2024 Summer League

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

Definitely a strange pick, and early returns are not good.

One thing, though. I don't think this pick (or maybe any pick) can be attributed to James Jones. The emphasis had been on guys who were ready to play and had a role with the team (at least, this is what Jones has stated). Dunn was clearly a project. Someone else mentioned that Cam Johnson was likely a Trevor Buckstein pick. Ultimately, there's a whole front office, and a very involved owner, and we've never heard anything similar to what was said about McDonough having 100% authority over whom we draft. And based on his statements, the draft doesn't really seem to be his thing.

Jones manages the front office and personalities and is the public face, but as for whom we draft - I'm pretty sure he's not the one making that call.

[lilfishi22]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

[garrick]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

From the post draft video Ishbia is shown saying something like "didn't we tell you we would draft you" or something to that effect which to me sounds like Ishbia was really determined to pick him no matter what.

Jalen I think is totally a JJ pick, older player ready to contribute right away who was skipped due to his low ceiling. Maybe Ishbia wanted to take the first pick being his first time in the draft so he wanted to pick his guy then he let JJ maybe take Jalen off a 2 way because he is not as invested in signing 2 way players and let JJ do whatever he wanted with the rest of the roster signings?

[lilfishi22]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

From the post draft video Ishbia is shown saying something like "didn't we tell you we would draft you" or something to that effect which to me sounds like Ishbia was really determined to pick him no matter what.

Jalen I think is totally a JJ pick, older player ready to contribute right away who was skipped due to his low ceiling. Maybe Ishbia wanted to take the first pick being his first time in the draft so he wanted to pick his guy then he let JJ maybe take Jalen off a 2 way because he is not as invested in signing 2 way players and let JJ do whatever he wanted with the rest of the roster signings?

Yeah I don't see Dunn as being a JJ's typical prospect. Simple fact that he can't shoot tells me he's not a JJ guy. Jalen Smith shot 32 for 87 from 3 (37%) and Camara shot 29 for 80 from 3 (36%). They are at least coming in with a good amount of attempts across multiple years in college. Even Oso I don't think is a JJ guy given he can't shoot either.

[TASTIC]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

From the post draft video Ishbia is shown saying something like "didn't we tell you we would draft you" or something to that effect which to me sounds like Ishbia was really determined to pick him no matter what.

Jalen I think is totally a JJ pick, older player ready to contribute right away who was skipped due to his low ceiling. Maybe Ishbia wanted to take the first pick being his first time in the draft so he wanted to pick his guy then he let JJ maybe take Jalen off a 2 way because he is not as invested in signing 2 way players and let JJ do whatever he wanted with the rest of the roster signings?

He's basically what James Jones was in college. Good 3 and D wing, solid defender with good size - but limited offensively. He carved out a long career as the 49th pick...obviously helps being buds with Lebron, but hopefully Bridges can find a niche with us!

Without shoes
James Jones 6'7.25"
Jalen Bridges 6'6.75"

Standing reach
Jones 8'11.5"
Bridges 8'9"

Wingspan
Jones 7'2.5" (wowee)
Bridges 6'10" (still good)

Both 4 year college players (Bridges red-shirted 2019-20)
Jones 11.1pts 5.0reb 1.2ast 1.0x 3pt at 38% for his 122 game career
Bridges 9.4pts 5.0reb 0.9ast 1.3x 3pt at 37% for his 130 game career

Jones was an ELITE defender and shotblocker for a wing, averaging a steal a game and swatting 1.5 shots a game for his career in college, but Bridges was still 0.9stl and 0.7blk per game in 26min which isn't awful.

So Jones signed himself on a cheap 2-way deal. Works for me

[lilfishi22]

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

From the post draft video Ishbia is shown saying something like "didn't we tell you we would draft you" or something to that effect which to me sounds like Ishbia was really determined to pick him no matter what.

Jalen I think is totally a JJ pick, older player ready to contribute right away who was skipped due to his low ceiling. Maybe Ishbia wanted to take the first pick being his first time in the draft so he wanted to pick his guy then he let JJ maybe take Jalen off a 2 way because he is not as invested in signing 2 way players and let JJ do whatever he wanted with the rest of the roster signings?

He's basically what James Jones was in college. Good 3 and D wing, solid defender with good size - but limited offensively. He carved out a long career as the 49th pick...obviously helps being buds with Lebron, but hopefully Bridges can find a niche with us!

