2024 Summer League

[darealjuice]

Dunn looking as advertised is exactly why some people weren't excited about drafting him in the first place. Non-shooters are hard to keep on the floor no matter how good of defenders they are. The odds of him learning to shoot consistently are almost zero, and the role for him on offense as a non-shooter is minimal even if he develops as a ball handler and passer. I see bigger Herb Jones as his very unlikely ceiling if he becomes a passable shooter, Jarred Vanderbilt in the outcome that he never learns to shoot but develops into a niche offensive role, and out of the league as his floor.

Meanwhile, we'll be in the exact same situation looking for a new point guard on a veteran minimum contract if Monte leaves after next season, but no first round draft pick. Kolek or Collier wouldn't break the rotation this year, but it'd be nice to have a potential backstop for the future.

[darealjuice]

Seems like there are alarm bells going off with Alex Sarr's performance at Summer League so far. 0/15 from the field as a 7 footer is pretty remarkable though. It's tough for big men to perform at summer league with it typically being a guard chuckfest, but it is a bit concerning how much he likes to hang around the perimeter and seems averse to contact. He's always been a raw prospect though, and he's shown those flashes of serious upside at times. It'll be interesting to see if Washington is able to get anything out of him.

[SkyBill40]

Seems like there are alarm bells going off with Alex Sarr's performance at Summer League so far. 0/15 from the field as a 7 footer is pretty remarkable though. It's tough for big men to perform at summer league with it typically being a guard chuckfest, but it is a bit concerning how much he likes to hang around the perimeter and seems averse to contact. He's always been a raw prospect though, and he's shown those flashes of serious upside at times. It'll be interesting to see if Washington is able to get anything out of him.

Dude needs about 30 pounds on his frame. And the whole notion that every tall guy needs to be a flex/stretch perimeter shooter has diluted the game.

[darealjuice]

Seems like there are alarm bells going off with Alex Sarr's performance at Summer League so far. 0/15 from the field as a 7 footer is pretty remarkable though. It's tough for big men to perform at summer league with it typically being a guard chuckfest, but it is a bit concerning how much he likes to hang around the perimeter and seems averse to contact. He's always been a raw prospect though, and he's shown those flashes of serious upside at times. It'll be interesting to see if Washington is able to get anything out of him.

Dude needs about 30 pounds on his frame. And the whole notion that every tall guy needs to be a flex/stretch perimeter shooter has diluted the game.

Seems like it's more his preference to play on the perimeter and play power forward

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Dunn looking as advertised is exactly why some people weren't excited about drafting him in the first place. Non-shooters are hard to keep on the floor no matter how good of defenders they are. The odds of him learning to shoot consistently are almost zero, and the role for him on offense as a non-shooter is minimal even if he develops as a ball handler and passer. I see bigger Herb Jones as his very unlikely ceiling if he becomes a passable shooter, Jarred Vanderbilt in the outcome that he never learns to shoot but develops into a niche offensive role, and out of the league as his floor.

Meanwhile, we'll be in the exact same situation looking for a new point guard on a veteran minimum contract if Monte leaves after next season, but no first round draft pick. Kolek or Collier wouldn't break the rotation this year, but it'd be nice to have a potential backstop for the future.

It looks like Dunn's working hard out there, but 3 RPG in summer league is pretty low for a guy who has better tools than Shawn Marion. I would have given you the And-1 were it not for the Vanderbilt comp. That kid boards. 100% this league is about buckets and if you can't get 'em, you can't play.

It's obviously too early to call but my initial impression is that this year's picks will bust, which is to be expected given where we were drafting.

[darealjuice]

Dunn looking as advertised is exactly why some people weren't excited about drafting him in the first place. Non-shooters are hard to keep on the floor no matter how good of defenders they are. The odds of him learning to shoot consistently are almost zero, and the role for him on offense as a non-shooter is minimal even if he develops as a ball handler and passer. I see bigger Herb Jones as his very unlikely ceiling if he becomes a passable shooter, Jarred Vanderbilt in the outcome that he never learns to shoot but develops into a niche offensive role, and out of the league as his floor.

