Las Vegas Summer League Notes

[Smitty731]

As some of you may know, I was at Las Vegas Summer League this week and had a chance to talk to a lot of people. Unlike Orlando, where you could get a lot of time to chat, Vegas is a little more controlled. I was still able to get a few things from each team. If you want to read the notes, you can find them here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1465870

Enjoy!

[fishercob]

Washington

1. They love both Danuel House and Daniel Ochefu and think both have a legit chance of making the team out of camp.

2. They think their depth is much improved and will help if they have injuries.

3. They'll miss Jared Dudley a lot, but feel like Markieff Morris is ready to get back to the guy he was before the issues in Phoenix.

4. Wouldn't go in to specifics, but they have a plan to keep Bradley Beal healthy all year.

5. They like getting Andrew Nicholson and Jason Smith, especially for the price they paid.

6. They admit Marcin Gortat and Ian Mahinmi can't play together, but they should see roughly an even split of minutes most night. Gortat when they need offense and Mahinmi when they need defense.

[montestewart]

So Beal will have a minutes limit and no back-to-backs?

[stevemcqueen1]

The Toronto quotes were delusional. So were the Houston ones. The Sacramento ones painted a picture of a team that just has no clue what to do. I would also be a little alarmed by what I read if I was a Portland fan.

[mictic]

So Beal will have a minutes limit and no back-to-backs?

Either that or they'll cover his bones with adamantium. Or maybe they are just delusional...

[payitforward]

Great to have this thread. Going thru the teams, here's some more on guys I saw

Boston
Abdel Nader now may not be willing to be stashed in the D-League after his strong summer performance. Demetrius Jackson is in the same boat, but a little less so.

my comment: Nader went #58. He looked extremely good in SL. High BBIQ, knew what he was doing (I saw some very good plays on defense), can shoot and has more than adequate athleticism. It's SL, but he looked like a player to me.

Cleveland
Key Felder has Isaiah Thomas-like potential. He's got the ability to create space. He needs a little work on his PG skills, but they like him a lot. He'll either be signed and spend the year in the D-League or he'll just go straight to the D-League.

Jordan McRae may be a part of the rotation. They love his athletic ability on the wing.

my comment: Both guys looked really good, no question. Felder is a bowling ball that can shoot.

Golden State
Patrick McCaw may be a draft steal. They think he could play this year as a shooter/scorer if necessary.

my comment: I saw this guy for no more than 10 minutes. He looked like a lottery pick. Not saying anything particular, but... just sayin' ... wow. Note that GS bought into R2 to grab him. Ernie, OTOH, said there wasn't anyone in R2 he thought was worth bothering to spend $$ for. You tell me how hard it would be to find someone who did more for your team than Jason Smith? Not very, I'd say.

Philly
They were upset to lose Wood, but understood him going to Charlotte.

my comment: I hadn't noticed that Charlotte signed Christian Wood. Some folks here wanted him in R1 last year; I didn't, but how we passed on him to pick Aaron wrong not right White I will never know!

He killed it in SL both in Orlando and in Vegas. A cheap, young, 3-shooting big for next to no money.... Sigh... Gee I'm so glad we were able to turn over the rock under which Jason Smith was hiding. Arrgh!

T.J. McConnell played absolutely great ball in the LV summer league. He may wind up being a very very good NBA point guard.

San Antonio
They are in love with Ryan Arcidiacono and Bryn Forbes. They think both guys can be NBA players because of their skills. - Note: They signed both yesterday.

They think Jonathon Simmons can play a big role this year because of his energy and ability to get to the hoop.

They ...have big plans for DeWayne Dedmon. Expect Dedmon to start with Pau Gasol as the primary big off the bench.

my comment: Every word of the above makes me grit my teeth in frustration. That is a FO that knows what it's doing. Who knows whether Arcidiacono or Forbes will actually make the Spurs roster, but they have assessed them correctly as being high potential. They are also low cost -- and both of them looked very good in SL. As did Simmons, also undrafted. And, they plan to start Dedmon (for his defense). He cost them less than Jason Smith cost us!

