2019 NBA Summer League

[rtnorthrup]

The NBA has to fix this. It's bad enough to make kids walk up to the stage on the biggest night of their life wearing the gear of a team that everyone knows they are not going to play for, but penalizing the kid and the teams by not letting them be rostered for the start of summer league is just boneheaded.

[UrinalCake]

I just hope Lucy isn't holding a football when the Hawks summer league team plays.

Man, we’re getting old - Charlie Brown’s kid is all grown up 8-P

[brevity]

Three more rosters (besides Atlanta) are released.

Atlanta Hawks: It's the roster Jason posted above. Where's Cam Reddish? Jeff Siegel of Peachtree Hoops tweets: "A bit of a short roster, but they'll add De'Andre Hunter and Bruno Fernando as soon as those trades are official. Cam Reddish isn't playing with the core injury."

New York Knicks: Draft picks RJ Barrett and Ignas Brazdeikis join Knicks players Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Henry Ellenson, and Allonzo Trier (plus 2-way player Kadeem Allen).

Portland Trail Blazers: Some ACC variety with Gary Trent Jr. plus draft pick Nassir Little (UNC), undrafted Jaylen Hoard (Wake Forest), and overseas pro Zach Auguste (Notre Dame).

Detroit Pistons: So hot off the press that it's still a PDF file. Mild ACC interest with returning Piston Bruce Brown (Miami) and undrafted rookie Marcquise Reed (Clemson). Draft picks Sekou Doumbouya and Deividas Sirvydis are there, along with undrafted Louis King (Oregon) and Matt McQuaid (Michigan State).

[BD80]

…

New York Knicks: Draft picks RJ Barrett and Ignas Brazdeikis join Knicks players Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Henry Ellenson, and Allonzo Trier (plus 2-way player Kadeem Allen).

...

Detroit Pistons: So hot off the press that it's still a PDF file. Mild ACC interest with returning Piston Bruce Brown (Miami) and undrafted rookie Marcquise Reed (Clemson). Draft picks Sekou Doumbouya and Deividas Sirvydis are there, along with undrafted Louis King (Oregon) and Matt McQuaid (Michigan State).

The worst teams should have the best summer league teams … The Knicks summer team looks good on paper!

The Pistons really think they got lucky in this draft. Not hugely better, but that the pickups were fortuitous. Sekou should have gone 8 picks higher than 15, and may be one of the best 5 players in the draft. Delvidas could have been a first rounder, and he may be too good to stash overseas for a year as was the original plan. King is wildly athletic and, well, just wild. Certainly first round talent, and no risk as a free agent (other than using up one of the two-way spots).

[JNort]

The worst teams should have the best summer league teams … The Knicks summer team looks good on paper!

The Pistons really think they got lucky in this draft. Not hugely better, but that the pickups were fortuitous. Sekou should have gone 8 picks higher than 15, and may be one of the best 5 players in the draft. Delvidas could have been a first rounder, and he may be too good to stash overseas for a year as was the original plan. King is wildly athletic and, well, just wild. Certainly first round talent, and no risk as a free agent (other than using up one of the two-way spots).

I would hope so... It's essentialy their core going into the regular season. Have we got an under/over yet on this teams win total yet? Seems to me it will be between them and Charlotte for the bottom.


Sadly I would muuuuccchhhh rather have the Knicks roster at every position.

[tbyers11]

I would hope so... It's essentialy their core going into the regular season. Have we got an under/over yet on this teams win total yet? Seems to me it will be between them and Charlotte for the bottom.


Sadly I would muuuuccchhhh rather have the Knicks roster at every position.

The Wizards say hold my lineup card

wizards.jpg

I think right now it is between Washington and Charlotte for worst roster.

I think the Knicks have a pretty strong top 4 (Dennis Smith, RJ, Kevin Knox, and Mitchell Robinson) that will place them at awful but not god-awful

[JasonEvans]

The Wizards say hold my lineup card

wizards.jpg

Wow... that is brutally bad. I feel for Bradley Beal. He's gonna be begging for a trade.

Meanwhile, now that the league year has advanced to the 2019-20 season, the first year of John Wall's supermax contract that pays him more than $38 million next season has begun. Yup, his supermax had not yet kicked in when he had that crippling injury. Here is what the Wiz have to look forward to in terms of paying Wall.

19-20: $38,199,000
20-21: $41,254,920
21-22: $44,310,840
22-23: $47,366,760
Total: $171,131,520

-Jason "$47.3 million for a dude who will be 32 in 2022, just blew out his Achilles, and who has played more than 70 games only 4 times in 9 years (make it 4 out of 10 after he misses this season)" Evans

[kAzE]

Wow... that is brutally bad. I feel for Bradley Beal. He's gonna be begging for a trade.

