2022 Summer League Thread

[Randolphkeys]

I remember game 1 Malakhi Branham was a Caris LeVert carbon copy!

In which of the three following games did he look "good"? Branham has a rough summer league, according to his stats. Lots of turnovers, brutal plus/minus.

I do agree this is just summer league. He has plenty of time to develop.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

You can find shooting attached to bad players if you need it so desperately. There are always guys like Malik Monk or Tony Snell out there in FA or you could trade Cedi and a 2nd for Duncan Robinson. The lack of shooting in the Cavs lineup is an issue but I would put at least part of that on coaching. We have guys like Cedi and theoretically Windler glued to the bench because JBB doesn't want to play them and even when he does they just go stand in the corner instead of running curls or DHOs. Having shooters only matters if your offensive scheme doesn't reduce them to Amon Ones and Donyell Marshall in 2007.

I also expect to see improved shooting from our young guys. They are not sitting idle this summer and posting tons of open gym workout vids (looking at you ben simmons). Okoro and Mobley I expect to show more range and provide more spacing next year. Getting Collin back helps too.

Average to below average vets should never be a reason to not take a high upside player. If your young guy looks like he is the real deal, you send those guys packing and open up time to develop your young gun. If your vets are above average, you spend development time on your young guy and bring up to full speed in year 2 or 3. Portland has been doing the later for years and consistently churn out solid guys (Simons, CJ, even Nas Little). There are options, but Cedi Osman and Caris LeVert should not prevent you from taking a guy you think has even a 10% chance of becoming a difference maker or ceiling raiser.

I would have gone a different direction than Och at 14, but its not a terrible pick or anything. I have said this before, and I stand by it. The larger trend of recent moves is what worries me more than any specific trade. Between the way the other draft picks were used and the LeVert deal and honestly the JBB extension, I am worried we are losing sight of the big picture while chasing tiny goals. When you are optimizing your objective function, you don't want to get stuck in a local minima and I think we are focusing too much on that instead of the global trend.

Just because you can find guys that shoot doesn’t mean you can find guys that can shoot but also stay on the court physically without being a target for opposing teams. Agbaji is a shooter but he can play both ends and he’s also a high volume shooter who can get his shot off even if contested.

 

[RonG]

Almost didn't make it to my taxi. Was on a winning streak this morning, up over 800. However I jumped up from the table, headed to the arena now to catch the Cavs play.

Saw some interesting games yesterday. Kuminga has the nba body you want, but that's it. He is terrible.

Gui Santos is gonna be very good.

Isaiah Todd has a real sweet stroke.

And man Pat Spencer can play, no idea why he hasn't gotten a shot. He is better than any reserve pg we will start the season with.

 

[RedBlackAttack]

Just because you can find guys that shoot doesn’t mean you can find guys that can shoot but also stay on the court physically without being a target for opposing teams. Agbaji is a shooter but he can play both ends and he’s also a high volume shooter who can get his shot off even if contested.

Yep.

One of the most important things in basketball in 2022 is a guy who can (1) shoot threes consistently and in volume, not just occasionally; (2) make them in various ways (coming around screens, catch-and-shoot, off-the-dribble, over contests, etc); (3) defend multiple positions.

If you have that and it forces the defense to respect it, even the slightest ability to keep the ball moving by throwing in the occasional pump-fake with a drive to make the defense rotate and kick the ball to the open guy and/or the occasional off-ball cut to the basket, you should be thrilled about getting that guy at #14.

I see pretty much all these traits in Ochai, or at least hints of them. It has also become pretty clear that this front office has a "type." That is, good guy who isn't going to throw off the locker room or on-court chemistry and will be coachable.

I'm very pleased with what I've seen so far. If you get a solid starter on a playoff level team at the end of the lottery, you should be elated. I don't want to overreact to Summer League, as a rule, either one way or the other, but I didn't think this format would suit Agbaji's game very well and he's been the best player on the court in at least 2 of their 4 games.

He surpassed my SL expectations by a pretty large margin.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Almost didn't make it to my taxi. Was on a winning streak this morning, up over 800. However I jumped up from the table, headed to the arena now to catch the Cavs play.

Saw some interesting games yesterday. Kuminga has the nba body you want, but that's it. He is terrible.

Gui Santos is gonna be very good.

Isaiah Todd has a real sweet stroke.

And man Pat Spencer can play, no idea why he hasn't gotten a shot. He is better than any reserve pg we will start the season with.

If you see @Los216 sleep at another machine, wake him up next time instead of taking pics

 

[RonG]

Not bad seats if you get here early

 

[Rich]

In which of the three following games did he look "good"? Branham has a rough summer league, according to his stats. Lots of turnovers, brutal plus/minus.

I do agree this is just summer league. He has plenty of time to develop.

No idea. Haven't watched the Spurs other than their game against us.

I just know what was being said in here about Branham, after game 1 and it wasn't "its just summer league."

There was a lot of crowing because Branham had a poor outing and Agbaji looked good.

and ill just name names it was mostly coming from IBWT.

Ultimately it is just SL and everyone needs time to adjust but it'd be cool if we kept that tone for every rookie and not pick and choose who that motto should apply too.

 

[RonG]

Ochai Agbaji isn't playing

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Ochai Agbaji isn't playing

Damn, that sucks.. not gonna be watching then.

 

[catfish]

Ochai Agbaji isn't playing

Then the game will be nonwatchable

 

[Alec]

Watching him shoot over guys destined for Tanzanian leagues wasn’t super fun.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Damn. Not watching either. Sitting healthy rookies in Summer League is so lame. It's not like Ochai has been lighting the league on fire either.

 

[The Oi]

Arrived to Vegas at midnight last night. We gambled a little. Spotted this dude in the picture smooth passed out, living his best life.
View attachment 10888


Woke up to find out I will get to see the cavs play tomorrow!

@Smooth

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

No idea. Haven't watched the Spurs other than their game against us.

I just know what was being said in here about Branham, after game 1 and it wasn't "its just summer league."

There was a lot of crowing because Branham had a poor outing and Agbaji looked good.

and ill just name names it was mostly coming from IBWT.

Ultimately it is just SL and everyone needs time to adjust but it'd be cool if we kept that tone for every rookie and not pick and choose who that motto should apply too.

Ok Rich…like you always keep an even tone on every player after every moment?

I actually said Branham looked and his stat line like an awful lot like one from Caris LeVert.


Caris LeVert is thought of as a pretty nice success story for a pick in the 20s.

If Branham is LeVert, while that is definitely not what we need from our team…that’s not a bad thing. Would be a successful pick at the spot he was taken.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I'm having trouble seeing this game popping up as an option for my feed. Feels like it won't be worth the deep search.