Unmentioned here, but they have also signed Davis Bertans, who was on my radar in 2011; they picked him #42 that year. He is only 23 right now, and he's coming over this year after buying out of his Euro contract. Another reason to gnash one's teeth over our brain-dead 2011 draft.

[closg00]

Yup, the Spurs monitor the progress of many many stash-and-hide guys overseas and on their D-League team, we have Aaron White.

[payitforward]

Great to have this thread. Going thru the teams, here's some more on guys I saw

Boston
Abdel Nader now may not be willing to be stashed in the D-League after his strong summer performance. Demetrius Jackson is in the same boat, but a little less so.

my comment: Nader went #58. He looked extremely good in SL. High BBIQ, knew what he was doing (I saw some very good plays on defense), can shoot and has more than adequate athleticism. It's SL, but he looked like a player to me.

Cleveland
Key Felder has Isaiah Thomas-like potential. He's got the ability to create space. He needs a little work on his PG skills, but they like him a lot. He'll either be signed and spend the year in the D-League or he'll just go straight to the D-League.

Jordan McRae may be a part of the rotation. They love his athletic ability on the wing.

my comment: Both guys looked really good, no question. Felder is a bowling ball that can shoot.

Golden State
Patrick McCaw may be a draft steal. They think he could play this year as a shooter/scorer if necessary.

my comment: I saw this guy for no more than 10 minutes. He looked like a lottery pick. Not saying anything particular, but... just sayin' ... wow. Note that GS bought into R2 to grab him. Ernie, OTOH, said there wasn't anyone in R2 he thought was worth bothering to spend $$ for. You tell me how hard it would be to find someone who did more for your team than Jason Smith? Not very, I'd say.

Philly
They were upset to lose Wood, but understood him going to Charlotte.

my comment: I hadn't noticed that Charlotte signed Christian Wood. Some folks here wanted him in R1 last year; I didn't, but how we passed on him to pick Aaron wrong not right White I will never know!

He killed it in SL both in Orlando and in Vegas. A cheap, young, 3-shooting big for next to no money.... Sigh... Gee I'm so glad we were able to turn over the rock under which Jason Smith was hiding. Arrgh!

T.J. McConnell played absolutely great ball in the LV summer league. He may wind up being a very very good NBA point guard.

San Antonio
They are in love with Ryan Arcidiacono and Bryn Forbes. They think both guys can be NBA players because of their skills. - Note: They signed both yesterday.

They think Jonathon Simmons can play a big role this year because of his energy and ability to get to the hoop.

They ...have big plans for DeWayne Dedmon. Expect Dedmon to start with Pau Gasol as the primary big off the bench.

my comment: Every word of the above makes me grit my teeth in frustration. That is a FO that knows what it's doing. Who knows whether Arcidiacono or Forbes will actually make the Spurs roster, but they have assessed them correctly as being high potential. They are also low cost -- and both of them looked very good in SL. As did Simmons, also undrafted. And, they plan to start Dedmon (for his defense). He cost them less than Jason Smith cost us!

Unmentioned here, but they have also signed Davis Bertans, who was on my radar in 2011; they picked him #42 that year. He is only 23 right now, and he's coming over this year after buying out of his Euro contract. Another reason to gnash one's teeth over our brain-dead 2011 draft.

Forgot to mention my guy Alan Williams who was the bomb in SL this year. Phoenix has him signed for 3 years. In fact, I'd have taken him over Wood -- wish we could have at least one of them!

[Ruzious]

Speaking of Alan Williams (a CCJ guy), he led the Summer League in rebounding per game by a large margin - fwiw.

[TGW]

So Beal will have a minutes limit and no back-to-backs?

That's the plan *sigh*

Pay a guy $130,000,000 to play backup minutes, fellas.

[payitforward]

Speaking of Alan Williams (a CCJ guy), he led the Summer League in rebounding per game by a large margin - fwiw.

