great job staying on his feet and using his length to block shots instead of jumping into the guy, but other times he reached and got into quick foul trouble and taken out of his game. On offense, Maker has some of those little intangible things that can’t be taught. But he also floats in and out of the game mentally and you’d like to see him put in a little more effort on screens and help D where he can be a bit lazy and try to get away with using his freakish size and athleticism. He needs to be more engaged the entire game and learn how to stay involved when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands or isn’t the primary defender.

Maker will obviously need to add a lot of muscle to his frame. But as crazy as it seems, it honestly looks like he could still grow an inch or two and really fill out his frame. I know there are age questions, but he looks like a 19 year old to me, like a kid whose body is still forming. And as for the age thing, I think it’s not as relevant here. The key thing with age is that 22 year olds have had 3 more years of college coaching and development than 19 year olds. Maker hasn’t had any of that, regardless of how old he is. So all that upside is still untapped and ready to be developed by a team that already showed it knows how to work with Freaks in Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Maker is so smart, and I loved hearing him in interviews. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he’s a world class business student instead of an athlete. This is a guy that knows himself well and knows the game, and one that should definitely learn and grow. His skill set is part Kevin Garnett, part Kevin Durant, part Greek Freak, and mostly just Thon. I won’t even be remotely surprised in 5 years if Thon is the best player in this draft class. I think he’d have been the #1 pick if he went to school for a year.

Milwaukee also had some interesting guards. One of them was Malcolm Brogdon, a 4 year senior out of Virginia that is already one of the older players on the Bucks roster. He looks like a useful rotation guy. He has an NBA ready body and plays physical on both ends, and he is a smart player that plays a good role on both ends of the court and takes what’s there. They used him a bit as a playmaker, something Milwaukee needs, and I was pleasantly surprised. He ended up averaging 10/5/4 in his games and looks useful.

Rashad Vaughn was the youngest player drafted last year and is still just 19. He’s not ready yet but he’s gotten a lot better since last summer, one of the most improved players. He his elite quickness and speed that helps him get to the rim, but the rest of his game comes and goes. His shot is streaky and he shoots from outside way to much when he should focus on driving and drawing fouls for now. He’s also not great at the pick and roll yet — mostly just an iso guy right now, still very raw. Still, his head is in the game and he’s developing, just another unique tool for the Bucks even if he’s still a year or two away.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves were already the most exciting young team heading into the summer, and they may have found a star point guard to add to the mix now. In fact, they may have found two.

My first note for Kris Dunn is just one word: WOW! His very first play as a professional was an alley oop — not throwing the pass, but throwing down a huge dunk to show off his great athleticism. I went into Summer League really disappointed with the Dunn pick (disclosure: I’m a Timberwolves fan, yes Bulls too, and no I’ve never had to pick which one I was rooting for until the 2016 Vegas championship). I thought Dunn was like George Hill or Avery Bradley, a nice useful defensive player but not someone you take at #5 overall. Boy was I wrong.

Dunn was an absolute revelation. He was absolutely the best player on the court across all of the summer leagues. You see him play and he looks immediately like an NBA player. He’s got NBA athleticism and an NBA body, and he has excellent footwork and even carries himself like a professional player. His athleticism really surprised me, as well as his ability to handle the ball and attack the defense. His game reminded me a bit of an early Dwyane Wade in the way he could bounce through defenders and create both for himself and for others.

Dunn had been described as a true point guard, and he’s an excellent passer, but he was a lot more of a scorer than I ever expected to. Really he looks like more of a combo guard, which is normally the thing you say about a guy that’s not good enough to be a true PG or SG, but in this case it’s because he can do both. I was surprised how much Minnesota played Dunn off the ball early on, next to Tyus Jones instead of in front of him, and he did pretty well. Dunn has a really good handle, though he can be a bit out of control attacking the basket and needs to develop a feel for the game a bit. He’s got the spins and dribbles to get into the paint but didn’t always have a plan once he arrived. Dunn is also a really nice rebounder, using his athleticism well there.