Meanwhile, now that the league year has advanced to the 2019-20 season, the first year of John Wall's supermax contract that pays him more than $38 million next season has begun. Yup, his supermax had not yet kicked in when he had that crippling injury. Here is what the Wiz have to look forward to in terms of paying Wall.

19-20: $38,199,000
20-21: $41,254,920
21-22: $44,310,840
22-23: $47,366,760
Total: $171,131,520

-Jason "$47.3 million for a dude who will be 32 in 2022, just blew out his Achilles, and who has played more than 70 games only 4 times in 9 years (make it 4 out of 10 after he misses this season)" Evans

Not to get too off topic, but where does John Wall's career rank at this point in terms of #1 overall picks this century? I wonder if he's even in the top half.

[Truth&Justise]

Not to get too off topic, but where does John Wall's career rank at this point in terms of #1 overall picks this century? I wonder if he's even in the top half.

Interesting question. Going purely based off win-shares, the list looks like this:

1. LeBron James (226.6)
2. Dwight Howard (128.9)
3. Blake Griffin (75.3)
4. Anthony Davis (72.0)
5. Yao Ming (65.9)
6. Kyrie Irving (58.4)
7. Andrew Bogut (50.6)
8. Kenyon Martin (48.0)
9. Karl-Anthony Towns (45.4)
10. John Wall (44.3)
11. Derrick Rose (37.2)
12. Kwame Brown (20.8)
13. Andrea Bargnani (18.9)
14. Ben Simmons (17.5)
15. Andrew Wiggins (13.0)
16. Greg Oden (7.3)
17. Deandre Ayton (5.8)
18. Markelle Fultz (0.5)
19. Anthony Bennett (0.5)

I know win-shares isn't a perfect metric, and it's cumulative so it rewards guys who have been around longer, but it seems like a good place to start.

Wall is smack-dab in the middle. And depending on his form when he returns to playing, he's likely to pass Kenyon Martin and Andrew Bogut, though Ben Simmons seems like a threat to pass him before long. So he'll probably remain in the middle of this list. In other words, he's an average #1 pick this century.

[BD80]

Interesting question. Going purely based off win-shares, the list looks like this:

1. LeBron James (226.6)
2. Dwight Howard (128.9)
3. Blake Griffin (75.3)
4. Anthony Davis (72.0)
5. Yao Ming (65.9)
6. Kyrie Irving (58.4)
7. Andrew Bogut (50.6)
8. Kenyon Martin (48.0)
9. Karl-Anthony Towns (45.4)
10. John Wall (44.3)
11. Derrick Rose (37.2)
12. Kwame Brown (20.8)
13. Andrea Bargnani (18.9)
14. Ben Simmons (17.5)
15. Andrew Wiggins (13.0)
16. Greg Oden (7.3)
17. Deandre Ayton (5.8)
18. Markelle Fultz (0.5)
19. Anthony Bennett (0.5)

I know win-shares isn't a perfect metric, and it's cumulative so it rewards guys who have been around longer, but it seems like a good place to start.

...

Well, the Lakers may be able to throw two of those guys on the court at the same time, but so can the Pistons! Griffin and Rose will have the Pistons playoff bound baby! Second year in a row!

[brevity]

One more roster and one injury update.

Brooklyn Nets: Draft picks Nicolas Claxton and Jaylen Hands get the kind of veteran leadership that only Theo Pinson can provide. Ahmed Hill, formerly of Virginia Tech, is also present.

I believe that only the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns have yet to announce a roster.

Tuesday's Schedule (times ET):
Grizzlies vs Spurs, 7pm NBATV
Cavaliers (Marques) vs Jazz, 9pm NBATV
Lakers vs Warriors, 9pm ESPN2
Heat vs Kings (Marvin?), 11pm NBATV

Now the Kings have tweeted that Marvin Bagley is being held out altogether. So we went from a local news report last week of Bagley and Giles to just Bagley to just Bagley in the California Classic to nothing at all. Thanks, Sacramento.

[fuse]

Interesting question. Going purely based off win-shares, the list looks like this:

1. LeBron James (226.6)
2. Dwight Howard (128.9)
3. Blake Griffin (75.3)
4. Anthony Davis (72.0)
5. Yao Ming (65.9)
6. Kyrie Irving (58.4)
7. Andrew Bogut (50.6)
8. Kenyon Martin (48.0)
9. Karl-Anthony Towns (45.4)
10. John Wall (44.3)
11. Derrick Rose (37.2)
12. Kwame Brown (20.8)
13. Andrea Bargnani (18.9)
14. Ben Simmons (17.5)
15. Andrew Wiggins (13.0)
16. Greg Oden (7.3)
17. Deandre Ayton (5.8)
18. Markelle Fultz (0.5)
19. Anthony Bennett (0.5)

I know win-shares isn't a perfect metric, and it's cumulative so it rewards guys who have been around longer, but it seems like a good place to start.

