Summer league 2024 thread

[Loaf_of_bread]

Let a few games play out before making such presumptuous statements on these guys. 1 game and some of you have them figured out 5 years from now.. good grief.

[Nick K]

We have to realize just how terrible the Iowa Wolves were last year, led by Minott, Miller, Nix, etc. Only the Ignite were worse, and the Ignite were so bad, they disbanded the team.

I think Minott’s an NBA player. I just think it’s about five years away. He’s going to have to go to Europe, maybe spend years in the G-League, just honing his offensive skills. He’s an incredible athlete with length. But you can’t play in the NBA as a wing with no offensive game. I look at Derrick Jones Jr. as his template. Keep getting strong. Learn to hit wide open corner 3s at a 40% clip. Make smart but simple plays on offense. And really really focus on defense.

TSJ is going to get minutes. Mainly because of his defense and hustle. I like that guy.

Dilly is going to struggle this year because of his size. He’s really really small. But I liked what I saw in the second half. He’ll make baskets. In the second half, he looked like a real PG. That’s good.

The rest? Meh. Miller looks like he might be a bench big eventually. Nothing more. Which is consistent with how he looked last year in the g-league.

Hafi. Chucker. Like some of what he did, especially on defense. But it’ll be interesting the next few games.

Nix, Clark don’t do anything for me.

Pretty much my thoughts tho I like Nix a little better than you I don't see more than a 15th man on a bad team, but he could stick for a few years in the league. Shannon will play and I honestly can't wait to see him and Naz in a two man game.

'
Nix was easily the Wolves best player tonight. I liked how Miller played before he was injured and hopefully, he'll get a chance to get in the rotation. TSJ is a few years older than Nix and Miller and he looked great offensively other than his passing and turnovers. Dillingham shot bricks all night and I'm officially worried given that he's so small and will get abused in the playoffs defensively, he needs to shoot a lot better. Honestly, Nix looks so much better for now. Hopefully, Dillingham will come around sooner rather than later but I think he's a bigger project than most expected.

I was impressed with Nix tonight too. He wasn't our best player, Shannon clearly was, but Nix will give Dozier all he wants. Nix has good size and a decent handle too. He calmly stepped up and made his FT's. I put a premium on that.

[cmoss84]

Rob and Big.

Guess nobody watched that show...thought I was on to something...damn!

[Klomp]

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[wolves_89]

Minott not dominating in the Summer league shouldn't be a surprise as his game doesn't scale well with increased offensive usage. His biggest problem in the first Summer league game was trying to do to much on offense, he is just not good at driving into traffic. For him to get rotation minutes next season he's going to need to defend at a high level, rebound, and stay within his role on offense (needs to be limited to fastbreaks, wide open 3s, cuts to the basket, and offensive putbacks). I still believe he can be a pretty good complementary role player, he just needs to accept his limitations.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Just look at the highlight and only one game so i don't jump into conclusion right now. Seems we have few players who can become part of the rotation in the future.
Regarding the only player i really know. Hifi, he was not bad. He is a good player but with a tendency of playing hero ball. But he can be an option if Rob didn't make the cut. Rob seems to be a decent playmaker but with his size, he has to become a Mike Conley efficiency shooter . Not easy but we will know in 2 years.

[winforlose]

Minott not dominating in the Summer league shouldn't be a surprise as his game doesn't scale well with increased offensive usage. His biggest problem in the first Summer league game was trying to do to much on offense, he is just not good at driving into traffic. For him to get rotation minutes next season he's going to need to defend at a high level, rebound, and stay within his role on offense (needs to be limited to fastbreaks, wide open 3s, cuts to the basket, and offensive putbacks). I still believe he can be a pretty good complementary role player, he just needs to accept his limitations.

I agree with a lot of this. I like that he hit all 6 of free throw attempts. I like that he grabbed 8 boards and contributed to more. I like that he had good floor vision for passing (even though he botched a few,) and I feel like he wouldn’t need to drive much with the main roster. All of this being true, I do still think he will grow and develop over time. He barely played in college, and compared to someone like TSJ or LeDee who had the extra years of both experience and physical development he still looks inexperienced.

TLDR he needs to develop in his role but still has unexplored upside to tap.