Excuse me, whoa, hold on! I was the one touting Alan Williams, not CCJ, although he did wind up agreeing with me. You (ok ok, it might have been someone else ) also called Quincy Acy a guy Nate wanted, when in fact I mentioned him in a response to nate, who then took a look at his numbers and agreed with me. Ditto Biyombo as a cheap FA the previous off season. Hey... I need my credit!

[payitforward]

Speaking of Alan Williams -- aside from rebounding, you might take a look at his TS% -- well over 60%.

[Dat2U]

Christian Wood was the one that got away IMO. His youth, skillset and physical tools made him a cheap upside grab. Considering our lack of youth and athleticism in the front court, his acquisition would have made a ton of sense. I was mixed on him in last years draft but I thought he was worth a 2nd round pick and Philly simply didn't have the room on their roster this year to keep him with Simmons, Saric, Holmes & Landry all capable as 4s.

[Ruzious]

Speaking of Alan Williams (a CCJ guy), he led the Summer League in rebounding per game by a large margin - fwiw.

Excuse me, whoa, hold on! I was the one touting Alan Williams, not CCJ, although he did wind up agreeing with me. You (ok ok, it might have been someone else ) also called Quincy Acy a guy Nate wanted, when in fact I mentioned him in a response to nate, who then took a look at his numbers and agreed with me. Ditto Biyombo as a cheap FA the previous off season. Hey... I need my credit!

I just figured that it went without saying that anyone who does well was first touted by you.

[payitforward]

Christian Wood was the one that got away IMO. His youth, skillset and physical tools made him a cheap upside grab. Considering our lack of youth and athleticism in the front court, his acquisition would have made a ton of sense. I was mixed on him in last years draft but I thought he was worth a 2nd round pick and Philly simply didn't have the room on their roster this year to keep him with Simmons, Saric, Holmes & Landry all capable as 4s.

Agreed -- I didn't like him in the draft last year (though certainly a better R2 pick for us than White), but he has looked very very good.

[payitforward]

Speaking of Alan Williams (a CCJ guy), he led the Summer League in rebounding per game by a large margin - fwiw.

Excuse me, whoa, hold on! I was the one touting Alan Williams, not CCJ, although he did wind up agreeing with me. You (ok ok, it might have been someone else ) also called Quincy Acy a guy Nate wanted, when in fact I mentioned him in a response to nate, who then took a look at his numbers and agreed with me. Ditto Biyombo as a cheap FA the previous off season. Hey... I need my credit!

I just figured that it went without saying that anyone who does well was first touted by you.

Well, no.... I can be wrong like anyone else, but in fact I argued for Williams over several posters' repeated objections. For this guy I do want the credit! Then again... he hasn't made it to the league and been successful there yet.

Worth pointing out when the Suns signed Williams to a 3-year deal -- it was right after they dumped Markieff "the Jolt" Morris on Ernie. Within a week or so.

[Dat2U]

Christian Wood was the one that got away IMO. His youth, skillset and physical tools made him a cheap upside grab. Considering our lack of youth and athleticism in the front court, his acquisition would have made a ton of sense. I was mixed on him in last years draft but I thought he was worth a 2nd round pick and Philly simply didn't have the room on their roster this year to keep him with Simmons, Saric, Holmes & Landry all capable as 4s.

Agreed -- I didn't like him in the draft last year (though certainly a better R2 pick for us than White), but he has looked very very good.

Hey payit!

[closg00]

The Wood bandwagon continued here when he was languishing in the G-league, same for Seth Curry

[Ruzious]

Speaking of Alan Williams (a CCJ guy), he led the Summer League in rebounding per game by a large margin - fwiw.

Excuse me, whoa, hold on! I was the one touting Alan Williams, not CCJ, although he did wind up agreeing with me. You (ok ok, it might have been someone else ) also called Quincy Acy a guy Nate wanted, when in fact I mentioned him in a response to nate, who then took a look at his numbers and agreed with me. Ditto Biyombo as a cheap FA the previous off season. Hey... I need my credit!

Ok, you get full credit for touting Alan Williams.

[gambitx777]

I remember the woods and curry in the d league days now look at them. Both mid level exception + starters !

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