Offseason Beat: Summer League: Northwest
The Northwest Division had a bad 2014-15 with just one team in the postseason. The Blazers were able to win the division, but they had the worst offseason with how many players they lost in free agency. In fact, the lineup of Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez scored more points than any other five-man lineup in the 2013-14 season, so yeah. Ouchie.
As for Summer League, the four teams in Las Vegas — the Blazers, Jazz, Wolves and Nuggets — all had some very noteworthy contributors. On the Orlando side of things, the Thunder were not a very compelling team to watch.
Here we go with the second part of the Summer League summary:
Southwest Division from Saturday
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In case you missed it in the first part, each team will also have an impact rating next to it. It’ll be a rating of 1-10 based on how much the Summer League roster will affect the big club in October. If it’s 1-3, that means there’s low expectations from the players on that roster. On the other hand, 8-10 will be for teams with multiple players set to contribute right off the bat.
Blazers (Impact rating: 5)
The 2014 Blazers Vegas team was a treat with C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard, but the 2015 group was no slouch either.
Noah Vonleh, Blazers F – Last summer with the Hornets, Vonleh was one of the more disappointing players at Summer League. He started off the event in 2014 with an 0-of-13 from the field and never really got it going, making 28.4 percent from the field in the week. His averages were also awful, scoring 9.1 points per game with 10.0 boards, 0.4 dimes, 1.1 blocks and 0.1 steals. His shot selection was a disaster and he was careless with the ball, too.
One year later, he was on the opposite end of the spectrum in the past week. In four games this month, Vonleh averaged 17.2 points, 8.5 boards, 0.2 steals, 0.2 blocks and 1.3 treys on 55.8 percent from the field. With the treys and the 76.2 percent from the line, that gave Vonleh a pristine 66.0 true shooting percentage — Kyle Korver and Tyson Chandler were the only two qualifiers last season to have an efficiency that high.
Vonleh really put it all on display. Perhaps the biggest improvement was his ball-handling because he was killing guys on face-up plays and even ran the offense in transition. Vonleh’s increase in boards was also big time and he made a cognizant effort to crash the boards more often when he wasn’t on the play side on both ends. He even looked like a different players from last year due to a little added muscle on his frame.
Even though he was probably in the top 10 for most impressive players, we still have to have our doubts based on his output last regular season. The Hornets finally decided to play him in the last five games of the season and it didn’t go well, averaging 7.2 points, 8.6 boards, 0.6 blocks, 0.8 treys and 1.2 turnovers on 34.2 percent from the field. Yes, this was really his first chance for minutes, but that’s no excuse. Here’s his shot chart from that stretch:
Yikes. A power forward shouldn’t be that awful in the paint, but that may have been his forte last week. He was a step faster than his competition and really had some nice moves to create space. Last season, he just took a contested shot, which obviously didn’t work.
So all this said, I’d still be a little skeptical about Vonleh this season. He probably needs one more year to develop and he’s going to have to leapfrog Meyers Leonard, Ed Davis and/or Mason Plumlee. He’s just a late-round flier, but his numbers in Indiana give him some serious upside — he averaged 11.3 points, 9.0 boards, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocks in 26.5 minutes per game. If he goes off in preseason, that may change things.
Allen Crabbe, Blazers G – It was a tough ending for Crabbe. In the second quarter on Wednesday, Crabbe suffered a severe ankle sprain and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks.
It stings even worse for Crabbe because he was tearing it up before the injury. In his three games before the injury, the 6’6” guard averaged 18.0 points, 2.3 boards, 2.0 steals, 0.7 blocks and 1.7 treys. Crabbe was really good off the dribble, which is something he rarely did with the big club last season. In fact, a whopping 74.3 percent of Crabbe’s shots last season were catch-and-shoot, and he also made a putrid 8.7 percent from the field on his pullup shots. Eight point seven percent!
Crabbe was also a letdown in Las Vegas last year, scoring just 5.6 points per game with a very low usage rate in 22.6 minutes per game. Clearly, the Blazers wanted to see what they can get out of him this summer because they lost Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews. Crabbe can play both wing spots like Wes can, so he could potentially have a similar role if things work out perfectly for him.