[winforlose]

Just look at the highlight and only one game so i don't jump into conclusion right now. Seems we have few players who can become part of the rotation in the future.
Regarding the only player i really know. Hifi, he was not bad. He is a good player but with a tendency of playing hero ball. But he can be an option if Rob didn't make the cut. Rob seems to be a decent playmaker but with his size, he has to become a Mike Conley efficiency shooter . Not easy but we will know in 2 years.

I think if he wants a long term relationship with the Wolves he would be better off on a two way than going back to Europe. If he were here he could learn our system and practice with the guys. That said, he could be like a draft and stash (that we didn’t draft) to the extent that if comes to the NBA he does so to play with Rudy and his summer league buddies.

[minimus]

Clark is pretty much as advertised. He's defended well and gotten his hands on the ball a bunch of times. The question is whether he can develop more offense than Josh Okogie.

Clark is roaming rn. He is created chaos on the floor by aggressively double teaming. Also he is big enough not to be bothered by screens opponents. I hope he and TJ will be much better at pressing opponent without gambling too much when Gobert/Towns are on the floor. Jesse has done excellent work at contesting opponent layups without fouling, but Gobert/Towns presence will allow our players on perimeter to be ultra aggressive in defense.

My guess is you're going to play as many minutes for the Wolves as Clark...

So you are saying there is a chance...

[Shaka_Zulu]

So Shannon Jr is 23 and it's expected he is to be most ready of the summer league squad. But God DAMN was he so good still, not just both ways but he plays with such ferociousness, and quick shooting or attacking at all times. Decision making reminded me of Naz. Very talented.


The rest as expected in summer league, looked like work in progress. For the various reasons you all mentionned.

[minimus]

Pretty much my thoughts tho I like Nix a little better than you I don't see more than a 15th man on a bad team, but he could stick for a few years in the league. Shannon will play and I honestly can't wait to see him and Naz in a two man game.

'
Nix was easily the Wolves best player tonight. I liked how Miller played before he was injured and hopefully, he'll get a chance to get in the rotation. TSJ is a few years older than Nix and Miller and he looked great offensively other than his passing and turnovers. Dillingham shot bricks all night and I'm officially worried given that he's so small and will get abused in the playoffs defensively, he needs to shoot a lot better. Honestly, Nix looks so much better for now. Hopefully, Dillingham will come around sooner rather than later but I think he's a bigger project than most expected.

I was impressed with Nix tonight too. He wasn't our best player, Shannon clearly was, but Nix will give Dozier all he wants. Nix has good size and a decent handle too. He calmly stepped up and made his FT's. I put a premium on that.

Nix had an unnecessary turnover, when he wanted to play fancy, but yeah he played like veteran. Also his two layups and fastbreak dunk were damn pretty.

[KATKlownFeet]

Pretty much my thoughts tho I like Nix a little better than you I don't see more than a 15th man on a bad team, but he could stick for a few years in the league. Shannon will play and I honestly can't wait to see him and Naz in a two man game.

'
Nix was easily the Wolves best player tonight. I liked how Miller played before he was injured and hopefully, he'll get a chance to get in the rotation. TSJ is a few years older than Nix and Miller and he looked great offensively other than his passing and turnovers. Dillingham shot bricks all night and I'm officially worried given that he's so small and will get abused in the playoffs defensively, he needs to shoot a lot better. Honestly, Nix looks so much better for now. Hopefully, Dillingham will come around sooner rather than later but I think he's a bigger project than most expected.

I was impressed with Nix tonight too. He wasn't our best player, Shannon clearly was, but Nix will give Dozier all he wants. Nix has good size and a decent handle too. He calmly stepped up and made his FT's. I put a premium on that.

thought both played well, but Nix made more winning plays (that late clock bullseye pass to Minott was unreal and he made like four break away steals) and was evident in his team leading plus minus. TSJ was actually negative on plus/minus and he worried me with his lazy passing and turnovers. So I guess we''ll just have to agree to disagree on who was better tonight.

[Neeva]

Eventhough Klintman looked okay I don’t miss Wendell Moore being complete ass for our SL team.

[Nick K]

'
Nix was easily the Wolves best player tonight. I liked how Miller played before he was injured and hopefully, he'll get a chance to get in the rotation. TSJ is a few years older than Nix and Miller and he looked great offensively other than his passing and turnovers. Dillingham shot bricks all night and I'm officially worried given that he's so small and will get abused in the playoffs defensively, he needs to shoot a lot better. Honestly, Nix looks so much better for now. Hopefully, Dillingham will come around sooner rather than later but I think he's a bigger project than most expected.