And as for those passing abilities, they are terrific. The ball doesn’t stick with Dunn, but moves quickly to the next usually correct option. Unlike some of other standout PGs like Mudiay and Russell (who are admittedly both younger but also have a year of pro experience), Dunn was able to create for himself without hurting or freezing out his teammates. He’s good at taking the play that’s available. If that’s a drive, great. If it’s an assist, perfect. If it’s just moving the ball along to the next target, that’s good too — lots of hockey assists. And if it’s an open shot, Dunn doesn’t hesitate there either. His shot is just ok now, but it’s not bad, and most importantly, he’s willing and ready to shoot, unlike Rubio. It needs some work still but it looks like a piece that can get there, or at least good enough to not be a detriment. And Dunn is excellent in transition, using his athleticism to get down the floor quickly and finish well.

Oh and by the way, Dunn is even better on defense. He’s someone Thibs is going to fall quickly in love with. He plays with intensity on both ends of the court but shows extra attention defensively. He has really great hands, often able to get the steal without reaching or picking up many fouls. He does the pesky thing where he annoys the ball handler and uses up half of the shot clock, limiting the opposing offense before it can even get going. Dunn had to guard D’Angelo Russell and Norm Powell in his two games and more than held his own defensively.

Dunn is the whole package. He plays with controlled athleticism, very impressive for a rookie to be that athletic but know how to play within himself. He’s so strong for a PG. He’s a starting point right now and probably already a top 10 point guard asset even without playing a real game. He is absolutely the best player from this draft right now — but he is 22 already so that does take away some of the developmental years. That was why he slipped a couple picks I suppose; but if he’s also developmentally way ahead of the 20 year olds too, it feels like it evens out. Dunn averaged 24/7/3 with 2 steals and 1 block a game and shot 54%, averaging an even 1.00 points per possession, the best of any high usage rookie. He looks like a stud.

I would apologize for 6 paragraphs, but I’m not sorry. If I were Minnesota, I’d start him today over Ricky Rubio — and I like Rubio a lot. I’d trade LaVine or maybe even Wiggins before I’d move Dunn. He’s going to lead this team to great things.

And when he’s not on the court, it looks like maybe it will be Tyus Jones playing PG not too far down the road. Jones was named MVP of the Vegas league on Sunday night and has pretty single handedly carried the Summer Wolves all the way to the title game, since Dunn is out and there are no other discernible NBA talents on the roster. Jones is so very improved from last summer, and he improved a lot as these weeks went on too. He has a nice handle and showed good PG ability to dribble around and find open space and create for teammates.

And even more surprising, he showed a pretty nice scoring ability, averaging 25/8 over the last three tournament games. He has developed a pretty nice shot and even plays a bit off the ball. I’m not convinced Jones is a star because he has been dominating lesser competition as some of the stars sit late in Summer League — but he’s also played really well against Wade Baldwin, Delon Wright, and Tyler Ulis during that 25/8 stretch, all guys he should be compared fairly to. It’s easy to see Jones as the third guard in the rotation a year from now behind Dunn and LaVine, with all three of them able to handle the ball and run the offense, if they can find a Rubio taker in a trade. Jones finished the summer with a huge 27/10 in the title game including an incredible 30 footer that looked like the game winner before Denzel Valentine broke my heart — twice.

Adreian Payne is the one other guy on the summer roster that’s supposed to be an impact player, but I am totally out on him. He is such a frustrating player to watch. He’s an undersized big that plays small and he has a strange body type that really hinders his game. He doesn’t have a good touch around the basket and he has a really long slow shot release that often gets his shot blocked. There’s not a good basketball IQ either, just not a guy that seems to get it. He took a handful of long 2s and just doesn’t look like a 2016 player. Of course he goes and puts up 22/16 in the title game after writing this but he also got lost on defense in several big moments, so my opinion is unchanged.

New Orleans Pelicans

I was really excited to see Buddy Hield with the summer Pelicans. I see star potential in Buddy, and I was especially excited to see him on this roster. Last summer Alvin Gentry had Seth Curry and moved him all over the court off the ball, finding him open looks much like another Curry we all know and love. I was expecting to see a lot of that for Buddy Hield — and was disappointed.

