2024 NBA Summer League! Las Vegas (Championship game tonight July 22: Grizzlies vs Heat) HEAT WIN!

[Chuck Everett]

Heat literally put together a summer league super team. Just rocking everyone in Vegas.

Ware looked good yet again. Hes not dominating SL but it’s clear he’s the best player he steps on the court every game

Bad motor though. Again, there are people on RealGM who probably can do some of these guys' (scouts) jobs. How does this guy fall to 15 in what they universally call a "bad" draft?

[Dan Z]

Heat literally put together a summer league super team. Just rocking everyone in Vegas.

Ware looked good yet again. Hes not dominating SL but it’s clear he’s the best player he steps on the court every game

Bad motor though. Again, there are people on RealGM who probably can do some of these guys' (scouts) jobs. How does this guy fall to 15 in what they universally call a "bad" draft?

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

[Chuck Everett]

Ware looked good yet again. Hes not dominating SL but it’s clear he’s the best player he steps on the court every game

Bad motor though. Again, there are people on RealGM who probably can do some of these guys' (scouts) jobs. How does this guy fall to 15 in what they universally call a "bad" draft?

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

I had all 3 centers going around where they went. Sacramento is the big bugaboo for me and it's not because I dislike Devin Carter. If you ask me, that pick was a hedge against Fox possibly walking in FA if he doesn't get his supermax extension. For months in the draft forum I was asking why Ware kept falling in the mocks. Then his measurements are basically Dereck Lively's and I was like, hmmm...

This was probably the best situation for Kel'el, like the Mavs were for Dereck. But seems like another big who when all is said and done, probably should have gone top 5.

[rate_]

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

Ware probably has the highest upside in the draft. He has elite measurables, has a solid post game with potential as a stretch big, soft hands, while being athletic and doesn’t even turn 21 until after the next NBA season. He has more 2-way potential than any of the bigs in this draft class. The Indiana team he played with had one of the worst guard play and floor spacers in the conference. Ware was probably their most reliable 3P shooter on that team at 43%

It definitely does not make sense why he fell out of the lottery.

[azcatz11]

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

Ware probably has the highest upside in the draft. He has elite measurables, has a solid post game with potential as a stretch big, soft hands, while being athletic and doesn’t even turn 21 until after the next NBA season. He has more 2-way potential than any of the bigs in this draft class. The Indiana team he played with had one of the worst guard play and floor spacers in the conference. Ware was probably their most reliable 3P shooter on that team at 43%

It definitely does not make sense why he fell out of the lottery.

You quoted me by accident fyi.

He had a weird career at IU. Honestly a lot of people thought he was the only reason they were even competitive and Woodson is kind of on the way out. But then others thought he took games off. It was just a weird love / hate thing with ware and that’s a big part of why he fell

[Chuck Everett]

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

Ware probably has the highest upside in the draft. He has elite measurables, has a solid post game with potential as a stretch big, soft hands, while being athletic and doesn’t even turn 21 until after the next NBA season. He has more 2-way potential than any of the bigs in this draft class. The Indiana team he played with had one of the worst guard play and floor spacers in the conference. Ware was probably their most reliable 3P shooter on that team at 43%

It definitely does not make sense why he fell out of the lottery.

You quoted me by accident fyi.

He had a weird career at IU. Honestly a lot of people thought he was the only reason they were even competitive and Woodson is kind of on the way out. But then others thought he took games off. It was just a weird love / hate thing with ware and that’s a big part of why he fell

The guard play point was real though. Kind of made you wonder why he transferred to Indiana in the first place. He still got drafted in the middle of the first, but man, what Kelvin Sampson would have done with him at Houston. He would have been a monster.

[76ciology]

Both Hawks and Wizards made a mistake passing up Edey and Clingan.

[Dan Z]

Bad motor though. Again, there are people on RealGM who probably can do some of these guys' (scouts) jobs. How does this guy fall to 15 in what they universally call a "bad" draft?

