2023 Summer League Champs

[ShawnKempIsMyDad]

Because old? I feel like a few solid upperclassmen who could be real contributors always get dropped in favor of some random 18 yo with tantalizing tools but no established production. See, Wade and Stevens on our own team

Would you like to see my “tantalizing tools”?

 

[CleveRocks]

Emoni doesn't have T-Rex arms, he has a slender upper body/shoulders and smallish hands which contributes to his smallish wingspan relative to his height (6'9"). His arm length itself seems to be fine.

His standing reach is within the neighborhood of many other wings throughout the league.

(Combine measurements)
Emoni Bates : 8'9"
--------
Billy Preston: 9'0"
Tari Eason: 8'11.5"
OG Anunoby: 8'11.5"
Paul George: 8'11"
Andrew Wiggins: 8'11"
Jayson Tatum: 8'10.5"
LeBron James: 8'10.25" (he must've been telling the records keeper to not round down to 8'10' and give him a decimal bump )
Kawhi Leonard: 8'10"
Herb Jones: 8'10"
Trey Murphy: 8'9.5"
Carmelo Anthony: 8'9.5"
Andre Iguodala: 8'9.5"
Dylan Windler: 8'7.5"
Klay Thompson: 8'7.5"
Tobias Harris: 8'7.5"
Cam Johnson: 8'7"
Jaylen Brown: 8'6.5"
Jimmy Butler : 8'5.5"
Caris LeVert: 8'5"
Max Strus: 8'2"

From the combine, iMobley's measurements are:
Notes: Measured 6’8.0” barefoot, 6’9.75” in shoes 8’11.5” standing reach, 238.0 lbs, and 7’3.0” wingspan at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine …

While Moni Penny's are :

At the 2023 combine, Bates clocked in at 6'8.225" (without shoes) and 179.2 pounds. His wingspan measured 6'9.0", and he has an 8'9.0" standing reach.

So, Emoni is .225 inches taller, with a standing reach 2.5 inches shorter, and a wingspan 6 inches shorter..

My statement was that iMobley is longer than Moni.. I stand by that.. iMobly also weighs 50 pounds more, and so I think he his body is more ready to play.. Moni needs to get stronger to survive the league. He is only 19. I say send him offshore for a season and let him show us he can get stronger before he gets to countdown in the league. Same as Luke and Kahlifa.. the idea being than when Mobley hits max, and Donovan, and Garland, we have a low cost crew that is ready to go.

 

[rastamon87]

Summer League is not the same without Sir'Dominic Pointer

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

California Classic (Sacramento SummerLeague) is underway

Miami and Lakers halfway through their game

Jacquez
Jovic
Orlando Robinson

All look very good for Heat

Max Christie bulked up and looks VERY good for Lakers. His ball handling, length and his newfound strength have him looking like a rotation player at least. He already had the jumper.

Hood Schifino is the only other bright spot for the Lakers, who are being bullied by Jacquez and Robinson

 

[J_J]

Edit - Wemba is not playing tonight - thanks catfish

I can’t wait to watch our Cavaliers on Friday.

 

[catfish]

I realized Wemba plays tonight in 40 min.

I can’t wait to watch our Cavaliers on Friday.

He is not playing

 

[J_J]

That’s unfortunate

He is not playing

 

[Jscc]

Sure enough - Isaiah Mobley signed the two-way contract, bringing the Cavs to a likely three two-ways:

Cavs: Cleveland makes key contract decision with Isaiah Mobley

The Cleveland Cavaliers have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Cavs forward Isaiah Mobley, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith.

cavsnation.com

I hope to see Isaiah make the jump this year into a role with the 15 man roster. We had such a great regular season as Cavs fans, we barely talked about Isaiah improving by leaps and bounds with the Charge. I know a lot of fans want Mo Bamba signed because of his length and three point range, but Mobley has a chance to be just as good this year.

This crossed my mind. iMobley looked good shooting 3s in that Orlando game last season.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Sure enough - Isaiah Mobley signed the two-way contract, bringing the Cavs to a likely three two-ways:

Cavs: Cleveland makes key contract decision with Isaiah Mobley

The Cleveland Cavaliers have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Cavs forward Isaiah Mobley, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith.

cavsnation.com

I hope to see Isaiah make the jump this year into a role with the 15 man roster. We had such a great regular season as Cavs fans, we barely talked about Isaiah improving by leaps and bounds with the Charge. I know a lot of fans want Mo Bamba signed because of his length and three point range, but Mobley has a chance to be just as good this year.