He still needs to make the team and isn’t worth drafting in most leagues just yet.
Pat Connaughton, Blazers G – As a former baseball pitcher with a 95 MPH fastball, the athletic side of things is not a concern for the Notre Dame guard. Connaughton led all combine participants in max vertical leap and his agility numbers were good, too.
As it turns out, he did a lot of the little things on a basketball court this month. He was off the ball most of the time and wasn’t standing around watching while his teammates were making plays. Connaughton also fared well in transition and was able to get very clean looks around the rim.
In five games, he averaged 7.2 points, 4.8 boards, 1.6 steals and 1.4 treys on 41.2 percent from the field in 22.8 minutes per game. As solid as he was, Connaughton is likely starting out in the D-League next season.
Tim Frazier, Blazers G – It’s the same story for Frazier as it was last season. He can stuff the stat sheet based on how he had multiple triple-doubles in the D-League last year, but he still can’t shoot the rock. On his 45 jump shot attempts last season in the NBA, Frazier made just 24.4 percent of them. On the whole in his 11 games in the NBA, Frazier averaged 5.2 points, 5.5 dimes, 0.7 steals and 0.5 treys on 34.4 percent from the field.
In Vegas, he wasn’t much better at 37.9 percent from the field for averages of 9.8 points, 4.2 boards, 7.5 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.3 treys. The Blazers should bring C.J. McCollum off the bench as a point guard-type guy like the way Jamal Crawford is used on occasion, which would bump Frazier from the rotation. He had a golden ticket in Philly with nobody around him, but Willy Wonka said, “Good day, sir!” Anyway, he’s not worth drafting in almost any league.
Arnett Moultrie and Daniel Orton, Blazers F/Cs – It was the same story for these two guys. Both players were bashed for not being in shape while with the 76ers, but they both looked a lot better. Moultrie and Orton still have a lot of work to do and may not even get camp invites.
Side note: I feel like I’m higher on C.J. McCollum than anyone.
Thunder (Impact rating: 2)
The most intriguing player for the Thunder would’ve been 2015 No. 14 pick Cameron Payne, but he broke his hand and wasn’t able to suit up. We’ll have to wait until training camp to see if he’ll be a capable backup to Russell Westbrook.
Mitch McGary, Thunder F/C – He showed up to Orlando 30 pounds lighter and said his body is still adjusting to the weight loss. McGary said he “didn’t know I could jump this high” heading into the event and he was much quicker all over the court. In four games this month, McGary averaged 12.5 points, 7.0 boards 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks on 57.1 percent from the field.
He was really spacing the floor and even attempted four 3-pointers — he missed all of them, though. With the extra weight last season, McGary was awful outside of the paint last year, making just 28.6 percent of those shots last season. Coach Tom Emanski, Rick Barry and Mark Price couldn’t fix that, though.
On the defensive side of things, his defensive rebounding rate wasn’t very good with just 9.5 defensive boards per 48 minutes. With the Thunder getting Enes Kanter back on a max deal, McGary will be hard-pressed for minutes. He is still more of a power forward and will need to do a heck of a lot better on the defensive side. The Michigan product also has struggled to stay healthy. No thanks here.
Dakari Johnson, Thunder C – He was unofficially the 103rd Kentucky player taken in the 2015 NBA Draft in June after averaging 6.4 points, 4.6 boards, 0.9 blocks and 0.4 steals in 16.3 minutes per game last season. Johnson also made just 55.9 percent from the line in his two years at Kentucky, so he’s quite the offensive project.
Johnson picked up 26.8 minutes per game in Orlando and improved his averages of 7.6 points, 8.6 boards, 0.4 blocks and 0.4 steals. He’s a bulky seven-foot center and is nowhere near close to playing minutes unless OKC is decimated.
Jazz (Impact rating: 7)
The Jazz had arguably the most stacked team of all in any of the Summer Leagues. They played in Utah and shifted to Las Vegas, but they didn’t play their best two guys in Las Vegas. Dante Exum’s ankle was taped up for a week and Rodney Hood had a shoulder injury, but there was no need for those guys to play more than a few games anyway.