Without shoes
James Jones 6'7.25"
Jalen Bridges 6'6.75"

Standing reach
Jones 8'11.5"
Bridges 8'9"

Wingspan
Jones 7'2.5" (wowee)
Bridges 6'10" (still good)

Both 4 year college players (Bridges red-shirted 2019-20)
Jones 11.1pts 5.0reb 1.2ast 1.0x 3pt at 38% for his 122 game career
Bridges 9.4pts 5.0reb 0.9ast 1.3x 3pt at 37% for his 130 game career

Jones was an ELITE defender and shotblocker for a wing, averaging a steal a game and swatting 1.5 shots a game for his career in college, but Bridges was still 0.9stl and 0.7blk per game in 26min which isn't awful.

So Jones signed himself on a cheap 2-way deal. Works for me

I forget how good JJ would've been in this era where everyone is launching 8 threes a game. It was a different era then but he would've played way more than the 15.7mpg in today's NBA with his defense, shooting and probably some minutes as a small-ball 4/5. He wouldn't be a star but he'd play more and still have a long career playing on contenders. I mean dude played 14years in the league without being able to dribble the ball and was still part of 12 playoff teams.

[garrick]

From the post draft video Ishbia is shown saying something like "didn't we tell you we would draft you" or something to that effect which to me sounds like Ishbia was really determined to pick him no matter what.

Jalen I think is totally a JJ pick, older player ready to contribute right away who was skipped due to his low ceiling. Maybe Ishbia wanted to take the first pick being his first time in the draft so he wanted to pick his guy then he let JJ maybe take Jalen off a 2 way because he is not as invested in signing 2 way players and let JJ do whatever he wanted with the rest of the roster signings?

He's basically what James Jones was in college. Good 3 and D wing, solid defender with good size - but limited offensively. He carved out a long career as the 49th pick...obviously helps being buds with Lebron, but hopefully Bridges can find a niche with us!

Without shoes
James Jones 6'7.25"
Jalen Bridges 6'6.75"

Standing reach
Jones 8'11.5"
Bridges 8'9"

Wingspan
Jones 7'2.5" (wowee)
Bridges 6'10" (still good)

Both 4 year college players (Bridges red-shirted 2019-20)
Jones 11.1pts 5.0reb 1.2ast 1.0x 3pt at 38% for his 122 game career
Bridges 9.4pts 5.0reb 0.9ast 1.3x 3pt at 37% for his 130 game career

Jones was an ELITE defender and shotblocker for a wing, averaging a steal a game and swatting 1.5 shots a game for his career in college, but Bridges was still 0.9stl and 0.7blk per game in 26min which isn't awful.

So Jones signed himself on a cheap 2-way deal. Works for me

I forget how good JJ would've been in this era where everyone is launching 8 threes a game. It was a different era then but he would've played way more than the 15.7mpg in today's NBA with his defense, shooting and probably some minutes as a small-ball 4/5. He wouldn't be a star but he'd play more and still have a long career playing on contenders. I mean dude played 14years in the league without being able to dribble the ball and was still part of 12 playoff teams.

Jalen is a lot more athletic than JJ ever was and didn't realize he had such a long wingspan but maybe that's how he was able to compete despite his lack of athleticism.

[KdoubleDees23]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara wouldn't have played for us at all. He looked good because he was on a crappy team. He is no starter in this league, but can eventually be a 9/10 player off the bench

[Saberestar]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara was 2 years older than Dunn going into his rookie season.

Two years at that early stage of their careers can make a big difference. I think Dunn has bigger upside and already is a more impactful defender.

[lilfishi22]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara wouldn't have played for us at all. He looked good because he was on a crappy team. He is no starter in this league, but can eventually be a 9/10 player off the bench

Sure, you always try to find the diamond in the rough and hope to draft a star wherever your draft position is, it's a good goal to aim for. But realistically, especially after the lottery, you're really hoping for an impactful rotation player or starter and in the 2nd round, you're just hoping for a positive rotation player because the vast don't stick around in the NBA. If Camara can be a end of bench guy who can occasionally jump into the rotation because of injury or some other reason, then that's a good result with the 52nd pick.

I believe he could be more than that

[garrick]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara was 2 years older than Dunn going into his rookie season.

Two years at that early stage of their careers can make a big difference. I think Dunn has bigger upside and already is a more impactful defender.

