The Summer League Thread

[Frankie23]

In my opinion there are players that can play better with some help for better teammates, such as Ayres or Daye. Maybe Thomas too playing the PF spot in a small ball line up. They are just role players.
Vander Blue or Morris can be slashers or playmakers against this type of opposition, but i think they can't translate it to the NBA. And they are "good" at doing that, not at being a spot up shooter. Reminds me of "Alonso Gee" kind of players: good slashers, athletic, but couldn't be effective as a role player in SA.

Of course, when we form a team with Anderson being the top pick of the 12 guys in there, we are not looking at the next star, but a role player. Cotton is not Patty Mills, of course. But with some experience and a playmaker like Manu, he can be really effective with his shooting.

[franktony]

I will give Kyle Anderson a huge credit in the SL, despite not having WOW numbers because the Spurs put him totally out of his comfort zone (probably on purpose to see where he needs to improve). He played mostly off the ball and he always had to take the toughest defensive task. He had to defend Stauskas, Wiggins, Parker,etc

Usually, when it comes to SL games, huge stats don't matter much . It's way more important to see what kind of skills might translate to the PROs. Kyle's feel for the game is absolutely great along with his passing skills and high BBIQ.
Kyle still needs to learn how to be effective playing off the ball and a post game would help him immensely. He would become matchup nightmare. His shot is a bit slow, but his mechanics are not bad, he shoots the ball very high and Chip will help him to fix it, especially to develop a quicker release.

In the future, I think he will end up replacing Manu as a 6th man leading the 2nd unit. Against NBA starters he will probably struggle to defend pretty much any position. Too slow to defend in the perimeter, to skinny to defend BIGs. But he if plays off the bench, he could play with the ball in his hands leading the 2nd unit and he wouldn't have a hard time to hold his own defensively against bench units. That's how I see him in the future. Leading the 2nd unit off the bench "a la Manu".

As for the rest of guys, I don't wanna sound negative but I don't see anyone worth a spot. Cotton can score and handle the ball, but he is below average defensively (to say it nicely) and shooting 23% from deep won't help him to get a spot with the Spurs. Once SA re-signs Baynes, I expect to see SA waiving him to leave an open spot in the roster. Cotton would be a good signing for the Toros.

Denmon was absolutely atrocious offensively. Not sure how much his injury affected his shooting, but his stroke disappeared (reminded me James Anderson). Trying too hard to impress, but looked like a chucker. Tons of bad shots and couldn't get a shot even when he was wide open. He looked decent defensively though.

Deshaun Thomas deserves some credit trying to improve his perimeter skills. He looked ok in pretty much in every category. But he is a BIG. When you watch him, you can see pretty clearly that he is 10x more comfortable playing inside. I don't see his game translating to the PROs. Malik Hairston was way better than him as a prospect a few years ago and he didn't stick. Not sure what happens to Thomas, but I think he will have to find his niche outside the NBA (probably in Europe like Malik).