Summer League Discussion

[BostonCouchGM]

I know there's a thread on the GB but thought we might like to consolidate our thoughts on these recently drafted and other young guys currently playing in the G-League. I tape every game that airs and am currently catching up on today's action. Anyone impress you yet?

[rk2023]

Didn't get to watch too much as I was out. As a Lakers fan, I was left quite impressed with Jamie Jaquez Jr. as an opponent (if that is how it is spelt?). Would certainly have to rewatch film, but it seems as if both Chet and Cissoko impressed from limited footage I've seen and what I've been told.

Back to Jaquez however: when picks get past to the lottery and shift (for the most part) towards contenders and contending hopefuls, the trade-off between "immediate impact, talent, and indicators for being a solid role-player+ / rotation piece" vs. "best prospect available who has a chance of coming close to their ceiling". With how the league is trending from a team & tactical standpoint as well as under the new CBA, I personally prefer the second method as a draft strategy. Wanted to see others' thoughts here.

[rk2023]

https://www.nba.com/news/2023-summer-league-schedules

Linked in the 2023 draft thread, but figured it would be resourceful to share in here as well

[BostonCouchGM]

The Lakers have arguably the worst SL roster. I wouldn't get too excited about Jaquez. He's going to be a good role player and Heat fans should be happy with that. What I was shocked at was how tiny George is now. He's lost 15 lbs and is seriously looking small out there. But with that lost weight has come quickness. He's ridiculously quick. Among the fastest in the NBA. It's crazy. And he's officially a PG. A chucking scoring PG but any notion that he can be a SG is over. He went from pre-season poor man's Beal since he was reported to be 6'4" to 6'5" to now being basically Sexton 2.0 but tbh I like him more than Sexton.

Ogbaji still looks like a starting caliber SG but at minimum a very productive 6th man type. Jovic is a starter. Chet has star power and ability. I STILL don't understand why OKC chose Dieng at #11 last draft. I'm not seeing it. Keegan looks good. He's made incremental improvements to his handle and driving ability and he's bigger/stronger. He won't get away with much of what he did last night against NBA comp but it at least shows he wasn't a finished product like people feared. He's really bad on defense.

The Hornets still don't know how to utilize and develop their young talent. Miller looked like he was trying too hard and doing all the things he shouldn't. They'll regret passing on Scoot and Amen for him but I guess they made their bed with Lamelo. They'll be an irrelevant franchise for the next decade. Hood-Schifino doesn't look special to me. Maybe he's a capable role player? I dunno. Grizzlies have some really decent depth. Their 2nd year SL guys Roddy, Lofton and LaRavia showed out. GG is very physically impressive and didn't look lost out there despite being the youngest guy in the league.

Barlow showed out and proving me right as he was maybe THE most underrated prospect from last year. He's similar to Horford and should be starting but who knows with the Spurs these days. Podzmienski looked really good. As did Quinones and Santos for the Warriors but knowing Kerr none of them will play. Colby Jones is a nice role-player which is what the Kings needed. He'll likely contribute a decent amount off the bench. High floor very low ceiling though.

[crows2]

Didn't get to watch too much as I was out. As a Lakers fan, I was left quite impressed with Jamie Jaquez Jr. as an opponent (if that is how it is spelt?). Would certainly have to rewatch film, but it seems as if both Chet and Cissoko impressed from limited footage I've seen and what I've been told.

Back to Jaquez however: when picks get past to the lottery and shift (for the most part) towards contenders and contending hopefuls, the trade-off between "immediate impact, talent, and indicators for being a solid role-player+ / rotation piece" vs. "best prospect available who has a chance of coming close to their ceiling". With how the league is trending from a team & tactical standpoint as well as under the new CBA, I personally prefer the second method as a draft strategy. Wanted to see others' thoughts here.

Without looking into it too much at this stage, it certainly worked for Denver with Braun last year (although I think he has more room to develop further than Jaquez).

[rk2023]

Didn't get to watch too much as I was out. As a Lakers fan, I was left quite impressed with Jamie Jaquez Jr. as an opponent (if that is how it is spelt?). Would certainly have to rewatch film, but it seems as if both Chet and Cissoko impressed from limited footage I've seen and what I've been told.

Back to Jaquez however: when picks get past to the lottery and shift (for the most part) towards contenders and contending hopefuls, the trade-off between "immediate impact, talent, and indicators for being a solid role-player+ / rotation piece" vs. "best prospect available who has a chance of coming close to their ceiling". With how the league is trending from a team & tactical standpoint as well as under the new CBA, I personally prefer the second method as a draft strategy. Wanted to see others' thoughts here.