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

I had all 3 centers going around where they went. Sacramento is the big bugaboo for me and it's not because I dislike Devin Carter. If you ask me, that pick was a hedge against Fox possibly walking in FA if he doesn't get his supermax extension. For months in the draft forum I was asking why Ware kept falling in the mocks. Then his measurements are basically Dereck Lively's and I was like, hmmm...

This was probably the best situation for Kel'el, like the Mavs were for Dereck. But seems like another big who when all is said and done, probably should have gone top 5.

I agree with you that Ware would make sense on the Kings. Beyond that Im not sure who else would draft him over the guy they picked.

[Pattycakes]

Both Hawks and Wizards made a mistake passing up Edey and Clingan.

6 teams handing DC on a silver platter to Portland didn’t make a mistake from our perspective

[JDR720]

Matt Morgan with 36 points on 11/11 shooting including 7/7 from 3.

[Richard4444]

Heat literally put together a summer league super team. Just rocking everyone in Vegas.

Ware looked good yet again. Hes not dominating SL but it’s clear he’s the best player he steps on the court every game

Bad motor though. Again, there are people on RealGM who probably can do some of these guys' (scouts) jobs. How does this guy fall to 15 in what they universally call a "bad" draft?

1) Centers are hard to evaluate. Very often we get good ones in the late draft (Joker, Gobert, Claxton, Capela, Allen, Timelord, Reid, Gafford, Mitch, Kessler, Portis) and bad ones in the Top 10 (Kanter, Vasely, Len, Bender, Hayes, Okafor, Bamba, Bagley, Wiseman).

2) In this draft, we had 3 high potential centers in the Top 10 (Sarr, Clingan, and Edey). It's not every team needs centers and it can easily generate a logjam at the positions because they usually can not adapt to another position;

3) The draft was considered "bad" because we did not have outstanding players at the top of the draft.

[Captain Ballmer]

My thoughts on Sarr: the NBA got spooked and developed an inferiority complex this year.

We are overrating the **** out of French development systems and all the BS about “learning the game the right way”. These brainless AAU kids are so far ahead of their French counterparts it isn’t even funny. Compare Salaun and Sarr to the American guys. We aren’t doing so bad over here, I promise.

The real issue is that the planet Earth only produces so many 7 footers with amazing coordination and proprioception, and now the rest of the globe is sending these people to us. Giannis, Embiid, Jokic, Wemby, their size/coordination package is the biggest reason (by far) why they’re so good.

Can't really disagree. Europe, South America, Asia and Africa still have a long way to go until they have consistent 6'6 and under elite players to compete with the USA/Canada. Although, Nolan Traore is coming for that arse next year.

We Euros just lack athleticism it seems, to have dominant guards. Some NBA star guards didnt have elite athletic ability, but most do. Guys like Jokic and other bigs make up with size, but what 6'3 guys like Navarro or Spanoulis can make up for, when you put them 1v1 agains Wade or ANT? They will school these guys in moments, but overall, over bigger sample size, they will be ran out of town. The best recent Euro guards, in the NBA at least, unless i forgeting someone, were Dragic and Tony Parker, both had elite speed. Of course Luka as well, but hes anomaly in both skill and size, he is unmatchable in terms of match ups and is closer to these bigs when it comes to physical profile. I am currently dont know euro guard prospects who can match any of that, its really no coincidence most if these Euro stars are bigmen.

My Lithuania just lost U20 quarter final to Greece, devastating result. But yet again, all our guys worth any attention, are bigs. Krivas, Vokietaitis and Murauskas. Our guards just as slow and crappy, but they also like 8 or 10 inches shorter, brutal. Ag least Vokietaitis is 6'11 and Krivas is 7'2, at least they have that, these 6'2, 6'4 guys on the other hand, they have nothing going on whatsoever.