Wall is smack-dab in the middle. And depending on his form when he returns to playing, he's likely to pass Kenyon Martin and Andrew Bogut, though Ben Simmons seems like a threat to pass him before long. So he'll probably remain in the middle of this list. In other words, he's an average #1 pick this century.

I don’t watch enough NBA basketball to even begin to form a cogent argument for anything different.

I feel quite badly for those ranked below Kwame Brown. With the possible exception of Greg Oden (who deserves more than a little slack for being injury prone), I’m not sure what universe I am living in if there were a worse number one pick.

[subzero02]

I don’t watch enough NBA basketball to even begin to form a cogent argument for anything different.

I feel quite badly for those ranked below Kwame Brown. With the possible exception of Greg Oden (who deserves more than a little slack for being injury prone), I’m not sure what universe I am living in if there were a worse number one pick.

Anthony Bennett is by far and away the worst number one pick on this list. Oladipo, Giannis, Steven Adams, CJ McCollum and Dennis Schroeder were drafted after him. Bennett was drafted in 2013 by Cleveland but hasn't played an NBA game since 2017. He's currently in the G-league and plays for the agua caliente clippers.

Here's a quick glance at some of his NBA Career stats:

151 games played, 4 career starts, 12.6 minutes per game, 4.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .5 apg

[Wahoo2000]

Anthony Bennett is by far and away the worst number one pick on this list. Oladipo, Giannis, Steven Adams, CJ McCollum and Dennis Schroeder were drafted after him. Bennett was drafted in 2013 by Cleveland but hasn't played an NBA game since 2017. He's currently in the G-league and plays for the agua caliente clippers.

Here's a quick glance at some of his NBA Career stats:

151 games played, 4 career starts, 12.6 minutes per game, 4.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .5 apg

^^^THIS^^^

Anthony Bennett is in a class by himself. People can complain about how "bust-a-riffic" (really seems like that word would be better suited being applied to the likes of Raquel Welch*, but I digress) guys like Kwame or Olowokandi were, but they at least carved out some semblance of careers as role players. Bennett isn't a has-been. He's a never-was. Only lasted 4 years in the NBA and was a total washout overseas as well.





*No, I am NOT that old. Yes, that was honestly the first name that came to mind. <shrugs>

[awhom111]

The Spurs beat the Grizzlies 99-84 in a generally unremarkable game:
https://www.nba.com/games/20190702/MEMSAS#/boxscore

Marques left the game after only 7 minutes with knee soreness as the Cavs lost to the Jazz 86-71:
https://www.nba.com/games/20190702/CLEUTA#/boxscore

The Lakers beat the Warriors 100-90:
https://www.nba.com/games/20190702/LALGSW#/boxscore

Teams finally got into fouling for the last game as Chris Silva one again wanted a special mention in Miami's 89-88 with another 8 while Hollis Thompson and Eric Mika got 8 apiece to make up for the lack of Marvin.

Wednesday's Schedule (times ET):
Heat vs Warriors, 3pm NBATV
Lakers vs Kings (no Marvin), 5pm NBATV
Cavaliers (Marques?) vs Grizzlies, 7pm NBATV
Spurs vs Jazz, 9pm NBATV

[JasonEvans]

The conversation about Anthony Bennett brings up another factor in the NBA draft that makes success in the league so difficult for a GM. Not only are individual picks really hard to project (every year there are 2nd rounders that perform better than multiple lottery picks) but some drafts simply don't have the talent of others. I mean, in the past decade, New Orleans and Cleveland have each gotten phenomenally lucky and won the lottery twice. Cleveland's 2 top picks turned out to be Andrew Wiggins** and Anthony Bennett. New Orleans 2 picks turned out to be Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson.

That just ain't fair!

-Jason "worth noting that Wiggins was considered close to a sure thing... not much worse of a prospect than Zion, IIRC... ponder that for a bit" Evans

**- Cleveland parlayed Wiggins into Kevin Love, of course... a move I thought was foolish at the time. Shows what I know.

[JetpackJesus]

The conversation about Anthony Bennett brings up another factor in the NBA draft that makes success in the league so difficult for a GM. Not only are individual picks really hard to project (every year there are 2nd rounders that perform better than multiple lottery picks) but some drafts simply don't have the talent of others. I mean, in the past decade, New Orleans and Cleveland have each gotten phenomenally lucky and won the lottery twice. Cleveland's 2 top picks turned out to be Andrew Wiggins** and Anthony Bennett. New Orleans 2 picks turned out to be Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson.

That just ain't fair!

-Jason "worth noting that Wiggins was considered close to a sure thing... not much worse of a prospect than Zion, IIRC... ponder that for a bit" Evans

**- Cleveland parlayed Wiggins into Kevin Love, of course... a move I thought was foolish at the time. Shows what I know.

