Wizards Summer League/Training Camp thread

[bsilver]

Here is more of a positive spin from CSN and Chase Hughes on the SL. I guess Hughes now is the main beat writer with J.Michael gone.

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/washington-wizards/what-we-learned-wizards-summer-league-despite-them-going-winless?utm_content=buffera95fb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

"spin" is certainly the right word. This article wasn't objective, and looks like an effort to ingratiate with management. The whole SL situation can be described in one sentence from the BF article, "Mac was the only one who looked like a legitimate NBA player".

Young and Robinson have size and athleticism, but there's no evidence of the basketball skills shown by players on other SL teams. And please cut Ochefu, and bite the financial bullet and release McCullough if someone useful at PF is available. We don't have enough depth at PF, unless one thinks Scott will do.

When Hughes started saying positive things about McCullough I got the picture. It's a fluff piece. PR not journalism.

I think Michael Young has "the basketball skills." I think the question with him is whether he'll be able to execute against the tougher level of defense. I don't know why you describe him as having "size and athleticism." I think these are where he's lacking. For one thing I don't think he's 6'9" as is claimed.

Overall, the level of play in SL this year was higher than I've ever seen it. This year's R1 & many of the R2 rookies seem to be a killer class. If we'd had our R1 & R2 picks, we'd be a lot better team right now.

I was just venting, so facts weren't too important.
Apparently Young doesn't have size - the 6-9 may be bs. Who knows about NBA level athleticism since his test stats don't seem to be on draftexpress.com - maybe wasn't considered a serious enough prospect.
Basketball skills - I watched and wasn't impressed. 33% FG% in SL. 3.8 rebounds - not very impressive #'s in college either, and rebounding seems to be a good carry-over stat. Maybe he can play defense - I didn't watch that part too closely.
A 4 year college player so no reason to think there's a lot of hidden potential.

Agree that level of play in SL was high. Nice to have some picks even though we know EG's record picking higher than 3. I think there were many players I saw that probably won't make an NBA roster this year that were more impressive than Young. That's just my impression - don't have list of names.

[payitforward]

Obviously, Young is a long shot. Robinson as well. But it still makes sense to sign them to 2-way contracts. Cheap & at least creates some possibility however slight of getting lucky.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Watching Caleb Swanigan in the SL REALLY just makes me hate Ernie Grunfeld.

RealGM thanks for being an outlet for me to vent.

I REALLY hate you Grunfeld.

[payitforward]

Watching Caleb Swanigan in the SL REALLY just makes me hate Ernie Grunfeld.

RealGM thanks for being an outlet for me to vent.

I REALLY hate you Grunfeld.

Kyle Kuzma looked pretty good too, wouldn't you say?

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Watching Caleb Swanigan in the SL REALLY just makes me hate Ernie Grunfeld.

RealGM thanks for being an outlet for me to vent.

I REALLY hate you Grunfeld.

Kyle Kuzma looked pretty good too, wouldn't you say?

Caleb Swanigan is who I hoped the Wizards would buy back into the 1st rd for.

As far as Kuzma, yes he did. Was he even drafted?

How the Wizards are still stuck with this old-fashioned dud of a GM who thinks he's outsmarting every other GM in the league with bush league moves is beyond me.

[queridiculo]

Caleb Swanigan is who I hoped the Wizards would buy back into the 1st rd for.

As far as Kuzma, yes he did. Was he even drafted?

How the Wizards are still stuck with this old-fashioned dud of a GM who thinks he's outsmarting every other GM in the league with bush league moves is beyond me.

Kuzma was the MVP of the Vegas Summer League championship game putting up 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Lakers picked him at 27 with the pick they acquired as part of the Mozgov/Lopez trade with the Nets.

Kuzma is raw, but he's a skilled athlete with upside.

His summerleague stats 32MPG 21.9PPG 51.4% FG 6.4RB 2.7AST 1.4BLK.

[Ruzious]

Caleb Swanigan is who I hoped the Wizards would buy back into the 1st rd for.

As far as Kuzma, yes he did. Was he even drafted?

How the Wizards are still stuck with this old-fashioned dud of a GM who thinks he's outsmarting every other GM in the league with bush league moves is beyond me.