Camara might be two years older but he can play now and his team defense is really good already.

For a team with such a short window you always take the most NBA ready player so they can help out immediately.

[lilfishi22]

Pretty disappointing summer league for Dunn, unfortunately he's going to be the offensive zero that he was scouted as. Perhaps an interesting long term prospect but he has no role on any team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs being that limited offensively.

It's a strange pick but I think it's JJ admitting his mistake by giving away Camara in the Ayton trade, Dunn is pretty much the Camara that we never got to have.

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara was 2 years older than Dunn going into his rookie season.

Two years at that early stage of their careers can make a big difference. I think Dunn has bigger upside and already is a more impactful defender.

And in those 2 years, I have stats and can see the progressive improvements in Camara's game. That I could have confidence in. So you're right, Camara is 2 years ahead of Dunn in terms of development and sure, probably doesn't have the ceiling Dunn has but imo he also has a higher floor which is what I'm most concerned about with our pick in particular just because our reserve of draft capital is pretty low.

So yes, in two years Dunn may be well ahead of Camara when he was drafted but I personally don't believe it because of his flaws. This we can agree to disagree on as I had with GOK

[lilfishi22]

I liked Camara waaaaaay more as a prospect than Dunn. I was especially annoyed we had to include him in the DA trade.

Camara was 2 years older than Dunn going into his rookie season.

Two years at that early stage of their careers can make a big difference. I think Dunn has bigger upside and already is a more impactful defender.

Camara might be two years older but he can play now and his team defense is really good already.

For a team with such a short window you always take the most NBA ready player so they can help out immediately.

And even if you didn't because you have a different draft philosophy and want to swing for higher potential....I'd probably would've rolled the dice on Collier

[garrick]

Camara was 2 years older than Dunn going into his rookie season.

Two years at that early stage of their careers can make a big difference. I think Dunn has bigger upside and already is a more impactful defender.

Camara might be two years older but he can play now and his team defense is really good already.

For a team with such a short window you always take the most NBA ready player so they can help out immediately.

And even if you didn't because you have a different draft philosophy and want to swing for higher potential....I'd probably would've rolled the dice on Collier

Collier already can help out more than Dunn.

It really is puzzling we went for a high risk high return prospect when we could have had Kolek, Collier or Filipowski who are ready to play immediately and contribute even in limited minutes.

[lilfishi22]

Camara might be two years older but he can play now and his team defense is really good already.

For a team with such a short window you always take the most NBA ready player so they can help out immediately.

And even if you didn't because you have a different draft philosophy and want to swing for higher potential....I'd probably would've rolled the dice on Collier

Collier already can help out more than Dunn.

It really is puzzling we went for a high risk high return prospect when we could have had Kolek, Collier or Filipowski who are ready to play immediately and contribute even in limited minutes.

We'll see how things play out. Dunn HAS to be able to shoot close to league average levels (and not just raw FG%) to stay in the game long enough to be impactful with his defense and if not, his defense alone won't be enough to make him a definitive NBA player in this era of basketball. In an era where even big men who can't shoot are already seen as being less valuable, a wing who can't shoot is definitely a problem.

[garrick]

And even if you didn't because you have a different draft philosophy and want to swing for higher potential....I'd probably would've rolled the dice on Collier

Collier already can help out more than Dunn.

It really is puzzling we went for a high risk high return prospect when we could have had Kolek, Collier or Filipowski who are ready to play immediately and contribute even in limited minutes.

We'll see how things play out. Dunn HAS to be able to shoot close to league average levels (and not just raw FG%) to stay in the game long enough to be impactful with his defense and if not, his defense alone won't be enough to make him a definitive NBA player in this era of basketball. In an era where even big men who can't shoot are already seen as being less valuable, a wing who can't shoot is definitely a problem.

This is like Vivek's infamous "He can shoot like Steph" fiasco when they picked Nik Stauskas.

Too much meddling by a new owner with less basketball knowledge than your average basketball fan.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I have no idea is Dunn can play but summer league isn't exactly a good spot for a dude like him. It's a glorified pick up game. If he makes it in the league it will be because he can man up a good wing on D, play great team D, and hit WIDE open 3s at a reasonable clip. Basically he's the type who needs to play with good teammates in a disciplined system in real games.

But yeah if he can't hit those wide open 3s he'll be basically be Okogie.

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