I was impressed with Nix tonight too. He wasn't our best player, Shannon clearly was, but Nix will give Dozier all he wants. Nix has good size and a decent handle too. He calmly stepped up and made his FT's. I put a premium on that.

Nix had an unnecessary turnover, when he wanted to play fancy, but yeah he played like veteran. Also his two layups and fastbreak dunk were damn pretty.

I know it's only one game but at this point I'd feel good going with Nix and Hifi as reserve guards. Both of these guys would be very effective as practice players which you have to have. Not to mention having confidence in them when it matters.

[Nick K]

'
Nix was easily the Wolves best player tonight. I liked how Miller played before he was injured and hopefully, he'll get a chance to get in the rotation. TSJ is a few years older than Nix and Miller and he looked great offensively other than his passing and turnovers. Dillingham shot bricks all night and I'm officially worried given that he's so small and will get abused in the playoffs defensively, he needs to shoot a lot better. Honestly, Nix looks so much better for now. Hopefully, Dillingham will come around sooner rather than later but I think he's a bigger project than most expected.

I was impressed with Nix tonight too. He wasn't our best player, Shannon clearly was, but Nix will give Dozier all he wants. Nix has good size and a decent handle too. He calmly stepped up and made his FT's. I put a premium on that.

thought both played well, but Nix made more winning plays (that late clock bullseye pass to Minott was unreal and he made like four break away steals) and was evident in his team leading plus minus. TSJ was actually negative on plus/minus and he worried me with his lazy passing and turnovers. So I guess we''ll just have to agree to disagree on who was better tonight.

You are entitled to your opinion. But, I don't think there is a person in the universe (except you) that doesn't think TSJ was the best player on the court.

[minimus]

Our SL team does not offer same structure in offense as our main team, the only similarity is Jesse Edwards playing drop defense à la Gobert. Neither starting not bench unit would ask Minott to create off the dribble. But I can see couple of things that might be beneficial:

First, any ballhander who plays with Gobert will get massive screens to create shot opportunities BUT also must be able to hit Gibert with accurate, nearly perfect pass when Rudy is rolling to the rim. Otherwise ballhandlers will see a crowd in the paint which will take away easy points at rim. Also Gobert rim running gravity open wide open threes opportunities on the wings, when ballhandlers swing the ball with simple skip pass. The big question is whether TSJ and Rob can adjust to this, but I believe it won't be their first task, since both will play with bench.

Second, our bench unit will feature Reid and/or Towns as stretch PF/C. This is an ideal setup for five out offense. Having shooting big is an advantage, that both Rob and TSJ will have. Anderson, McLaughlin and Morris for various reasons (lack of shooting and/or creativity, injuries, ) could not form synergy with Towns and Reid. When I say synergy I have example of Sabonis playing DHO with either Monk/Huerter when big and guard both benefit. The key here IMO is quick decision making based on ability of all five players on the floor to either shoot or slash. I truly believe that Reid, TSJ and Rob can be a special unit because they all are so naturally gifted scorers and quick decision makers.

Finally, both Rob and TSJ should adjust to have more off ball opportunities, when they get the ball within offensive flow:

- wide open in corner
- attacking off the catch when opponent fails to closeout
- attacking after Gobert/Towns screens
- attacking wide open paint when Towns and Reid are on the floor

It other words, Rob and TSJ will be rarely asked to bend opponent defense by themselves. Instead both rookies will asked to integrate in team offense and defense by playing next to our stars: hitting Gobert with passes, attack closeouts and open paint, hit open threes and move the ball.

[Nick K]

Dillingham killing it early showing why we took him. 8 pts 4 asts in 6 minutes.

[Sealab2024]

Dillingham killing it early showing why we took him. 8 pts 4 asts in 6 minutes.

Can't watch it so thanks for the update. And an awesome update at that!!

[minimus]

I'd say that Clark is looking like All-NBA defensive team material. Love that bulldog mentality.

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[Neeva]

Tbh I feel really calm/good when the ball is in Rob’s hands, it’s the same way I feel about Conley. He is a natural PG.