I don't think euro guards have that BBIQ advantage anymore. Because white guards in USA are facing these athletes much sooner than Euro prospects that by the time they are 15, they know they had to possess fundamentals, elite shooting, Game IQ to be excellent for them to be even considered at college. For that I think white guards in USA past Euro guards as well as recently. This year we saw Reed Sheppard &Kolek, last few seasons we had Podziemski, Pritchard, Reeves and more earlier seasons League had Caruso, McConnell, Kennard still on the league. OTOH I only recall Campazzo, Raul Neto with short stints to consider Non USA white guards within the last decade entering the league? (Luka&Giddey is obviously not listed bc they are like 6-8' and 6-9' Point forwards.

[UcanUwill]

Can't really disagree. Europe, South America, Asia and Africa still have a long way to go until they have consistent 6'6 and under elite players to compete with the USA/Canada. Although, Nolan Traore is coming for that arse next year.

We Euros just lack athleticism it seems, to have dominant guards. Some NBA star guards didnt have elite athletic ability, but most do. Guys like Jokic and other bigs make up with size, but what 6'3 guys like Navarro or Spanoulis can make up for, when you put them 1v1 agains Wade or ANT? They will school these guys in moments, but overall, over bigger sample size, they will be ran out of town. The best recent Euro guards, in the NBA at least, unless i forgeting someone, were Dragic and Tony Parker, both had elite speed. Of course Luka as well, but hes anomaly in both skill and size, he is unmatchable in terms of match ups and is closer to these bigs when it comes to physical profile. I am currently dont know euro guard prospects who can match any of that, its really no coincidence most if these Euro stars are bigmen.

My Lithuania just lost U20 quarter final to Greece, devastating result. But yet again, all our guys worth any attention, are bigs. Krivas, Vokietaitis and Murauskas. Our guards just as slow and crappy, but they also like 8 or 10 inches shorter, brutal. Ag least Vokietaitis is 6'11 and Krivas is 7'2, at least they have that, these 6'2, 6'4 guys on the other hand, they have nothing going on whatsoever.

I don't think euro guards have that BBIQ advantage anymore. Because white guards in USA are facing these athletes much sooner than Euro prospects that by the time they are 15, they know they had to possess fundamentals, elite shooting, Game IQ to be excellent for them to be even considered at college. For that I think white guards in USA past Euro guards as well as recently. This year we saw Reed Sheppard &Kolek, last few seasons we had Podziemski, Pritchard, Reeves and more earlier seasons League had Caruso, McConnell, Kennard still on the league. OTOH I only recall Campazzo, Raul Neto with short stints to consider Non USA white guards within the last decade entering the league? (Luka&Giddey is obviously not listed bc they are like 6-8' and 6-9' Point forwards.

Yeah, probably, but I dind't mean to say Euros are smarter just not athletic, I mentioned Navarro and Spanoulis in particular, but they are like all time greats for what it is, so these 2 were in fact higher IQ players than almost anyone, but I say even these would struggle. I am not saying all Euro guards are like that, not even close, its like comparing Magic Johnson to average NBA PG.

I hate narrative that Navarro sucked in the NBA however, I am not saying he did. He never wanted to leave Barcelona, but his literal best friend talked him into joining forces in Memphis, they did, Navarro had decent rookie season, but during that season, his best friend, the only reason why he came there, was traded. So Navarro just packed his bags and went home.

So I am not Saying Navarro would have sucked, but there was still clear ceiling on that guy, he could have been a great sixth man maybe. Too smart and skilled to suck, but too small and athletically limited, to be a star.

Spanoulis is different story entirely, he was very good, but he wouldn't fit as well as Juan. Also, people over the years trolled euro fans reminding how he sucked in the NBA, but Rockets Spanoulis was almost 10 years away ftom his prime, also, his sample size is just too small to make definitive conclusions. But I think he would have undoubtfully struggled to be more than fine, just not the player made for the NBA much.