I'd rather have a guy with limited athleticism and a strong BBIQ than a guy with limited BBIQ and strong athleticism.

 

[RedBlackAttack]

Whats the likelihood any of those guys ever average 10mpg in the NBA?

The likelihood for them individually? Not great.

But if we're going to be the kind of franchise and team that we want to be -- competing for conference and NBA championships on an annual basis -- we've got to start cultivating talent on the margins.

I feel like we're now 'in the game' which is maybe the hardest part of building a contender. That's getting enough marquee guys that fit together, can win you 50 games in a season and put you in a position to make a playoff run. I like the moves we've made this offseason and the roster is about as good as we're going to get by using outside forces (the draft, trades, free agency).

Internal growth and talent development is the name of the game now. The blue chippers (DG, DM, EM) continuing to progress, the role players (JA, Ice, Caris, Strus, Niang, Jerome, Dean, RR) ... and a couple of the guys we'll see at Summer League have to start hitting. Doesn't mean they have to be blue chippers (although it isn't impossible because 'ya never know), but contributors on a playoff team -- yes.

If I had to put money on two guys, it'd probably be IMobley and Travers with Craig Porter Jr being my sleeper.

But, hell... it could be Pete Nance. Khalifia Diop. Wendell Green Jr?

If you would have told Miami Heat fans two guys on this SL roster, just from a couple years ago, would be 30mpg players on a Finals team, would they have believed it? And I doubt very seriously most/any would've chosen the correct two guys.



Strus did kind of ball-out, with Vincent coming out of completely nowhere. Dude didn't even get any minutes on that summer league team.




Strus is an interesting case, in particular, because he actually began his Summer League career with Boston in 2019. Again, you have two major contributors to conference finals teams on that roster. One with their opponent, but still.






And, I mean, it goes without saying the best player in the world couldn't have been picked out of a lineup on the 2015-16 Nuggets SL roster by even the biggest fans of the team.



The headliners that year for Denver were Mudiay and Harris. Jokic with that 1.4-to-3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Best passing big of all-time, eh? lol




You even look at a team like the Lakers who try to win in free agency almost exclusively, they wouldn't have been in the WCF without former 2022 Summer League nobody Austin Reeves.


If we're going where we want to go, one of these dudes on this Cavs SL roster is eventually helping us win playoff games. I believe that. Gotta figure this part out on our own, though, when very few people are paying attention. In other words, the fun stuff. Looking forward to Friday.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Chet and the young Thunder getting ready to play Ochai and the Jazz

Last game, Memphis came back to beat Philly (Nick Nurse was on the bench)

Really liked David Roddy (still smarting over Memphis jumping up to grab him last year)

On Philly, Jaden Springer looks like a light is starting to go on for him. Reminds me of Norman Powell with ridiculous springs.

Really liked this scoring guard for Philly, I believe it was Terquavian Smith. He was fearless with limitless range

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Also... watch Keyonte George for Utah

LOVE his game

 

[Smooth]

Hot take: Diop is closer to making an NBA impact than Travers..

I really think Diop is another good European year away from coming over and being JA's backup -- Jones is just keeping the seat warm..

Seeing his size, activity, agility and athleticism has me excited for him to come off the bench and provide a different look than Allen... It looks like he has a bit of physicality to his game and is just a well built dude.. He still fouls a lot and needs to hit the defensive boards better but he's got the physical profile and mentality..

Diop is only 21 but already has five years of Euroleague/ACB experience, and back-to-back years of strong play...

I think the Cavs want to see Travers continue to develop his jumpshot more and maybe get another season or two of seasoning before coming over..

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Theres a brazilian dude with Varajao hair who's making his NBA debut for the Warriors right now...

He just got posterized by Keegan Murray

It was bad

 

[Smooth]

I was meh on the pick at first but I don't think Cavs have to go after Strus this offseason if Agbaji is on the roster..

His game looks tailor made for what this team needs..