Cap. (533 posts)  8/29/2012 11:19 PM

I know it's a vacuum, but there are things we can learn from it, so might as well take note of the hits and misses.

Malcolm Thomas - In 5 games all Thomas did was average 11.4 PTS, 12.4 REB, and 1.4 BLK on .535 and .786 shooting.  The Bulls would be wise to bring him off the bench this year and develop him into a legit NBA defender.  Could he see 15-20 minutes this year?  I think so.

Austin Daye - Is it the second coming?  I know we were all greatly disappointed by Daye's lack of enthusiasm last year, but we never would have been disappointed if we didn't see potential to begin with.  In 5 games he averaged 15.8 PTS, 7.4 REB, 1.6 STL, 2.0 BLK, and 1.2 THR on .510 and .913 shooting.  If Dumars is smart he gives this kid another shot at starters minutes sometime this season, and mark my words he will earn his way on your roster.

Klay Thompson - He only played 2 games, but his average of 20.5 PTS, 5.0 REB, 4.5 AST, 1.5 STL, 1.5 BLK, 5.0 THR on .519 and .750 shooting just gives us a glimpse of what he can do if he's part of the plan.  I'm definitely not sleeping on him too late in my draft.

Josh Selby - The S-League Co-MVP averaged 24.2 PTS, 2.4 REB, 3.2 AST, 2.4 STL, and 5.4 THR on .557 and .889 shooting, but he'll have a hard time finding minutes behind Conley, Bayless, Tony Allen, and Wroten.

Damian Lillard - The other MVP had an impressive showing with 26.5 PTS, 4.0 REB, 5.3 AST, 0.5 STL, and 2.8 THR, but will need to get his FG% up as a career .445 shooter in college.

Ed Davis - You didn't really think I'd leave him off did you?  Ok, so he's probably not going to jump out at you as a late round sleeper this year, particularly with the depth the Raps have up front, but, what he lacks in wow-factor, he makes up for in opportunity, meaning, he will get playing time this year, and if his S-League stats of 16.2 PTS, 9.4 REB, and  1.0 BLK are any indication what his upside entails, he might actually be rosterable at some point.

Markieff Morris -  This guy is legit, and his 19.8 PTS, 9.8 REB, 2.0 AST, 0.8 STL, 2.0 BLK, and 1.0 THR is worth mentioning, as he slowly asserts himself to be better than Michael Beasley and Channing Frye combined.

Anyone else caught your eye?

dasein (624 posts)  8/30/2012 3:52 AM

Experience has taught me to completely ignore summer league. Anthony Randolph anyone? 

Cap. (533 posts)  8/30/2012 11:03 AM

Yeah, it's pretty meaningless, but you can learn a few things from it, like how certain players play without their college counterparts, for example.  If there's one thing to take away from it this year, it looks like Damian Lillard is ready to take on his role as a leader.

Hailfire4 (510 posts)  8/30/2012 12:12 PM

I think u focus on who has "real" jobs and not just roles. Detroit for instance signed English to a guaranteed contract. This is unheard of for a second round pick in August. Lillard has the job but his value hinges on how ready (or not) Nolan Smith is. Beasly is the top SF option for the Suns. Leaving Morris, Frye, Scola to fight for PF job and Gortat's backup minutes.

mbuser (4341 posts)  8/30/2012 1:14 PM

What summer league play reinforces about Anthony Randolph is that he can dominate statistically in a free-form setting. The less structure, the better Randolph does. His career per-36s are still spectacular (17.4 pts, 10.4 reb, 1.3 stl, 2.2 blk), it's just that the production only comes essentially in garbage time. Ask him to be a rotation regular within a typical team concept and he becomes a liability. Card-carrying Ant-Rand Anonymous member here, but if there is one "system" in which he may not be a complete and total loss with regular minutes, it's on a team that is attempting to set a pace record (yes, Denver).

Daye, Davis, and Morris, I'm not overly-impressed with good performances, because that should be expected from all three of them. I don't think any of us would be down on any of those three players if large roles were in the cards for their respective NBA teams, let alone against summer squads.

Taking a look down the rankings...
http://basketballmonster.com/PlayerRankings.aspx?ds=35

Bernard James can bang (26 min, 9 reb, 1.4 stl, 2.6 blk). He'll need a major injury for playing time, but could do some things with it and will be among the easiest players in the league to root for. He'll foul a ton and miss 45% of his FTA, though.

Some people are thinking that a change of scenery is all that Wesley Johnson (20.5 pts, 48/45/94, 2.3 3pt) needed. I'm not among them, but the excellent offensive numbers are notable, at the very least. I'm just not convinced that he'll ever truly be ready for prime time.

Jimmy Butler (20.8 pts, 43/50/90, 9.8 fta, 1 3pt, 6.5 reb) is behind two huge injury risks (Rip, Deng). I don't see how he isn't playing regular minutes throughout the season.

Terrence Jones (18.2 pts, 50/33/76, 0.4 3pt, 8.6 reb) was an excellent pickup for the Rockets. The FC picture is so crowded (Patterson, Royce White, Motiejuanas), but it's hard to argue against Jones as the player with the most stat-stuffing potential of the group.

I'm really intrigued by Jae Crowder's game (16.6 pts, 42/37/59, 2 3pt, 5.4 reb, 2 stl, 0.8 blk). Versatile numbers at Marquette [stats] and looks like an ideal complement to the offensive alphas that the Mavs have in place.

Bradley Beal was okay, not great (17.6 pts, 42/30/72, 7.2 fta, 1.2 3pt, 4.6 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk). Nice to see lots of free throws and the defensive numbers, but the one thing that can give him an edge on Jo.Crawford for a starting gig is shooting efficiency, and we didn't see that.

John Jenkins can shoot (15.6 pts, 51/44/75, 1.6 3pt) but won't play much if Devin Harris stays on the roster.

KleRoi (6 posts)  8/30/2012 10:14 PM

I really liked Crowder as mbuser pointed, I think he could be one of the steals of the draft. I also liked all of the Rocket's rookies, including Motiejunas. I think Lamb and Jones have serious all-star potential, too bad they won't have many minutes with K.Martin not traded and the PF logjam. I liked A LOT John Henson, but again the Bucks big men situation is a bit crowded with Henson, Ilyasova, Dalembert, Udoh, Przbylla, Sanders... Don't know what they were thinking when they signed Dalembert AND Przbylla. Kawhi Leonard showed that he was totally another level from the SL competition.. he could be a kind of sneaky pick this year, amazingly efficient player, good especially for Roto I think.. Kinda like Horford. Finally Jordan Hamilton was ballin' and he's more or less the only "real" SG together with Fournier (also played okay in SL) in the Nuggets roster, but with Iguodala and Chandler I don't think he'll see many minutes. Also Kidd-Gilchrist just played one game but showed that he can be a fantasy monster. With the Bobcats being a mess I think he'll produce big numbers everywhere. I would MAYBE take him before Anthony Davis on a fantasy draft.

mbuser (4341 posts)  8/31/2012 11:52 AM

For what it's worth, I don't think the Bucks are planning to give Przybilla any playing time without a Dalembert injury (as in, regular DNP-CDs) and he's fine with it. He's from the MN/WS area. But yeah, Henson isn't looking at a regular role even with that as the case.