Instead of looking like another Curry, Buddy looked more like another Jimmer Fredette, the caricature of any 4-year senior chucker that fizzles out at the next level. He was always in a rush to get his shot off and never really played in the flow of the game. And he shot from anywhere inside the half court range — he does have that range, but he’s not Curry and has to earn those shots. Too many games saw him put up a 5/17 shooting line, though he also got hot a couple times and hit 3 or 4 threes in a short stretch, the sort of burst that will keep him on the NBA radar for a decade even if nothing else ever works.

Buddy is way better with the ball in his hands, where he can dribble around a screen and create space to get his shot off from anywhere. That’s a problem — in the NBA the ball should be in Davis’s or Holiday’s hands instead. Hield looked like a guy that tried to shoot his way into the game. In the NBA he needs to be able to go for long stretches without touching the ball, then go around a screen or two and catch and shoot in rhythm. That ability isn’t there yet. He needs to learn how to play off the ball and get himself open. Hield slacks on defense and the boards and looked to leak out and look for that shot. He’s not the star I was hoping for, and since he’ll turn 23 in December, there’s not much time to get there either. But man that shot is sweet. He’ll always be useful, it’s just a matter of how useful.

Cheick Diallo was a high 2nd round pick and looks like a useful player. He could barely stay on the court for Kansas this year but when he did, he was a really good rebounder and that translated to summer league. He’s very springy and energetic and he has pretty good rebounding positioning, into double digits almost every game. There’s not much else yet but rebounding almost always translates and New Orleans may not need much scoring.

New York Knicks

The Summer Knicks were an embarrassment — at least at first. They scored a miserable 49 points in their opener, then 48 the next game, losing by 58 points combined. It was bad, like really really bad.

But then they found Chasson Randle to run point and that spark turned the summer season around, helping them to score 92, 90, and 106 in their remaining games. Randle is a former Mr. Basketball Illinois and Stanford’s all time leading scorer. He had 24 off the bench for the Knicks with 6 threes, then averaged 16/4/5 as the starting PG the next two games. He’s got some good scoring abilities and looks like at least a possible rotational PG, and the Knicks will need someone to start once Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings are hurt by about game 8.

You remember Ron Baker from Wichita State — it’s probably best that you keep it that way. He shot 1/9 his first game, and 3/9 each of the next two with 12 turnovers combined, totally out of his league. With Randle in the lineup he was much better though, averaging 21/7/4 over his final two games and starting to rack up some steals and hit some threes. Just enough there to keep him on the radar.

Mason Plumlee also played. Supposedly.

Oklahoma City Thunder

I was looking forward to seeing Cameron Payne run summer point since there’s a solid chance he’ll see starter minutes soon if Westbrook does get traded. He was exciting right off the bat, hitting a game winning 3 in the opening game of the summer, what feels like about six years ago.

I’m not sure what to make of Payne. He’s not a star athlete and he has a strange hitch in his shot that leads to a slow release behind his head that I can’t imagine working well against real defenses. He has decent vision and driving abilities and is pretty good in the PNR and setting teammates up. I don’t think he’s as good as even Reggie Jackson was, and I’m not sure he’s a starter, even if he averaged 19ppg at Orlando league. We may find out.

I don’t love Mitch McGary’s game. The announcers kept raving about it but I don’t see it. He’s not super athletic and he has poor energy on the boards. He plays like a ’90s big man, like a fourth big man that thugs it up and plays physical but doesn’t have a ton of developed skill. I’d rather see OKC play Domantas Sabonis his minutes and was disappointed not to see him on the court this summer. Josh Huestis didn’t show much. He still looks like a guy Sam Presti took to save a bit of first round cash.

Orlando Magic

The Magic had two teams at the Orlando league, Orlando Blue and Orlando White. The last few years that’s been a lot of fun, but this year there wasn’t a ton to see. 2nd round pick Stephen Zimmerman has some decent post moves but his shot is not great and he struggled defensively and picked up a lot of fouls. I like Nick Johnson for what he is — a good passer with quick hands on defense, a pure point guard that keeps your team calm and maybe a 3rd PG for an NBA team. Justin Dentmon made a title winning 3 on a terrible shot off his back foot at the Orlando league.