Setting aside whether it will come to pass, Zion is on the LBJ, Shaq, KG, Kobe scale of prospects, not the Andrew Wiggins scale of prospects..

[JasonEvans]

Setting aside whether it will come to pass, Zion is on the LBJ, Shaq, KG, Kobe scale of prospects, not the Andrew Wiggins scale of prospects..

Kobe was barely a lottery pick. I get that the NBA drafted differently back when Kobe came out of high school, but you cannot tell me everyone was certain Kobe would become a star but 12 teams passed on him so they could take Lorenzen Wright, Kerry Kittles, and Todd Fuller.

Kevin Garnett was taken 5th in 1995. That was the draft where Joe Smith went #1. You seem to be saying that Garnett was one of these rare super-prospects that everyone knows will become an annual all-NBA player and yet he went #5.

Setting aside the fallacy of the guys you pick as the top tier of prospects, allow me to remind you of what folks thought about Wiggins when he came out. NBADraft.net wrote:

The sky is the limit for him, as he's been blessed with the type of athleticism that does not come along in every class. Considered by some as the best athlete to surface in 10 years, since LeBron James.

Here is what Bleacher Report said:

Canadian-born Andrew Wiggins is the best prospect to enter the league since LeBron James was picked first overall 10 years ago. With more hype than Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving, Wiggins is set to take the NBA by storm.

Here is an article talking about how NBA teams were tanking so they could get the best shot at drafting Wiggins: https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...k-for-wiggins/

I could dig up more. Suffice it to say that Wiggins was not one of those "maybe he will be good" type of picks. Everyone thought he was a truly rare prospect, not the kind of kid who comes along every year in the draft.

-Jason "I'm not entirely sure why I started this conversation... I think it was to remind myself not to be too over-hyped about Zion " Evans

[subzero02]

Kobe was barely a lottery pick. I get that the NBA drafted differently back when Kobe came out of high school, but you cannot tell me everyone was certain Kobe would become a star but 12 teams passed on him so they could take Lorenzen Wright, Kerry Kittles, and Todd Fuller.

Kevin Garnett was taken 5th in 1995. That was the draft where Joe Smith went #1. You seem to be saying that Garnett was one of these rare super-prospects that everyone knows will become an annual all-NBA player and yet he went #5.

Setting aside the fallacy of the guys you pick as the top tier of prospects, allow me to remind you of what folks thought about Wiggins when he came out. NBADraft.net wrote:



Here is what Bleacher Report said:



Here is an article talking about how NBA teams were tanking so they could get the best shot at drafting Wiggins: https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...k-for-wiggins/

I could dig up more. Suffice it to say that Wiggins was not one of those "maybe he will be good" type of picks. Everyone thought he was a truly rare prospect, not the kind of kid who comes along every year in the draft.

-Jason "I'm not entirely sure why I started this conversation... I think it was to remind myself not to be too over-hyped about Zion " Evans

Some people thought he was destined to be an all star. Everyone drafted ahead of him not named Joe Smith made at least one all star game. (mydess, stackhouse, and r. Wallace) I know that Calipari was convinced of his future stardom. Leading up to the 1995 draft, a team asked for his opinion on KG. Calipari said Kevin was already better than rising junior Marcus Camby, a 17 year nba player and the #2 pick in the 1996 draft.

[nmduke2001]

Kobe was barely a lottery pick. I get that the NBA drafted differently back when Kobe came out of high school, but you cannot tell me everyone was certain Kobe would become a star but 12 teams passed on him so they could take Lorenzen Wright, Kerry Kittles, and Todd Fuller.

Kevin Garnett was taken 5th in 1995. That was the draft where Joe Smith went #1. You seem to be saying that Garnett was one of these rare super-prospects that everyone knows will become an annual all-NBA player and yet he went #5.

Setting aside the fallacy of the guys you pick as the top tier of prospects, allow me to remind you of what folks thought about Wiggins when he came out. NBADraft.net wrote:



Here is what Bleacher Report said:



Here is an article talking about how NBA teams were tanking so they could get the best shot at drafting Wiggins: https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...k-for-wiggins/

I could dig up more. Suffice it to say that Wiggins was not one of those "maybe he will be good" type of picks. Everyone thought he was a truly rare prospect, not the kind of kid who comes along every year in the draft.

-Jason "I'm not entirely sure why I started this conversation... I think it was to remind myself not to be too over-hyped about Zion " Evans

The year before Wiggins went to Kansas, Bobby Hurley was on sports radio. They asked him about recruiting. He couldn't use his name but he said something like, "there's this kid out of Canada that would be an all-star in the NBA this year if he was there. He's the best prospect that I have ever seen, granted I wasn't recruiting when LeBron was in HS."