Kuzma was the MVP of the Vegas Summer League championship game putting up 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Lakers picked him at 27 with the pick they acquired as part of the Mozgov/Lopez trade with the Nets.

Kuzma is raw, but he's a skilled athlete with upside.

His summerleague stats 32MPG 21.9PPG 51.4% FG 6.4RB 2.7AST 1.4BLK.

A sign of Ball's greatness was Kuzma's success in the Summer League. (I'm not a Kuzma fan. )

But Swanigan... his 3 point range combined with other skills... he can't miss as long as he continues to stay in good shape. Bell's the best pick from the second round. There just aren't a lot of difference-makers on the defensive end, anymore, and he'll be one of them. Oh, and John Collins went past several players that he's clearly better.

[queridiculo]

A sign of Ball's greatness was Kuzma's success in the Summer League. (I'm not a Kuzma fan. )

But Swanigan... his 3 point range combined with other skills... he can't miss as long as he continues to stay in good shape. Bell's the best pick from the second round. There just aren't a lot of difference-makers on the defensive end, anymore, and he'll be one of them. Oh, and John Collins went past several players that he's clearly better.

Oh yeah no doubt, and Swanigan predictably was in our range to pick.

In the meantime the Wizards continue to try to get by with veteran reclamation projects every year because we've either picked poorly when we had a chance to add players or we've never given ourselves a chance to, by continually wasting the most important player acquisition resource in the salary cap era, draft picks.

It's almost pointless to argue at this point, it's there for everybody to see and it's not going to change with this teams leadership.

[Ruzious]

A sign of Ball's greatness was Kuzma's success in the Summer League. (I'm not a Kuzma fan. )

But Swanigan... his 3 point range combined with other skills... he can't miss as long as he continues to stay in good shape. Bell's the best pick from the second round. There just aren't a lot of difference-makers on the defensive end, anymore, and he'll be one of them. Oh, and John Collins went past several players that he's clearly better.

Oh yeah no doubt, and Swanigan predictably was in our range to pick.

In the meantime the Wizards continue to try to get by with veteran reclamation projects every year because we've either picked poorly when we had a chance to add players or we've never given ourselves a chance to, by continually wasting the most important player acquisition resource in the salary cap era, draft picks.

It's almost pointless to argue at this point, it's there for everybody to see and it's not going to change with this teams leadership.

Yeah, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick we gave up for a rental of Bogdanovich.

[NatP4]

A sign of Ball's greatness was Kuzma's success in the Summer League. (I'm not a Kuzma fan. )

But Swanigan... his 3 point range combined with other skills... he can't miss as long as he continues to stay in good shape. Bell's the best pick from the second round. There just aren't a lot of difference-makers on the defensive end, anymore, and he'll be one of them. Oh, and John Collins went past several players that he's clearly better.

Oh yeah no doubt, and Swanigan predictably was in our range to pick.

In the meantime the Wizards continue to try to get by with veteran reclamation projects every year because we've either picked poorly when we had a chance to add players or we've never given ourselves a chance to, by continually wasting the most important player acquisition resource in the salary cap era, draft picks.

It's almost pointless to argue at this point, it's there for everybody to see and it's not going to change with this teams leadership.

Yeah, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick we gave up for a rental of Bogdanovich.

But Chris McCullough..

[Dat2U]

[
Yeah, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick we gave up for a rental of Bogdanovich.

But Chris McCullough..

Like he said, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick.

[NatP4]

[
Yeah, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick we gave up for a rental of Bogdanovich.

But Chris McCullough..

Like he said, we have nothing to show for a valuable pick.

Did you watch that final summer league game? Lol. You probably would've found that hilarious.

He is bad, very bad.

[payitforward]

Caleb Swanigan is who I hoped the Wizards would buy back into the 1st rd for.

As far as Kuzma, yes he did. Was he even drafted?

How the Wizards are still stuck with this old-fashioned dud of a GM who thinks he's outsmarting every other GM in the league with bush league moves is beyond me.

Kuzma was the MVP of the Vegas Summer League championship game putting up 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Lakers picked him at 27 with the pick they acquired as part of the Mozgov/Lopez trade with the Nets.

