This will not have many strong reactions to summer league, but it does give an extra perspective to consider so let’s dive into the top 5 and follow it up with other notable performances: Victor Wembanyama Wemby was about as expected. One game the shots weren’t falling, the other game they were. His offense is a bit of a question mark because he cannot handle around guards without getting picked off, and he takes so many jumpshots he is highly leveraged on his ability to make them longterm. But there is potential on that end, and huge potential on D.
I think Walsh and Keyonte impressed me the most. Keyonte looked more athletic and shot like he did in high school. Looks like he has a little Jamal Murray upside, which is big for him. Walsh shot well and looked confident doing it, which opened up a lot of the passing he flashed at Arkansas. And he's a menace on D.
Other random rookie thoughts:
- Dick looked way ahead of Jett and Hawkins as wing shooters.
- Leonard Miller looked great given his age/experience. Solidified him as top 20 may top 15 for me.
- Podz passing was really high level
- Hodge and Castleton both look good for LAL, could get minutes this year and were great UDFAs. Which is funny cuz JHS looked *bad*
Cam is going to be really interesting to watch moving forward. I'm significantly higher on him but he's such a mixed bag.
I know the injuries were a red flag for teams, but it also makes me wonder if his limited feel is really limited experience. He was already younger than most prospects, and he had a gnarly knee injury when he was 15 and missed a full season. Then missed a lot of game time w/ the COVID year. Then missed preseason + beginning of the season with 'Nova.
He's got some natural feel (cutting, ballhawking), but ballstops and gets tunnel vision with the ball in his hands. If the game slows down for him w/ more experience (eg 19 ast in 700 min college vs. 12 ast in 186 min SL) and he can make quicker shoot/pass/drive reads, he's got real real upside.
I think Walsh and Keyonte impressed me the most. Keyonte looked more athletic and shot like he did in high school. Looks like he has a little Jamal Murray upside, which is big for him. Walsh shot well and looked confident doing it, which opened up a lot of the passing he flashed at Arkansas. And he's a menace on D.
Other random rookie thoughts:
- Dick looked way ahead of Jett and Hawkins as wing shooters.
- Leonard Miller looked great given his age/experience. Solidified him as top 20 may top 15 for me.
- Podz passing was really high level
- Hodge and Castleton both look good for LAL, could get minutes this year and were great UDFAs. Which is funny cuz JHS looked *bad*
Cam is going to be really interesting to watch moving forward. I'm significantly higher on him but he's such a mixed bag.
I know the injuries were a red flag for teams, but it also makes me wonder if his limited feel is really limited experience. He was already younger than most prospects, and he had a gnarly knee injury when he was 15 and missed a full season. Then missed a lot of game time w/ the COVID year. Then missed preseason + beginning of the season with 'Nova.
He's got some natural feel (cutting, ballhawking), but ballstops and gets tunnel vision with the ball in his hands. If the game slows down for him w/ more experience (eg 19 ast in 700 min college vs. 12 ast in 186 min SL) and he can make quicker shoot/pass/drive reads, he's got real real upside.
Hey Dean, big fan of your analysis, been reading your blog since the 2014 draft.
Any thoughts on Black’s / Howard’s performances in the SL