Summer League possibilities!??

[JonnySuns]

Guys,

I'm fairly new to this board so forgive me if this has already been covered but I've been watching the highlights of our games from the Summer League and just this mornin saw the Clippers game and I was SO impressed with Lionel Chalmers and Britton Johnson!!

Now I appreciate that Summer League is one thing and the NBA is another but Chalmers seems to have a decent enough eye for a pass and just loves to get to the basket and slam it home for a 6-footer. Johnson had his best game of the league I believe and even buried a 3 ball from like 3 or 4 feet behind the NBA arc (according to the commentator anyway)

Does anyone think that we might sign one or both of these guys up? Not forgetting that Romain Sato has looked good as well.

 

[Nash]

welcome to the board Jonny!

To answer your questions:

Going into the SL, the Suns mgmt was high on Sato because of his supposed great defense and hustle. It almost looked like he was a sure thing for next year's team. But, from what I saw of the SL highlights, reports on other websites and from people here who were in Vegas; Sato didn't put up great numbers or show anything special in the league.

His offense was questioned right from the start and the doubts turned out to be true. Overall he didn't seem to have a great outing so he isn't likely to be signed; atleast there has been no indication to the contrary.

Ruben:
He did well during scrimmages prior to the SL and quite a few of us here were pretty impressed with his play though we didn't know who he was. We just referred to him as 'the guy wearing a black jersey'. He had a nice SL as well.
There has been no indication that he might be signed.

Chalmers:
He did decently in the SL. Some of them on this board have suggested that we should sign him as a backup PG. But the problem with him is that he is a tweener and we really don't need any more little guys on the team.
I think that the mgmt is looking to see how many solid contributors they can add to the roster through trades/FAs before signing the fillers.

Britton:
He looked pretty good during practice before SL. His SL performance wasn't really good IIRC. I may be wrong about that...but there hasn't been too much of a buzz around him.

Many members of this board are very enthusiastic about picking Lampe as our project big man because he's still very young and has a sweet shot.

Like I said before, there has been no talk about any of these guys being signed probably because the front office is focussing on experienced guys out there for now.

And yeah, Lucas of Houston Rockets has been made an offer by the Suns to backup Nash. The Suns along with the Rockets are supposedly in the frontrunning for him.

Keep posting and hope you have fun!

 

[JonnySuns]

Cool, thanks Nash, I appreciate the update. You guys are all a lot more "in the know" than I am it seems so I'll be sure to keep on checking back for more info on trades and FA signings!

 

[jlove]

I'd be ok with any of the following from the summer players so far (who are free agents):

PG/SG: Lucas, Chalmers

SF/PF/C: Lampe, Amundson, Earl Barron, Pittsnogle, Brandon Hunter

Here's my list of Summer League guys who the Suns could go after in trades:

PG/SG: Diener, Louis Williams

SF/PF/C: James Singleton

 

[Mainstreet]

Welcome, JonnySuns.

Summer leagues are very deceptive when evaluating talent. I'm not totally sure why. Maybe a lot of players just have there own agenda, are playing against lesser talent or are not playing with each other for very long within a team concept.

I remember when the Suns used to allow the fans see the players practice before going off to summer league, I had a much better idea who might make it in the NBA from the Suns invitees.

Personally, I guess seeing a coach working with the players live before going off to summer league and how the players responded within that structured coaching environment helped me get a better understanding of the individual player's talent.

It just seems in retrospect, some players just have NBA written all over them, especially the 1, 2, and 3 positions (the players stand out). The 4/5 position players are much harder to get a handle on their ability unless they are absolute stars because they generally develop more slowly.

I guess what I'm trying to say, very few players that aren't drafted don't even make it to fall camp or the NBA. However, rest assured there is always talent that some team is not going to recognize because there are always sleepers.

Not having seen the Suns summer league team play, I would say Lampe may have the best chance to advance and possibly Britton Johnson. However, if you have seen them play, your guess is as good as mine. Just remember, it is very hard for undrafted players to make it to the NBA with notable exceptions.

 

[meth]

After his european performances I must say that Chalmers is not an option for this Phoenix Suns team. He was very inconsistent, he has no shoot selection. He is Eddie House but ten times smaller. He wouldn't get any minutes in postseason. We don't need another Piatkowski at all. *

* sorry for my english skills

 

[Chaplin]

After his european performances I must say that Chalmers is not an option for this Phoenix Suns team. He was very inconsistent, he has no shoot selection. He is Eddie House but ten times smaller. He wouldn't get any minutes in postseason. We don't need another Piatkowski at all. *

* sorry for my english skills

However, he was the best point guard on the summer league team.

 

[George O'Brien]

Welcome Jonny.

If Lampe gets an invite, it will be because the Suns know him rather than what happened in Las Vegas. As for the rest, none seemed to make the kind of impact you'd expect from a likely NBA player.

In another thread it is being said that the Suns have a deal with Marcus Banks. If that's true, then you can assume the Suns aren't going to be considering really small PG's like Chalmers and Diener since their priority will be size.

 

[JonnySuns]

Thanks fellas, I wasn't expecting to get so much feedback from what was potentially a bit of a lame thread ;-) So thanks for the heads up, at least I have a better idea now of who we might be looking to sign, I'd certainly be happy enough with Marcus Banks, either way I've always agreed with the general idea that Leandro would be more effective as a 2 rather than a 1 so lets hope we start to see more of that next season!