Without looking into it too much at this stage, it certainly worked for Denver with Braun last year (although I think he has more room to develop further than Jaquez).

Right, I misspoke in the OP - meaning I take the former approach as finding a swing-player who can rotate between the bench / starting, is scalable, and plays both ways already in itself is a great piece for teams whom wish to contend. Add in the fact they are on a rookie deal, and it makes their contract all the more valuable. Jaden McDaniels, Bane, Walker Kessler, Jalen Williams, Braun? are all guys I could see fitting this bill.

[EvanZ]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

[big-shot-ROB]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

Exactly, you might read something onto it such as Tatum being really good or 2nd year Brown looking league's above everyone else (own examples from when I used to watch games) but SL is basically a baseline. If you been somewhat around the league (1 or 2 years) and you are not dominating then it's a huge red flag.

[babyjax13]

Terq looking like NBA spacing might help him, we'll see when the season starts.

[clyde21]

his handle/pull up game is legit, he's tiny tho

[Capn'O]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

I think the inverse of that is if a young guy looks like he doesn't belong at such a low level of competition it's a good sign. I was pleased to see Bailey just cooking everyone without digging into his hops yesterday. He made it look easy.

[Colbinii]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

This isn't true.

If you are studying English, learning how to use a calculator isn't of value. But if you are learning math, learning how to use a calculator is valuable.

Understanding the pros and cons of summer league is important. Using Summer League as a 1:1 correlation for NBA success isn't useful, but that doesn't mean Summer League as a whole is useless.

[EvanZ]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

This isn't true.

If you are studying English, learning how to use a calculator isn't of value. But if you are learning math, learning how to use a calculator is valuable.

Understanding the pros and cons of summer league is important. Using Summer League as a 1:1 correlation for NBA success isn't useful, but that doesn't mean Summer League as a whole is useless.

This was a lot of words without saying anything.

[Colbinii]

I think the best rule of thumb is to just ignore pretty much everything you see in SL except that third year guys who still can't figure it out in SL will probably never figure it out.

This isn't true.

If you are studying English, learning how to use a calculator isn't of value. But if you are learning math, learning how to use a calculator is valuable.

Understanding the pros and cons of summer league is important. Using Summer League as a 1:1 correlation for NBA success isn't useful, but that doesn't mean Summer League as a whole is useless.

This was a lot of words without saying anything.

There is something to gain by watching summer league. To say it is useless really misses the point of summer league and leaves you with one less tool in your toolbox when analzying players.

Though, maybe it isn't relevant to this board [as you guys are all about players pre-NBA] while the summer league is best as a tool for analzying players in the NBA.

[clyde21]

GG so far has looked way better than B Miller

[EvanZ]

This isn't true.

If you are studying English, learning how to use a calculator isn't of value. But if you are learning math, learning how to use a calculator is valuable.

Understanding the pros and cons of summer league is important. Using Summer League as a 1:1 correlation for NBA success isn't useful, but that doesn't mean Summer League as a whole is useless.

This was a lot of words without saying anything.

There is something to gain by watching summer league. To say it is useless really misses the point of summer league and leaves you with one less tool in your toolbox when analzying players.

Though, maybe it isn't relevant to this board [as you guys are all about players pre-NBA] while the summer league is best as a tool for analzying players in the NBA.

You keep saying there's something to gain. What is it? I've been watching SL for years and learned that most of my takes were almost always overreactions.

[ItsDanger]

Several players have stood out but GG Jackson certainly has to me. Some GMs need to re-evaluate their risk/reward models. If they don't have one, fire them immediately.

[Colbinii]

This was a lot of words without saying anything.

There is something to gain by watching summer league. To say it is useless really misses the point of summer league and leaves you with one less tool in your toolbox when analzying players.

Though, maybe it isn't relevant to this board [as you guys are all about players pre-NBA] while the summer league is best as a tool for analzying players in the NBA.

You keep saying there's something to gain. What is it? I've been watching SL for years and learned that most of my takes were almost always overreactions.

My two biggest uses for Summer League are:

-Identifying Players Floor as players [Their baseline]
-Identifying Players Tools

I think Summer League is good for identifying unproven/undrafted talent as we can see how those players stack-up against the better prospects.

Summer League does a poor job of projecting NBA Roles [Nobody is going to think Murray is a #1 option just because he dominates the SL].
Summer League can't project ceiling.

It is also important to not let Summer League completely change your previous views of players. You spend what, thousand of hours analyzing for the draft, 15 minutes per game shouldn't drastically change it.

Plus, Summer League is a fun teaser for the best prospects.

[EvanZ]

Keyonte got in better shape


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[gambitx777]

Miller looked so bad! Lol

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