2022 Summer league

[DaVoiceMaster]

I am not a Greg Brown IIi fan, but am wondering why hes not playing in the Summer League Championship game. Is he injured?

[DaVoiceMaster]

Yeah that was a head scratcher, I was thinking oh this guy is a perfect project but yeah whatever.

Speaking of which I wonder what our final roster will look like assuming we don't make any other small moves.

Final roster is already set. We have 15 guys under contract. we are done.

I would expect to see a second 2-way guy signed, but that is about it.

Portland doesn't seem to have signed any notable undrafted players who might be a candidate for a two
way contract. Luke Garza is awfully slow to be on an NBA roster while Kyle Alexander is 25 years old. It
would be beneficial to add a second two way contract player, hopefully a big bodied two way player.

Garza is horrible. Alexander is nothing special, but I like him a whole lot more than Garza.

[Village Idiot]

Walker with the complete team game. A couple nice dimes there. If this summer league team had a half decent PG this would be a total blow-out.

[Shem]

SUMMER LEAGUE CHAMPS!

Time to hang that 2nd Summer League championship banner in the Mota Center.

[elias808]

Pop the champagne and hang the banner!

[DaVoiceMaster]

Nice to see these guys win it all. It's good experience for them. Nice to know most of the guys that played are on the team, even if they are third stringers. Nice defense in all of the games.

[monopoman]

Yep, impressive feat by the Blazers in general, win the whole damn thing when our 7th pick played about 5 minutes of the first game.

[Norm2953]

Watford might have earned some minutes behind Nurk/Grant after this summer.

[GEE]

Watford might have earned some minutes behind Nurk/Grant after this summer.

I definitely agree with this. I said before, if we're going small next year, we damn-well better play fast and furious. Load Management is also a huge factor IMO, and seeing us play Watford on fairly regular basis for a few minutes in each half as the 3rd C, would be a smart way to keep our C's rim running for 48 minutes.

People chuckled when I first said it, but Watford still reminds me of a poor-man's Draymond Green. Very similar in size, strength and skill.

Walker though, to me has been the big surprise of the summer. I think I love this kid already. Maybe Cronin and Chauncey have our solution for a lack of depth down low already figured out, cause Walker looks like he can be a contributor for us day 1. Think Walker along with Sharpe, Keon, GB3 and Alexander(?) makes for a very interesting and promising 3rd string.

Might the plan be for a deep rotation of 10 players on a regular basis? I hope so, cause we should be able to just wear other teams out by every 4th quarter, of every game, against most every opponent. I think other teams will very much NOT be looking forward to playing us this year.

PG/SG: Dame, Simons, GPII & Hart
SF/PF: Hart / Grant / Little / Winslow / Watford
C: Nurkic / Eubanks / Watford

[Butter]

Watford might have earned some minutes behind Nurk/Grant after this summer.

Which is more impressive, Summer league MVP, or NIT tourney MVP?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Watford might have earned some minutes behind Nurk/Grant after this summer.

I don't really love Watford in any pre-defined role (ie being the primary backup PF or C) but I think he's great as a x-factor that can fill in various holes in response to injury or unforeseen game needs. Just having a swiss army knife kind of player that the coach trusts for those assignments that aren't common enough to plan for but can use adhoc as needed. Jack of all trades, master of none, it can be really hard for those type players to carve out roles as everyone wants to moneyball each position and find someone elite at something for it, but there is always some room for versatile players who play hard.

[monopoman]

Watford was very impressive, I would be blown away if he wasn't at least given say 10-14 minutes per game at the start of the season. He looked dominant in SL and I'm sure the coaching staff will want to see how he comes out after a rather solid season last year.

Now if he looks good in that role I could see his minutes rise as the year goes along, he also seems to play a type of ball that Chauncy prefers so that could help him get minutes.

[JasonStern]

People questioned Blazers management and their ability to win anything during the Dame era, but here we are - 2x summer league champs.

[elias808]

Watford might have earned some minutes behind Nurk/Grant after this summer.

I don't really love Watford in any pre-defined role (ie being the primary backup PF or C) but I think he's great as a x-factor that can fill in various holes in response to injury or unforeseen game needs. Just having a swiss army knife kind of player that the coach trusts for those assignments that aren't common enough to plan for but can use adhoc as needed. Jack of all trades, master of none, it can be really hard for those type players to carve out roles as everyone wants to moneyball each position and find someone elite at something for it, but there is always some room for versatile players who play hard.

Watching highlights of the game, as I don’t have access to ESPN, I was highly impressed with TWs ability to bring the ball up the court. Was it perfect; no, but highly encouraging. Shows a level of skill and IQ that is tangible in the modern NBA. If he can continue to hit the 3 at around 38% and accumulate assists/ball movement he will be an integral depth piece for the team.

[elias808]

Watford was very impressive, I would be blown away if he wasn't at least given say 10-14 minutes per game at the start of the season. He looked dominant in SL and I'm sure the coaching staff will want to see how he comes out after a rather solid season last year.

Now if he looks good in that role I could see his minutes rise as the year goes along, he also seems to play a type of ball that Chauncy prefers so that could help him get minutes.

Dominant is an overstatement, but I agree with the general crux of your argument. He possesses a skill set that no one else on the team has. A Grant Williams kinda player.

[monopoman]

Watford was very impressive, I would be blown away if he wasn't at least given say 10-14 minutes per game at the start of the season. He looked dominant in SL and I'm sure the coaching staff will want to see how he comes out after a rather solid season last year.

Now if he looks good in that role I could see his minutes rise as the year goes along, he also seems to play a type of ball that Chauncy prefers so that could help him get minutes.

Dominant is an overstatement, but I agree with the general crux of your argument. He possesses a skill set that no one else on the team has. A Grant Williams kinda player.

Well Grant is good enough to get 24 MPG on the Celtics, and that team is considered one of the best in the NBA right now. So if Watford is the next Grant Williams that sounds good to me.

[red_power]

People questioned Blazers management and their ability to win anything during the Dame era, but here we are - 2x summer league champs.

Two times, two rings! That sh*t stink don't it?

[zzaj]

Okay, finally got through all the games. Jabari kinda reminds me of a cross between motivated Harkless and Wes Mathews. Let's all hope he continues to progress and approaches that type of impact at the NBA level.

[BlazersBroncos]

Watford looked really nice after being out of control the first game.

The guy he reminds me of a bit is Rodney Rogers, if anyone remembers him. Big bodied forward who did a bit of everything. Albeit Rodney was a 3/4 and Trendon more of a 4/5 - but who knows where Rodney would play in todays NBA.

If Watford can be a rotation caliber player thats a hell of a find, and only 21 (For some reason I thought he was closer to 23, he looks a bit older).

Walker looks so polished. His rebounding skills at his size and mobility reminds me of Chief, but it took Aminu 5+ years in the NBA to really get a feel for the game, Walker has that right now.