Las Vegas Summer League Notes

[Zombiesonics]

great write up OP, one of the best i've seen in the 5 years i've been on here posting. couple of things stand out, the whole Dunn starting thing means rubio needs to be moved maybe in a three team with dieng to make the wolves better. And the ben simmons thing, i'm starting to think Simmons is a lebron doppeganger (much worst) in the same way kobe was a jordan stan, down to his personality. Simmons plays identical to a 31 year old lebron with less shooting and bounce frankly.

[nomansland]

Thanks, Smitty.

Must have been fun to be there.

[basketbob]

Well done, Keith! I love this kinda stuff

[Smitty731]

Feels like the entire league has gotten better to some degree. And it helps to not have teams outright tanking like a few did last year. I didn't see a note for the Knicks, though.

They weren't in Las Vegas. There is a pretty long thread from Orlando on the Knicks board.

[Smitty731]

Wonderful post Smitty! On Atlanta's end..

Was there any talk on our big signing of Dwight Howard at all? Did you hear anything about how the coaching staff plans to adjust to his style of play?

Anything on how our staff feels about Schröder being ready for the lead role now?

Also, I would be suprised to see Bembry or Prince get meaningful minutes this season. I expect Korver, THJ, Baze, and Thabo to take up the majority of PT on the wings. That's just kinda how Bud operates.

EDIT: Anything on Tavares?

Not much about Dwight beyond excited to have him. They do think he'll help the occasionally rebounding woes a lot! I asked about how after emphasizing shooting from all 5 spots, they now have two non-shooters in Howard and Schroder and was told "We'll get to camp and see what we have."

I think Bembry will get some minutes here and there and then more next year or if one of the others gets dealt.

And nothing really on Tavares, but that dude is huge. You know a guy is big when he stands out around other NBA players and he is massive.

[Smitty731]

Thanks, Smitty.

Must have been fun to be there.

It was pretty cool. I preferred Orlando because it was smaller, it was at the start of FA when crazy stuff was happening by the minute, but Las Vegas is pretty cool.

I highly recommend going as a fan because you get a ton of access to player. The guys who play in Cox Pavilion (the smaller gym) have to exit through the main concourse and are very good about pictures, autographs, quick chats.

This year, ESPN, NBATV and The Vertical were all broadcasting from the concourse too. And the Starters do their nightly recap show. All-around it is pretty cool. Kind of like a basketball version ComiCon.

[Klomp]

2. Asked about Cole Aldrich followed by Jordan Hill as the two FA signings - "It is important to get depth at the big spots when you can. KG won't go all 82 (but he'll want to!) and we want to get KAT plenty of time at PF this year."

I'm curious about this. With some of our bigs, it's hard to tell how they would classify them in certain lineups.

So if they want to give Towns plenty of time at PF, who beyond Aldrich does that include at C? Do they consider Hill the C next to Towns? Dieng?

[Smitty731]

2. Asked about Cole Aldrich followed by Jordan Hill as the two FA signings - "It is important to get depth at the big spots when you can. KG won't go all 82 (but he'll want to!) and we want to get KAT plenty of time at PF this year."

I'm curious about this. With some of our bigs, it's hard to tell how they would classify them in certain lineups.

So if they want to give Towns plenty of time at PF, who beyond Aldrich does that include at C? Do they consider Hill the C next to Towns? Dieng?

That is a really good question and here is what I learned this week:

Positions are starting to only matter for PGs and defensively. I think they want to get Towns minutes at PF defensively.

I think a rough rotation looks something like:

Towns/Aldrich/Hill
Garnett/Dieng/Bjelica

KG isn't going to play all 82, so maybe those days Towns slides to PF and Aldrich starts or Dieng starts. But one thing was made certain, Garnett will start when he plays.

[blazeyo]

Lol Cavs think they can roll with Mo Williams a backup PG? cause he sucks and he was a big negative on the floor.
I'm hopeful Kay will be able to get minutes during the RS as a backup, I still think that letting Delly go was a big mistake, if they wanted to send Felder to the D-League then atleast match Delly and trade him in the next offseason ( I don't care about the tax implications, Delly was huge for the second team).
Again, I think Felder can contribute right away, **** the haters.