Arinze Onuaku was actually quite good for the champion Orlando White team, but the most interesting thing about him was an interview that took place while he was playing. Onuaku struggles shooting and actually shoots his free throws underhand. And while he was at the line, recently signed Atlanta Hawk Dwight Howard was being interviewed and stopped cold mid sentence, shocked by what he had just seen. He acted like he’d never even thought of shooting underhanded like that, even though we’ve all suggested it for years (not to mention Hall of Famer Rick Barry’s free throw stylings). And when the commentators pushed it further, DH8 (that looks weird) basically said that he’d rather miss free throws like a man than make them like a sissy. Personally that’s infuriating and exactly why Dwight Howard has always been a disappointment despite all his talent.

Anyway, Onuaku averaged 15/10 and was the Orlando league MVP, but he’s almost 29 and is a 6'9 center so there’s not much there. Hopefully he finds some backup minutes at the next level.

Philadelphia 76ers

So you want to hear about Ben Simmons, huh? Well I have a lot to say. He was certainly the main summer attraction, though he ended up sitting out a handful of games which was really disappointing.

Simmons left his first game early with cramps in both calves and it was right about then that we found out that he had not been on a basketball court since his last game for LSU almost 4 months ago. For a #1 draft pick that was absolutely astounding and honestly, a real red flag. Where’s the love of the game? You just became the #1 pick and had your life dreams come true and you’re not even working on your game or in shape? That’s a problem.

That was just the first of a lot of disappointments for me with Ben Simmons, who ultimately flashed all the potential of a #1 pick but showed a lot of bust potential too, and I have really gone back and forth as to where I think he’ll ultimately end up. Many NBA players are even better around weaker players, able to show off their top end skills, and I get the sense that Simmons is the exact opposite. It seems like he’d be right at home in an All Star Game or on an Olympic team where he can just dazzle the crowd and pass to great teammates, but he’s not going to get that luxury in Philadelphia and that really worries me. I see Ben Simmons as a sort of modern day Lamar Odom. Odom was a really special player on the right team but a real useless one at times in the wrong situation too. I’m not convinced Philly will be the right home for Simmons, not in 2016.

Having said that, Simmons should still have been the #1 pick because he has all of the talent in the world and it starts with his world class vision and passing ability, something that few humans in history have ever had at his level. The list starts with Magic Johnson, adds LeBron James, and that might be it for now, unless Simmons can join the list. He has fantastic vision, both metaphorically and physically since at 6'10 he can see over the defense and add extra passing lanes that most handlers can’t. The man is a human highlight real of passes waiting to happen. At least 5 times a game he’d try some crazy behind the back between a defender’s legs pass. And he’d usually hit his guy in the hands too, even if a bunch of them ended in turnovers when his teammate wasn’t ready.

Unfortunately this is the Summer League, not the All Star Game, and Simmons needs to rein it in a bit and just take what’s there instead of trying to go for the highlight every play. So many times you’d just rather he make the simple pass or, heaven forbid, take the shot. Simmons is a pass first, pass second, shoot only when necessary guy. Teams were begging him to shoot from the get go, and you can see why. His shot mechanics are very inconsistent and the jumper needs a ton of work, though his free throw isn’t bad so that gives hope. Right now he’s Rajon Rondo, unable to shoot and trying way too hard to hunt assists. Barring injury, he’s almost a lock to lead all rookies in assists — and turnovers.

Simmons likes to have the ball in his hands, which I don’t mean critically — it’s what he was meant to do. He’s a smart player who takes what is there and moves the ball along quickly. In a weird way, Simmons is too smart to take the shot since he knows it’s not a great possession, but that’s not going to work at the next level. I’m not sure what position he is. The Sixers were undeniably better whenever true PG TJ McConnell was leading the offense instead of Simmons, and I’m not sure how he’ll fit especially with the Sixers big men that also can’t shoot or space the floor. Brett Brown said in an interview that he thinks Simmons can play PG. That would allow someone like Covington or Holmes to play at SF while the Sixers don’t have any other good PG options, but I’m still not sure that’s his position.