Meanwhile, we'll be in the exact same situation looking for a new point guard on a veteran minimum contract if Monte leaves after next season, but no first round draft pick. Kolek or Collier wouldn't break the rotation this year, but it'd be nice to have a potential backstop for the future.

It looks like Dunn's working hard out there, but 3 RPG in summer league is pretty low for a guy who has better tools than Shawn Marion. I would have given you the And-1 were it not for the Vanderbilt comp. That kid boards. 100% this league is about buckets and if you can't get 'em, you can't play.

It's obviously too early to call but my initial impression is that this year's picks will bust, which is to be expected given where we were drafting.

Yeah I just mean he'd need to play a similar role as Vanderbilt to find a rotation spot, not that he'd literally be him. Not a lot of good comps for him that stick in the league without shooting the ball. You're right that Vanderbilt is a way better rebounder though.

[SkyBill40]

Seems like there are alarm bells going off with Alex Sarr's performance at Summer League so far. 0/15 from the field as a 7 footer is pretty remarkable though. It's tough for big men to perform at summer league with it typically being a guard chuckfest, but it is a bit concerning how much he likes to hang around the perimeter and seems averse to contact. He's always been a raw prospect though, and he's shown those flashes of serious upside at times. It'll be interesting to see if Washington is able to get anything out of him.

Dude needs about 30 pounds on his frame. And the whole notion that every tall guy needs to be a flex/stretch perimeter shooter has diluted the game.

Seems like it's more his preference to play on the perimeter and play power forward

That's fine and all, but he doesn't have any bulk to play with power. He is, like most of the current crop over the last decade, built around finesse rather than force or some combination between the two.

[bigfoot]

What were the expectations on this board for Dunn exactly? He looks as advertised, no offense, great defense.

Dude hasn't magically developed a shot in the weeks since getting drafted.

It's a simple equation, one of three scenarios will play out

1. if Dunn over time can develop his production within the flow of our offense where he's not a negative on the floor, why being an elite defender, he'll be a starter (think Derrick Jones Junior).
2. if Dunn becomes a positive on offense whole being an elite defender, he'll be the steal of the draft (think Mikal Bridges)
3. if Dunn never develops enough of a skillset on offense where defenses leave him wide open. He'll be out of the league in a few years.

Which of these three scenarios plays out is going to be determined over matter of years, not however little time has passed between the draft and summer league.

We drafted Dunn for his possible upside. Players mentioned here like Kolek and Collier are going to look better in the short term, that's almost guaranteed.

Our front office made a decision that they're more comfortable having Monte run the show, rather than a rookie PG, while drafting for upside rather than immediate impact. You can argue the reasoning, but those discounting Dunn because he's not dominating summer league misunderstand what our front office's strategy was here.

If Dunn is going to take 3-4 years to develop then he won't be able to contribute while we still have KD and then it will be a real waste of a pick.

Why not pick the players that can help even a little bit right now while KD's window is rapidly closing?

I don't think any of the players available would have cracked our 8-10 man rotation in the next 1-2 years to be honest.

Our guard rotation will be

Beal / Monte
Booker / Grayson

Our forward rotation

Grayson / Royce / Okogie
KD / Royce / Bol

Our Center rotation:
Nurkic / Plumlee

Kolek and Collier would have been third stringers battling for minutes with Damion Lee (who would have probably been ahead of them in the rotation).

If Yves hadnt been picked by the Pelicans, I think he could have potentially cracked the rotation simply because that's our weakest position.

Let's not forget, Booker was collecting DNPs in the first half of his rookie season, until out team threw in the towel. Draft picks on teams trying to content are going to have a much tougher time cracking the rotation because there's much less room for error. The #28 pick was never going to be a noticeable help from the get go.

Truth. Anyone expecting Dunn or Osho to be in the rotation at the beginning of the season are delusional. Our rookies are going to have to outperform Little, Roddy, and Lee who have much more NBA, G-league, and summer league experience. It just seems improbable if the team is trying to win. Playing them over Bol/Okogie/Little/Roddy/Lee, let alone Grayson/Plumlee/Royce just isn't happening.

Either of these two sniffing rotational minutes this year will be because of a multiple injuries at the same position or that the Suns are out of the playoff picture come March.

