Summer League 2018

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I like Trae Young as a person, so I'm rooting for him. He's also a fun player to watch as well. I think Atlanta was a bad place for him to land. He appears to be more of a passing PG than we've seen in his limited time at Oklahoma. He didn't really have the option to be more of a passing PG if they wanted to win and he'll need to score a lot in Atlanta also. If he landed in Orlando he'd have more players to set up, which is why I wanted to see him go there if he didn't become a Sun somehow.

Who does Orlando have that Atlanta doesn’t? Orlando has Gordon. Atlanta has Collins. And that’s pretty much it for both teams.

 

[Raindog]

I bet everything that was supposedly revealed to those "expert" analysts proves to be completely irrelevant once the season starts and progresses. Summer league phenoms rarely end up being anything but that once the real games start.

And Pelton claiming that Doncic solidified his position as ROY front runner... by not actually playing in the SL... is comical. By extension of that logic, Chriss also solidified his status as Most Improved Player. Idiot.

 

[Hoop Head]

Who does Orlando have that Atlanta doesn’t? Orlando has Gordon. Atlanta has Collins. And that’s pretty much it for both teams.

I like what Orlando has a lot more than what the Hawks do. Of course Aaron Gordon but beyond him they have Evan Fournier, Nikolai Vucevic, Jonathon Simmons, Jonathan Isaacs, Terrance Ross, and DJ Augustin as a veteran PG that could help mentor him some. That's better than the turd sandwich that the Hawks have, IMO. The only player I like on the Hawks is John Collins. The rest of their team is pretty bad. At least the Magic have some guys who can play and be rotation players elsewhere. It's an odd assortment, with a lot of wings, but I think they can turn it around quicker than the Hawks. The Hawks already have Schroeder and they just traded for Jeremy Lin. Other than Collins the only other player of note there is Kent Bazemore but they're paying him almost $20 million a year.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I like what Orlando has a lot more than what the Hawks do. Of course Aaron Gordon but beyond him they have Evan Fournier, Nikolai Vucevic, Jonathon Simmons, Jonathan Isaacs, Terrance Ross, and DJ Augustin as a veteran PG that could help mentor him some. That's better than the turd sandwich that the Hawks have, IMO. The only player I like on the Hawks is John Collins. The rest of their team is pretty bad. At least the Magic have some guys who can play and be rotation players elsewhere. It's an odd assortment, with a lot of wings, but I think they can turn it around quicker than the Hawks. The Hawks already have Schroeder and they just traded for Jeremy Lin. Other than Collins the only other player of note there is Kent Bazemore but they're paying him almost $20 million a year.

Fournier has been a disappointment. Vice IV is passable. Simmons can play I’ll grant you that. Isaacs hasn’t proven to be anything but potential yet. Ross is a never has been and August in plays his position. It’s nominally better than Collins and bazemore (whose salary is inconsequential when we are talking about who the kid has to play with this season - I’m not really sure why you would even throw in the salary?!?)

 

[Hoop Head]

Fournier has been a disappointment. Vice IV is passable. Simmons can play I’ll grant you that. Isaacs hasn’t proven to be anything but potential yet. Ross is a never has been and August in plays his position. It’s nominally better than Collins and bazemore (whose salary is inconsequential when we are talking about who the kid has to play with this season - I’m not really sure why you would even throw in the salary?!?)

I included the salary because that says something to their flexibility also. If they're overpaying for their current backcourt of Schroeder and Bazemore that allows less money to spend elsewhere. I know Orlando doesn't have much more flexibility financially speaking but they have more assets that are tradable. Isaacs had a decent summer league and while Augustine plays PG, he is a veteran that can help Young more than Schroeder and Jeremy Lin in Atlanta. Schroeder is someone that probably won't take Young's arrival very well and Lin isn't bad in the right role but he's not really a PG. He's a combo guard for the most part and while he may be a quality mentor for a young player, I'm not sure if he'd be better than Augustine. It's just personal preference really. I just like Orlando a lot more than Atlanta.

The Hawks have been run poorly for a while now and their mishandling of Budenholzer to start the offseason wasn't exactly a shining example of quality management for any new players headed there. They did get sold a couple years ago but it seems their new owners have been more interested in stripping their team down rather than building it up. Perhaps Young is the first big piece in their rebuild, I know they have Collins also but he isn't the sort of player that will inspire a team to build around him. Young on the other hand could be potentially be a franchise PG. Grant Hill is one of their primary owners now and I hope for his sake they can turn it around but that remains to be seen.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yahoo has a great piece up about the Summer League, in general. I didn't know that players don't get paid for playing in it. It's all just an extended try-out, really. They get a hotel room and about $100 a day per diem. There are some nice quotes from Cooley about why he chose to play with the Suns this year, his Sixth Summer League. It's really insightful, overall. Here is Cooley talking about the Suns this year though.