Simmons has a good handle and is good when he’s willing to drive, though he heavily favors his left hand and then finishes with his right at the rim. That’s a problem and something real NBA defenses won’t let him get away with. Even summer defenses were sagging back challenging him to beat them with a jumper or off the dribble drive and he usually wasn’t willing to do it. I noticed later in the summer that Simmons did start shooting a bit — always from the left elbow, almost like he had practiced that one move and was trying to get to his spot and take the shot he’d worked on. His height means he can almost always get the pass or shot he wants (though he’s almost definitely not 6'10).

Simmons isn’t Magic or LeBron but maybe he can be something like Shaun Livingston, who just played in the greatest, most modern offense of all time in Golden State and shot just 12 threes all season. Livingston has made his living penetrating and dishing and he’s got that little mid-range jump hook, and that works just fine thanks. Simmons doesn’t need to be a 3 point shooter, but he does need to find some go to move or shot to keep the defense honest.

I didn’t always love Simmons energy, which seemed a bit off especially on the boards and on defense. He’s not a difference maker in either area — and if he’s going to be a 6'10 PG, he certainly needs to be. Simmons averaged 8/8/5.5 in Utah and then 12/8/5.5 in Vegas and was only able to score at 0.64 points per possession, and he racked up a lot of turnovers.

This all sounds like I hate Ben Simmons, and I promise, I don’t. I’d still draft him #1 because his talent and especially that vision are out of this world and you have to give it a shot. But his game has a long way to go, and I think he’s far from a Philly savior.

The best Sixers PG this summer was not Simmons but rather TJ McConnell. McConnell looks like just a scrawny little white dude but he is a true point guard in every sense, and I thought the Philly offense always played significantly better when he was running the offense. McConnell is a Steve Nash clone, driving into the defense and keeping his dribble alive waiting for something to develop around him. This kid is a baller — after D’Angelo Russell hit a game tying shot over him in the final seconds, McConnell was smart enough to get the ball quick off the inbound and take it the whole length of the court for a go ahead lay-up with a second left. McConnell is a really nice point guard and I’m convinced he can be at least a useful backup in the NBA running the PNR and setting everyone up. The Sixers won only 1 of 8 summer games — and it was one with no Simmons but 9 McConnell assists.

I actually really liked what I saw from Richan Holmes, a small forward that might struggle to see minutes this year behind Simmons and Robert Covington. Holmes looks like a nice 3-and-D guy, one of the only guys playing defense in a few games. He plays with great energy and was constantly running the floor on both ends, a guy really fighting for his spot, and I really liked his on ball defense. He reminds me of Devean George, a useful player I’d be offering a couple 2nds to Philly to take off their hands.

One guy that really surprised me on Philly was Timothe Luwawu, a pick I panned on draft night but a guy that looks pretty good now. Luwawu was a late first round pick but looks like a late lottery pick SG to me. He’s going to have to add some strength — like many rookies, he got pushed off the ball a bit. But he has a really sweet looking shot and consistently knocked down catch and shoot jumpers with range all summer. He looks like the Sixers SG of the future.

One of the Sixers I liked the most wasn’t even a Sixer by the end of Summer League, Christian Wood. He was honestly the most consistent and best 76er across both leagues, an athletic 6'10 stretch 4 with a nice looking shot and a high energy player that attacks the basket with abandon. He averaged 19ppg and looks useful — so naturally Philly let him go sign with Charlotte. Dumb.

There were some other guys too. Jerami Grant absolutely destroyed Ivica Zubac with the monster dunk of the summer. Nik Stauskus aka Sauce Castillo looks terrible. Honestly I’m not even sure he’d be on a Summer League team if he hadn’t been a lottery pick. I was disappointed not to see Dario Saric or Jahlil Okafor. Saric was was playing important minutes for Croatia in FIBA so he’s excused. Okafor is still recovering from a torn meniscus, which is too bad because he really needs the work.

Phoenix Suns

Phoenix always seems to put a pretty fun product on the court for Summer League, and this summer was no exception. This is a team with a lot of fun young pieces and they were all on display as the Suns ran all the way to the Vegas semis before a close loss.