[lilfishi22]

Seems like there are alarm bells going off with Alex Sarr's performance at Summer League so far. 0/15 from the field as a 7 footer is pretty remarkable though. It's tough for big men to perform at summer league with it typically being a guard chuckfest, but it is a bit concerning how much he likes to hang around the perimeter and seems averse to contact. He's always been a raw prospect though, and he's shown those flashes of serious upside at times. It'll be interesting to see if Washington is able to get anything out of him.

Dude needs about 30 pounds on his frame. And the whole notion that every tall guy needs to be a flex/stretch perimeter shooter has diluted the game.

And not every tall guy needs to be 250lb banging in the post either. He will add strength and muscle over time but he doesn't really have the frame to handle too much added weight and the impact to his fluidity would likely take away from his more innate perimeter oriented game and that goes for his perimeter defense.

He's not a back to basket guy and I don't think it's wise to make him bigger so he can be either. He should develop and maximise what he's good at and flesh out other parts of his game but he shouldn't try and become what he isn't.

[lilfishi22]

Dunn looking as advertised is exactly why some people weren't excited about drafting him in the first place. Non-shooters are hard to keep on the floor no matter how good of defenders they are. The odds of him learning to shoot consistently are almost zero, and the role for him on offense as a non-shooter is minimal even if he develops as a ball handler and passer. I see bigger Herb Jones as his very unlikely ceiling if he becomes a passable shooter, Jarred Vanderbilt in the outcome that he never learns to shoot but develops into a niche offensive role, and out of the league as his floor.

Meanwhile, we'll be in the exact same situation looking for a new point guard on a veteran minimum contract if Monte leaves after next season, but no first round draft pick. Kolek or Collier wouldn't break the rotation this year, but it'd be nice to have a potential backstop for the future.

It looks like Dunn's working hard out there, but 3 RPG in summer league is pretty low for a guy who has better tools than Shawn Marion. I would have given you the And-1 were it not for the Vanderbilt comp. That kid boards. 100% this league is about buckets and if you can't get 'em, you can't play.

It's obviously too early to call but my initial impression is that this year's picks will bust, which is to be expected given where we were drafting.

Yeah I just mean he'd need to play a similar role as Vanderbilt to find a rotation spot, not that he'd literally be him. Not a lot of good comps for him that stick in the league without shooting the ball. You're right that Vanderbilt is a way better rebounder though.

All the comps I've seen made for him are based on non-shooters who became passable or good shooters in the NBA and that in itself is a leap of faith you're willing to take that he becomes at least a threat as a shooter. There's no good comps in today's modern NBA because they don't stick around in the modern NBA.

Maybe early career Jimmy? But that was also an era where NBA teams averaged 18 three's a game vs today where it's almost doubled at 35.

[darealjuice]

Nice to see a 3 drop for Dunn

Jalen Bridges getting more minutes today and showing he deserves it

[garrick]

Watch on YouTube

Filipowski with a 20 point game and a strong showing.

Weak performances in SL just are not a good sign folks, while a strong showing in SL doesn't mean the player will stick around I don't recall any recent rookie who struggled mightily in SL who went on to have a solid NBA career.

[lilfishi22]

REJOICE! We have a Dunn 3!

[Mr Puddles]

Nice to see a 3 drop for Dunn

Jalen Bridges getting more minutes today and showing he deserves it

Jalen Bridges looks solid.

[lilfishi22]

Roddy having himself a damn good game

[Mr Puddles]

Big body Roddy getting naughty on that bucket!

[Mr Puddles]

Huge second half by Snacklefood, dude has been lights out.

[garrick]

Roddy sucks but he's lighting it up this game.

Kind of shows you if you can't cut it in SL you aren't ready to play in the big leagues.

[darealjuice]

Roddy's played 2 solid games after a frustrating first showing. Big free throws to close that game out.

[lilfishi22]

Roddy sucks but he's lighting it up this game.

Kind of shows you if you can't cut it in SL you aren't ready to play in the big leagues.

When someone sucks in the SL, the excuse is always learning to play with new team mates and/or the style/environment/scheme isn't conducive to said player being productive.

I pretty much agree with your take on players performing in the SL: if they impress, it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme because it's what you should expect but if you don't impress then it's a bit of a red flag that you can't find your way to perform/impact the game at not even G-League levels.