Kuzma is raw, but he's a skilled athlete with upside.

His summerleague stats 32MPG 21.9PPG 51.4% FG 6.4RB 2.7AST 1.4BLK.

A sign of Ball's greatness was Kuzma's success in the Summer League. (I'm not a Kuzma fan. )

But Swanigan... his 3 point range combined with other skills... he can't miss as long as he continues to stay in good shape. Bell's the best pick from the second round. There just aren't a lot of difference-makers on the defensive end, anymore, and he'll be one of them. Oh, and John Collins went past several players that he's clearly better.

A few things...

Kuzma is by no means "raw." He played 2000 minutes of college ball. I watched all the LA games; he is an extremely polished player.

Ball is tremendous, yes; but he didn't play in the championship game, & Kuzma went off! Not saying that kind of performance will translate to the league (where I believe teams play some defense ), but he definitely looks like a terrific prospect.

Swanigan's 3-point shot did look pretty good, but I think he shot @28% on 3s in SL. Kuzma was a far far better 3-point shooter.

Don't get me wrong: I like Swanigan a lot! & he's only 20. I'd have taken him over Kuzma, so that's not my point. Still... Kyle Kuzma looked awfully good in Vegas!

[Dat2U]

I wasn't high on Swanigan due to his body type. I questioned what position he defends in the league. Time will only tell, I thought he was a tweener though. Too slow and not quite perimeter oriented enough for PF and undersized for C. If he's really a sleeper, then he's going to be in great shape and continue to expand his skill level on the perimeter.

[Ruzious]

I wasn't high on Swanigan due to his body type. I questioned what position he defends in the league. Time will only tell, I thought he was a tweener though. Too slow and not quite perimeter oriented enough for PF and undersized for C. If he's really a sleeper, then he's going to be in great shape and continue to expand his skill level on the perimeter.

He got in better shape last season, and I think that caught people by surprise. He was fat before, and now the pounds are more muscle. I think he's a PF more than a C. He can over-power the stretch 4's of today inside and knock down 3's if they play off him. And he'll out-rebound stretch 4's. He'll give up points, but he'll also add some muscle to wear down opponents.

[montestewart]

I wasn't high on Swanigan due to his body type. I questioned what position he defends in the league. Time will only tell, I thought he was a tweener though. Too slow and not quite perimeter oriented enough for PF and undersized for C. If he's really a sleeper, then he's going to be in great shape and continue to expand his skill level on the perimeter.

He got in better shape last season, and I think that caught people by surprise. He was fat before, and now the pounds are more muscle. I think he's a PF more than a C. He can over-power the stretch 4's of today inside and knock down 3's if they play off him. And he'll out-rebound stretch 4's. He'll give up points, but he'll also add some muscle to wear down opponents.

I rarely follow college ball, but I have a colleague who went to Purdue and hyped Swanigan, so been I've following him for awhile and noticed his transition. Not necessarily seeing a star in the making, but could see a quality NBA career from him, in much the way you describe.

[payitforward]

I wasn't high on Swanigan due to his body type. I questioned what position he defends in the league. Time will only tell, I thought he was a tweener though. Too slow and not quite perimeter oriented enough for PF and undersized for C. If he's really a sleeper, then he's going to be in great shape and continue to expand his skill level on the perimeter.

He got in better shape last season, and I think that caught people by surprise. He was fat before, and now the pounds are more muscle. I think he's a PF more than a C. He can over-power the stretch 4's of today inside and knock down 3's if they play off him. And he'll out-rebound stretch 4's. He'll give up points, but he'll also add some muscle to wear down opponents.

I rarely follow college ball, but I have a colleague who went to Purdue and hyped Swanigan, so been I've following him for awhile and noticed his transition. Not necessarily seeing a star in the making, but could see a quality NBA career from him, in much the way you describe.

Still, I think Dat is correct in saying that the swing issue with Swanigan is does he stay in shape (or maybe even get in better shape). If yes, he can be a star in this league. If no, his career will be cut short.

He has gotten in a lot better shape over the last year, but of course there was a big carrot out there for him -- to become an nba player, make a lot of $$, etc. Here's hoping he keeps it up!