The Suns were led, ridiculously, by stud young SG Devin Booker. Booker had no business playing summer ball. He is silly good for a kid that is still only 19 years old, a star in the making that might be among the NBA’s top 5 SGs by the end of the year. Booker has just a gorgeous silky jumper and range for days, a shot that you can watch over and over. He’s got a quick shooting motion and can get his shot off at just about any time. I also liked what he showed off the dribble, able to create his own space to get a shot off and also able to create a bit for others. His offensive game is developing similarly along the lines of Klay Thompson, though he’s not a difference maker on defense. Booker dominated with an effortless 26/5/7 in two Vegas games.

The Suns drafted two stretch 4s in the top 8 picks and I was excited to see them, but both played somewhat limited minutes with some injuries. Marquess Chriss was by far the more impressive player. He was one of the sickest athletes of the summer, flashing absurd athleticism frequently throughout the games with putback dunks or skying for a big rebound. Unlike Jaylen Brown, Chriss uses his explosive athleticism to his advantage, being in the right place at the right time to make an impact. He also has a nice spin move and ability so wiggle to the basket and finish there. I wasn’t a believer in Chriss before the draft but he’s starting to win me over.

I was a lot more excited about Dragan Bender, but he was pretty disappointing. He was the youngest player in the draft and looked the part. The highlight of his summer was unfortunately the way it ended, bricking two free throws in a tie game with no time on the clock. Bender struggled to handle the ball and got it stolen a bunch, and his shot came and went. He got abused defensively and needs to add strength. And all of that is pretty much as expected, so it’s hard to know much for now. Bender averaged just 8/6/1 in 32 minutes a game, with 0.58 points per possession the second worst 1st round pick. He’s not necessarily a bust, but he’s a long ways away.

The Suns summer star this year was tiny Tyler Ulis, dominating the court at just 5'9 and a measly 150 pounds. Ulis is so small that he made Russ Smith look big guarding him, just comically little out there — but his game was no laughing matter. Ulis averaged 14/3/7 over his Vegas games with over 4 steals a game, leading the league in both assists and steals. He is an excellent dribbler and a really smart playmaker, which he really has to be since a number of his usual passing angles are taken away. It’s really impressive what Ulis is able to do despite his size but sometimes it’s just too much of a barrier. He’s absolutely useless on defense outside of his quick hands, getting beaten far too easily, and he got swatted with ease a number of times. Ulis was fantastic in Summer League but he’s so tiny that it’s really hard to see him cutting it in the big leagues. Can’t wait to find out.

Portland Blazers

There wasn’t a lot to see out in Portland. Pierre Jackson and Russ Smith are both Summer League All Stars at this point, Quadruple-A guys who will probably get a 10-day contract now and then but don’t look like much more. Pat Connaughton was a fun watch. He is decent with the ball and has a solid looking shot but nothing really stood out a ton. He did have the biggest moment of the summer, a walk-off 3 with a defender draped all over him — in Summer League, games that go to 2OT are sudden death, a fun twist. That shot was representative of his game for now, lots of shooting regardless of defense trying to impress, going 24/69 for 35% for the summer. And then there was Noah Vonleh who still just can’t seem to put it together. He’s going backwards it seems, worse this year than last year’s summer effort, and it may be time to move on.

Sacramento Kings

The Summer Kings were absolutely awful, like so bad that I basically had to stop watching them because it’s not even a real NBA team and was impossible to tell anything much about the players. Which is really a shame, because there are some interesting players here.

I was a fan of first round pick Malachi Richardson but he did very little in Vegas. His shot was incredibly streaky, same as at Syracuse shockingly enough, and he showed flashes of athleticism but never really got it going. But flashes of athleticism is certainly more than you can say for #13 pick Georgios Papagiannis, who may have been the worst player of the summer. He is slow, flat food, unathletic, just absolutely awful. He’s a record scratch on offense, a throwback to old centers, like probably Bob Pettit old centers, an absolute statue in the middle of the paint. He averaged just 0.50 points per possession, which roughly translates to even worse than Andre Drummond shooting two free throws (by a sizable margin). He was shockingly bad.