[Zombiesonics]

Lol Cavs think they can roll with Mo Williams a backup PG? cause he sucks and he was a big negative on the floor.
I'm hopeful Kay will be able to get minutes during the RS as a backup, I still think that letting Delly go was a big mistake, if they wanted to send Felder to the D-League then atleast match Delly and trade him in the next offseason ( I don't care about the tax implications, Delly was huge for the second team).
Again, I think Felder can contribute right away, **** the haters.

the thing about felder is he is like a foot shorter than delly. I dont think he is nearly as talented as IT was coming out of school, IT was a tremendous outside shooter with equal bounce. highly doubt he sees meaningful tick

[Duffman100]

Spurs didn't talk about Dejounte Murray?

[blazeyo]

Lol Cavs think they can roll with Mo Williams a backup PG? cause he sucks and he was a big negative on the floor.
I'm hopeful Kay will be able to get minutes during the RS as a backup, I still think that letting Delly go was a big mistake, if they wanted to send Felder to the D-League then atleast match Delly and trade him in the next offseason ( I don't care about the tax implications, Delly was huge for the second team).
Again, I think Felder can contribute right away, **** the haters.

the thing about felder is he is like a foot shorter than delly. I dont think he is nearly as talented as IT was coming out of school, IT was a tremendous outside shooter with equal bounce. highly doubt he sees meaningful tick

Kay Felder shot better percentage from 3 during in college with more attempts but I prefer IT's stroke tbh.
Felder definitely has a higher vertical than IT but IT is a better finisher right now, obviously since he is one of the best finishers in the league.
Felder is more explosive in a straight line but IT is more shifty and has better dribble.

Not a night and day difference and Kay can play.

[dc]

Very nice write up and thanks for the info and effort.

I must say that team attitudes during summer league aren't a lot different than right after the NFL draft where basically 95% of teams love their draft, love their young guys and are gung ho optimistic about the future, LOL.

[Texas Chuck]

Lol Cavs think they can roll with Mo Williams a backup PG? cause he sucks and he was a big negative on the floor.
I'm hopeful Kay will be able to get minutes during the RS as a backup, I still think that letting Delly go was a big mistake, if they wanted to send Felder to the D-League then atleast match Delly and trade him in the next offseason ( I don't care about the tax implications, Delly was huge for the second team).
Again, I think Felder can contribute right away, **** the haters.

You don't care about the tax, but obviously ownership does. Gilbert paid a fortune last year and won the title as a result. Hard to blame him for wanting to try and lower the spending some especially with the repeater tax looming.

[blazeyo]

Lol Cavs think they can roll with Mo Williams a backup PG? cause he sucks and he was a big negative on the floor.
I'm hopeful Kay will be able to get minutes during the RS as a backup, I still think that letting Delly go was a big mistake, if they wanted to send Felder to the D-League then atleast match Delly and trade him in the next offseason ( I don't care about the tax implications, Delly was huge for the second team).
Again, I think Felder can contribute right away, **** the haters.

You don't care about the tax, but obviously ownership does. Gilbert paid a fortune last year and won the title as a result. Hard to blame him for wanting to try and lower the spending some especially with the repeater tax looming.

Yeah, I don't blame him but he is still making profit and before the finals series fwiw Cavs opened up their leads with their second units when Delly Lebron and Frye were on the floor, not Kyrie.
if you look at the On/Off numbers Delly is in the top 5 of every two man and three man combinations.

[Texas Chuck]

I like Delly too, but a line has to be drawn somewhere and Smith is obviously seen as more significant.

[Smitty731]

Spurs didn't talk about Dejounte Murray?

Nothing beyond "We like him and we're excited for his potential."

[Smitty731]

Very nice write up and thanks for the info and effort.

I must say that team attitudes during summer league aren't a lot different than right after the NFL draft where basically 95% of teams love their draft, love their young guys and are gung ho optimistic about the future, LOL.

100% spot on. Occasionally you'll get someone to admit they don't like a guy, but that is someone in the 2nd or 3rd year.

[Dupp]

Yeah our backup pg position is a big concern for me too. Should have moved shump and kept Delly.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Wouldn't it have been great if the Wizard's brass said something like, "yes, we made fools of ourselves with the two-year KD2DC folly but we love that we created enough cap room to dramatically overpay for other people's cast offs?"