Dante Exum, Jazz G – He only lasted one game before the Jazz held him out, but it was a doozy. Exum scored 20 points with five rebounds, five assists, one turnover and one 3-pointer in a 100-82 victory. He went to the line 10 times and was a completely different player.
Exum looked great off the dribble in this July 6 game, which was his big weakness last season. He had a whopping 64.3 percent of his shots come without a dribble last year, and he only made 23.9 percent from the field on shots with three-plus dribbles. He was also one of the worst players shooting on pick-and-roll, making just 25.9 percent on those plays. Exum said last summer that his favorite play is pick-and-roll, but he may have needed a year to learn how to run it against the pros. Patience.
The Aussie is still not even close to his ceiling and that probably won’t be happening this season either. We still can’t just say “this was Summer League” about a guy who we all thought could be the next big thing. For re-draft fantasy, I still don’t plan on targeting him.
Rodney Hood, Jazz G/F – A lot like Exum, Hood didn’t have much success off the dribble during the season. Here’s a look at his off-the-dribble numbers from last season:
Not great. Although, he was actually really starting to turn the corner at the end of the season. This month, Hood went end-to-end a few times and was the ball-handler for PNR quite a bit. In his two Utah Summer League games, Hood averaged 20.5 points, 7.5 boards, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.5 blocks and 0.5 treys on 54.8 percent from the field.
The biggest concern with Hood right now is his health. He has a shoulder injury right now, but it’s not expected to be a problem for long. Hood’s plantar fasciitis was a big issue on multiple occasions, but he also had ankle, hip and concussion ailments.
He’s going to have to compete with Alec Burks for the starting job. Burks was a solid ball-handler and doesn’t space the floor as well, so it makes sense to throw Burks in the second unit. Hood is worth a late look and could break out.
Trey Lyles, Jazz F – The Jazz were able to steal Lyles with the 12th pick in the draft. He’s extremely talented with the ball and even played some point guard in high school. Lyles is a legit 6’10” power forward, but he played some small forward for the Wildcats because of his athleticism.
The Jazz used him in a similar fashion. First and foremost, he was the quintessential stretch four and even made four 3-pointers in his final game against the Lakers. Lyles finished with averages of 11.3 points, 5.7 boards, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.0 treys. He missed a lot of easy shots around the basket, but that should come.
Interestingly, Lyles made 74.4 percent of his shots at the rim last season, but he was assisted on 60.9 percent of those. Lyles’ struggling on the easier shots in Vegas seems a bit fluky, so he’d probably be able to score 15 points per game if he had another crack at summer league today.
As alluded to, Lyles is a great fit on the Jazz. Both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors don’t really space the floor all that well, so Lyles will be able to complement both of them. Favors can definitely play the five and his mid-range game is still not quite where it should be.
As promising as Lyles could be, he is likely going to be behind Trevor Booker for minutes. He has an interesting upside in a few years, though.
Olivier Hanlan, Jazz G – He scored 19.5 points per game at Boston College last year as one of the more well-rounded combo guards in the nation. The 6’6”, 22-year-old 42nd pick made 62.0 percent at the rim at BC last year, but that wasn’t the case in Las Vegas and in Utah.
In his eight games, Hanlan made just 26.7 percent from the field for averages of 4.1 points, 2.6 boards, 1.2 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.6 treys. Trey Burke is another Jazz guard to shoot below 30 percent in his first Summer League, so Hanlan isn’t in great company. Expect him to get a season in the D-League.
Jack Cooley, Jazz F – He is one of the best offensive rebounders in Summer League and even had seven offensive boards in 16 minutes during his first game in Utah Summer League. Besides that, Cooley was more of a glue guy in the paint, averaging 7.9 points, 6.9 boards, 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals. The Jazz only gave the 24-year-old Cooley 87 minutes last season and he made just 40.9 percent from the field. They gave him a season-high 17 minutes in the last game of the season, but he wasn’t anything special in an eight-point, six-board game. He doesn’t have a high enough ceiling to care.