Willie Cauley-Stein looked pretty terrible too. I really like WCS and still hold out hope but this is just not the right situation for him. Sacramento kept playing him out of position at power forward when his skill set is clearly to be someone like a Tyson Chandler or DeAndre Jordan rim protector. Even worse, they kept feeding him the ball in the post, and he was predictably awful. Any time he had the ball for more than 1 dribble, it was a disaster, turnovers galore. He’s just not comfortable with the ball in his hands and that’s really not the point of WCS — he’s supposed to be out there playing sick defense at the rim and on PNRs and rolling to the rim for alley oops on offense. He would absolutely be a guy I’d want my team targeting in a cheap trade, even as awful as he looked this summer.

And then there was Skal Labissiere, the one King I was sure would be a huge bust, somehow defying all the odds to look like a real talent and a steal for the Kings at #28. A year ago, Skal was the top high school recruit in the country but then he went to Kentucky and was just brutally bad there, struggling to even find any consistent playing time. The Kings have so many big men on the roster that they, probably unwittingly, ended up playing Labissiere out away from the basket as something of a 7 foot “small” forward and it actually worked great! Skal has a really pretty shot with great mechanics, and he’s a solid dribbler too. I like him as a stretch 4, and he also showed off a nice little jump hook in the lane when posted up there, a shot he never had all of last year. He also filled out a bit physically, so maybe that extra strength has helped the rest of his game. I sure didn’t see this coming, but Skal looks like an absolute steal. I wonder if Sacramento will notice.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs were the defending Vegas champions and weirdly brought back their two key players, even though both played real minutes for the 67–15 Spurs last season too.

One of those guys was last summer’s MVP Kyle Anderson aka SloMo, a player unlike almost any other. Anderson has such unique skills with an awkward looking lefty shot that he can always get off and a slow methodical dribble that puts the defender to sleep, but they’re skills that work for him. He can make the long outlet pass off a rebound, and nothing in basketball is quite like a Kyle Anderson “slow” break, dribbling 1 on 2 or 3 (since they have time to get back on D) but somehow weaving right through them to score. SloMo has excellent vision and is the closest thing we’ve seen to a Boris Diaw clone, so he should be ready to stop right in this season with Diaw gone. His 24ppg led the Utah league and he probably shouldn’t have been here.

Jonathan Simmons was also on last year’s title team and brought more of the same this year. He just has wicked energy and athleticism and really stands out for this things, but he hasn’t really improved a ton either. He missed a bunch of open jumpers too. Simmons is a pretty cool story — a few years ago he paid $150 out of pocket for a D League tryout, and now he’s on one of the best teams in the world.

The real Spur to watch this summer was late first round pick Dejounte Murray, one of those guys that the Spurs took synonymous with the rest of the league groaning that they’d done it again. Murray is 6'5 and just 170 and he’s going to need to add a lot of muscle. He really gets pushed around and probably won’t be able to play much this year, but that’s ok behind Parker and Patty Mills. Having said that, Dejounte is a great athlete and elite quickness and speed. He is at his best in chaos, using his quickness to attack the rim and create a play for himself. He didn’t find a lot of assists this summer, but he did use his quick hands to rack up a bunch of steals. Murray is raw and will need a lot of work, but some of those elite quickness skills make him look like the Spurs PG of the future.

The Spurs are also bringing over a couple international players for this season to add some depth, and both made brief summer cameos near the end. Livio Jean-Charles is really athletic and looks like he’s going to be something of a stretch 4. I didn’t see much offensively, but he was pretty good using his athleticism on help defense, less so when he was the primary defender. He racked up a lot of fouls. Looks like a project. Davis Bertans looks a bit more ready to play. The Latvian played 24 minutes against Sacramento and really came on down the stretch with two threes in the final minutes, finishing with 15 and 3 including a big surprising dunk that flashed his athleticism. Both these guys are still pretty young and could be the next international Spurs to make a difference, but it probably won’t be this year.

The most interesting guy on the Spurs sideline was not a guy at all — that would be Becky Hammon, summer league head coach. Hammon is the first woman to coach in the NBA, assistant coach during the season, and she did a great job leading the Spurs to last year’s title. She was at it again this year with consistent good coaching moves especially on after timeout plays, including a beautiful game winner against the Warriors. Everyone else is out there just trying to find a player or two, and the Spurs are playing chess again, ahead of the rest of the league developing coaches too. Hammon is the real deal — she might just replace Greg Popovich someday.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors were awesome in Vegas, the #1 team undefeated all the way before stumbling to the Timberwolves late. They were led by point guard Delon Wright, a really big guard whose size is a weird hindrance. He doesn’t use his size to his advantage, so quicker guys get past him and he doesn’t really get down in a defensive stance very well. He’s also not much of a handler, weirdly picking up his dribble frequently in ways that led both to turnovers and wasted timeouts, the mental part of the game just not clicking. Wright was a solid creator but I wasn’t impressed otherwise.