“I remember my first year I was struggling to remember all the plays,” Cooley said. “Now my sixth year, this is the most complicated offense I’ve had, but it’s second nature, basic easy stuff. It’s a lot easier to understand.”

Cooley is a realist. He’s not a stretch five — he made one three-pointer in four years with the Fighting Irish. He’s not an athletic freak like Ayton, either. He’s a banger, a grinder, and he chose to join the Suns Summer League team for that reason.

"The Suns have scorers,” Cooley said. “They have Devin Booker. They need guys who can make Devin Booker’s job easier. I can be a guy that does that"

Here is the article link, there's a lot more to read in there about the whole "competition" and why players choose to participate.


https://sports.yahoo.com/legends-su...round-grind-elusive-nba-dreams-033202380.html

 

[Ronin]

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[JCSunsfan]

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Actually, that is a bit of disappointment.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Actually, that is a bit of disappointment.

Agreed

 

[BC867]

Actually, that is a bit of disappointment.

Does it really matter where Ayton was named in a 4-game exhibition series surrounded by unproven teammates?

Really! Will it have any impact whatsoever in training camp? I think not.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Does it really matter where Ayton was named in a 4-game exhibition series surrounded by unproven teammates?

Really! Will it have any impact whatsoever in training camp? I think not.

A) everyone was playing with unproven teammates. What’s your point?

B) he never claimed it will. I don’t know why you even ask. He just made a personal assessment that it disappointed him.

 

[Yuma]

Ayton seems pretty raw and he averaged a double double just by being on the court. Wait until Corliss Williamson shows him how to post up properly and get great rebound positioning, this guy will be 20-10 easy with his touch on the jumper. I am actually mpre excited now to see him in the regular season!

 

[BC867]

A) everyone was playing with unproven teammates. What’s your point?

B) he never claimed it will. I don’t know why you even ask. He just made a personal assessment that it disappointed him.

Huh?

A) My point is that it didn't bother me that Ayton was not named 1st team Summer League. 'Just a dissenting opinion.

B) You're right. You don't know why I asked. And I made a personal assessment as well, that it should have no impact on training camp, because it was an exhibition series, and asked if he thought it would.

And I'll add a C). If a post is not a personal attack, why is it your place to criticize the right to post a dissenting opinion? That's what this board is all about.

Bottom line -- I'm looking forward to this new era of the Suns with the highest optimism. As I'm sure you are, too. Cheers!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Huh?

A) My point is that it didn't bother me that Ayton was not named 1st team Summer League. 'Just a dissenting opinion.

B) You're right. You don't know why I asked. And I made a personal assessment as well, that it should have no impact on training camp, because it was an exhibition series, and asked if he thought it would.

And I'll add a C). If a post is not a personal attack, why is it your place to criticize the right to post a dissenting opinion? That's what this board is all about.

Bottom line -- I'm looking forward to this new era of the Suns with the highest optimism. As I'm sure you are, too. Cheers!

I get A but still don’t understand why playing with unproven teammates has any impact when that’s an even playing field. It’s not like it was a contributing factor. So I didn’t understand why you would even bring it up.

And B, just so I’m straight, you’re asking me why it’s my place to criticize you for criticizing someone else’s opinion? Really?

And yes, I can’t wait for the season to start so we can start talking true substance.

 

[Phrazbit]

Trying to find comparables for recent high drafted bigs in the summer league...

Ayton obvious out played Bamba and Bagley.

Davis didn't play.

Embiid either.

Towns averaged 12-7 on 39% shooting.

Simmons 12-7-5

... I'm still fine with Ayton's performance. The last game was a bummer, but he played well overall. Four games, 1 mediocre, 2 pretty damn good, one stinker... I'll take that from a teenager.

You've also got dudes like Swanigan on Portland last year, who looked amazing in the Summer League, a potential huge steal of a pick, then had a terrible rookie season.

You can track down what just about any stat or reward in the Summer League's history here:

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/summer/1/NBA-Summer-League/0/awards

 

[Bobster]

If only they had more summer league achievers like Mike James.....

 

[Hoop Head]

Bleacher Report did a redraft based on Summer League performances. If SL happened before the draft so young talent can make a case for being drafted high in the lottery or even drafted at all it would be interesting. They would need to scratch teams entirely and come up with a new way to sort players though.

Anyways, they had Ayton #1 still. Jaren Jackson at #2, Doncic still at #3, and they had Bagley fall all the way to #12. No Bridges in their listing though. The #10 pick is back with the 76ers since the Suns traded for Bridges and not the pick itself. They only did the lottery but have a write up on everyones positioning.


https://bleacherreport.com/articles...mer-league-performance-really-mattered#slide0

 

[Mainstreet]

If only they had more summer league achievers like Mike James.....

Welcome aboard Bobster.