[Hoops3355]

I genetally agree with you, but I can see why he didn't go higher. Some of the 1-14 players have higher upside or make sense to pick before him (Clingan & Edey).

However, when the dust settles I could see Ware having a better career than a few of those players.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2024.html

Ware probably has the highest upside in the draft. He has elite measurables, has a solid post game with potential as a stretch big, soft hands, while being athletic and doesn’t even turn 21 until after the next NBA season. He has more 2-way potential than any of the bigs in this draft class. The Indiana team he played with had one of the worst guard play and floor spacers in the conference. Ware was probably their most reliable 3P shooter on that team at 43%

It definitely does not make sense why he fell out of the lottery.

Yeah I’m sorta surprised he was available. He was my pick on our boards on draft day. His agility stats are widely better than a lot of Bigs we’ve had in past and that’s honestly why I figured we’d be all over him. Every project center we’ve added in the Bam era has been slow so Spo and Riley must have been making blood sacrifices to Pepas when Ware showed up.

His game isn't perfect though and you guys know it’s gap that massive between the speed of summer league and regular season. Offense looks good. His hands are better than I expected. Hit some nice elbow jumpers. Got a ton of easy baskets and we’ve had good point guard play this summer. Defense and positioning need work for sure. He’s been soft on screens, positioning / boxing on rebounding has been weird, and he’s been getting caught ball watching a little bit especially when he’s on the weakside and hedging on drives. It should be fun to see what he looks like come January.

[Foliohattu]

Matt Morgan with 36 points on 11/11 shooting including 7/7 from 3.

This is one of those summer leagues "random player, awesome statlines" that I love to see.

[bisme37]

The NBA 2K25 Summer League Semifinals are set in Las Vegas.

The Spurs, Heat and Warriors each entered Friday with a 3-0 record, looking to join the Grizzlies and Clippers at 4-0 in hopes of reaching Sunday’s semifinals.

76ers 96, Spurs 80: The Spurs were the first 3-0 team to take the floor Friday and were led by Jamaree Bouyea’s 15 points and 6 steals, but Ricky Council IV (20 pts, 5 reb) and the Sixers (3-1) outscored San Antonio 32-17 in the 4th quarter to hand them their first loss in Vegas.

Playoff Implications: With San Antonio’s loss, Memphis and LA clinched

Heat 109, Raptors 73: The Heat, meanwhile, were left with a “win and you’re in'' scenario and took care of business against the Raptors (2-2) behind big nights from Cole Swider (21 pts, 4 3s), Kel’el Ware (17 pts, 10 reb) and Josh Cristopher (17 pts, 3 ast).

Warriors 90, Thunder 83: To secure the final Playoff berth, Golden State also simply needed a win, and they got it as Pat Spencer (17 pts, 7 ast) and five other Warriors scored in double-figures to outlast Hunter Maldonado (25 pts, 5 reb, 3 stl) and the Thunder (0-4).

Playoff Implications: With the top four teams tied at 4-0, Miami earned the No. 1 seed via point differential, followed by Memphis, LA and Golden State

Sunday’s Semifinals (single elimination)
Clippers vs. Grizzlies (2 ET, ESPN)
Warriors vs. Heat (4 ET, ESPN)
The two winners will advance to a winner-take-all final on Monday, when the 11th NBA Summer League champion will be crowned.

This is the schedule for SUNDAY:

Read on Twitter

[bisme37]

[Blazing_royale]

it's crickets in here about the #1 pick in the 2024 draft lol. Almost like the guy doesn't exist.

[_jin]

it's crickets in here about the #1 pick in the 2024 draft lol. Almost like the guy doesn't exist.

People talk about the games (and Bronny). There's not much to talk about Risacher since he's injured and has missed the last few games. But he's looked good in the games he played.

[kenwood3333]

it's crickets in here about the #1 pick in the 2024 draft lol. Almost like the guy doesn't exist.

Its probably a blessing because his teammate aka #2 pick has been terrible.