First round pick Jakob Poeltl looked a lot like he was expected to. He’s a true center in an era where true centers just aren’t as valuable anymore, a really nice player that might have contended for the #1 pick a decade or two ago but just an ok pick now. Poeltl is solid in defense but he’s better on the ball than he is in help defense, where his lack of athleticism held him back a bit. He needs to stay vertical against smaller players. Offensively, Poeltl has soft hands and a nice touch around the rim. He’ll be able to fill in seamlessly for Valanciunas but definitely isn’t the athlete or defender that Biyombo was.

The Raptors standout player was definitely Norm Powell. #WeTheNorm stuck out like a sore thumb on the court, in a good way, with athleticism and confidence for days — the sort of thing that happens after you play 90+ games and two game 7s your rookie season. Powell has a nice shot and plays with good pace, with an extra gear he can kick into when he drives to the rim. He does a good job getting to the line consistently. Last year’s 2nd round pick is a keeper and could be a lower end starter caliber SG soon.

And then there is former/longtime/current summer crush Bruno Caboclo, the shock first round pick that Fran Fraschilla memorably claimed was “2 years away from being 2 years away” three years ago. Well, weirdly enough, Caboclo is probably down to just 1 year away now. His body is finally filling out and he’s begun to use his length better on D, and he’s really come a long way in handling the ball. His shot is still below average. Caboclo is still just 20 years old and still looks like a possible starter, though it sure is taking awhile.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz played both in Utah, obviously, and in Vegas and they were something of a one man show most of the way. Trey Lyles was one of my favorites last summer and he looked the part again. He is a smooth natural scorer and was the focal point of the offense. He’s got a great easy shot and scored early and often within the flow of the offense. Honestly it looked like Lyles could score just about any time he wanted, with three straight big 1st quarters before letting the rest of the team pick it up from there. He averaged 24ppg across both leagues and looks like an excellent stretch 4, a perfect fit next to Gobert in that Utah offense and a nice scoring punch off the bench.

Tibor Pleiss was exciting for a bit and looks like an old Jazz player Mehmet Okur, a stretch 5 with a nice shot, but that’s about his only skill and he’s almost 27 so there’s probably not much there. Marcus Paige didn’t have any more big moments this summer but he’ll always have that awesome game tying shot at the Final Four. Second round pick Joel Bolomboy is from Weber State and was a crowd favorite, but he struggled early. He’s a nice enough athlete and was especially active on the boards, and he did improve as summer went along. He’s a project.

Washington Wizards

The Wizards couldn’t even get a meeting with Kevin Durant this summer, so if they want to get to the next level, they may need to take an Oubre — Kelly Oubre that is. And yes, I know it’s pronounced differently. I’ve also just written 15k words so sue me.

Oubre was vastly improved since last summer, where he looked pretty lost. He’s learning to harness his athleticism and looks very smooth and natural now, a clear standout in any Washington game I watched. Oubre has really worked on his jumper and has a much improved shot. He was great on catch and shoot 3s, which he’ll get to do a lot with John Wall this year, and he looks much better and more consistent than Otto Porter ever looked. I’d love to see him use his athleticism more on the boards and on defense but that can come with more coaching. Washington has had a knack for making wing players like former summer MVP Glen Rice Jr look really good, so there’s reason to be cautious here, but it looks like Oubre is ready to start.

A couple other Wizards players looked solid. Texas A&M’s Danuel House plays big and crashes the boards hard. He plays a very physical game and also showed the ability to knock down some threes, playing well enough to get himself a partially guaranteed contract. Jarrell Eddie is a nice looking swing from Virginia Tech, another wing player the Washington system helped succeed in the summer. He poured in a lot of points.

And ladies and gentlemen… that’s a wrap.

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