Chris Johnson, Jazz F – He is what he is. Johnson loves to hang in the corners and he’ll have the same role heading into the season. In Summer League, Johnson was moving around more and ran the offense at times. He averaged just 8.3 points, 3.3 boards, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.6 treys. Johnson’s ceiling is just a second-unit guy.
Bryce Cotton, Jazz G – The Jazz have quite the surplus at point guard. They already had Dante Exum and a struggling Trey Burke, but now they have Raul Neto and Cotton. Neto could wind up in the D-League because he didn’t have a successful run in Summer League a couple years ago.
General manager Dennis Lindsey also said the Jazz could wind up carrying four point guards on the roster. Cotton was one of the most entertaining players to watch this week with his killer crossovers, quickness around the rim and creativity on passes. Still, his numbers weren’t great with averages of 15.4 points, 3.9 boards, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 treys on 35.4 percent from the field. He’ll obviously need a lot to happen to get on the map in fantasy.
Nuggets (Impact rating: 8)
Well, things got interesting on Sunday night. The Nuggets traded away Ty Lawson and were only able to bring back Nick Johnson, Joey Dorsey, Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni and a couple draft picks. None of those guys project as key rotation pieces and Nick Johnson may be the most valuable of that group. This trade also suggests the Nuggets could look to unload even more players.
Emmanuel Mudiay, Nuggets G – He’s the captain now. Mudiay was probably the best guard at Vegas and teams like the Kings might be second-guessing themselves for passing on him. The No. 7 pick really used his size to defend all over the court and his lateral quickness helped him on the perimeter alone. As for the offense, Mudiay’s court vision was already ahead of schedule and he was killing guys with his first step to get into the lane. Plus, he had plenty of clean looks on his mid-range shots. Mudiay still has to develop a jumper, but it’s not like he has awful form or anything like that.
As for the stats, Mudiay averaged 12.0 points, 3.5 boards, 5.8 dimes, 1.2 steals and 0.5 treys on 38.5 percent from the field. While the shooting percentages look ugly, he was still able to convert on 47.4 percent of his two-pointers. Nobody could really guard him and he would have been even better had he been adjusted to the speed and style of the NBA game.
Negatives? Not many. He did say he didn’t want to go in during the fourth quarter of the first game because the Nuggets had been working him hard in two-a-days. Mudiay did force some passes and obviously his seven-turnover, one-dime game in the finale was not a good look. He’s also a pure point guard and didn’t really move around without the ball, but that’s fine.
Coach Mike Malone has done a fine job with point guards and even turned Darren Collison around last year. Malone has already said that the Nuggets are Mudiay’s team even before the trade, but now it clearly is going to be his offense. He thrives in the open floor and the Nuggets should allow him to pile up the stats. Points leagues and DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) should see huge numbers out of him, but Mudiay’s ceiling in standard leagues is a touch low due to sub-par percentages. He’s a good bet for Rookie of the Year.
Gary Harris, Nuggets G – He had arguably the best game of Summer League in 2014 with 33-point effort, but Harris wasn’t able to take step forward this time around. In three games, he averaged just 12.3 points, 3.7 boards, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 steals. The MSU product also made just 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) from beyond the arc and never could really hit open shots — most of them were open thanks to Mudiay, too.
The Nuggets were able to bring back Randy Foye and Wilson Chandler on somewhat inexpensive deals, so it wasn’t a favorable outcome for Harris this summer. Plus, Danilo Gallinari hasn’t been dealt yet. Even if the Nuggets can unload some guys, Harris didn’t really show enough to warrant a speculative stash in deep leagues.
Joffrey Lauvergne, Nuggets F – King Joffrey had some lovely ladies putting down rose pedals for his royal run in Vegas. Coming to America references aside, Lauvergne came up big with averages of 11.0 points, 8.0 boards and 0.2 steals per game in four Vegas outings. He played a mixture of a stretch four and defended on the low block, which is what Mike Malone will want out of him next season. Malone doesn’t use a stretch four quite as much as other coaches, but then again he didn’t have one on the Kings. Lauvergne didn’t quite do enough to separate himself from the other fours.
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets F – Another stretch option for the Nuggets. Jokic has a fairly quick release for a 6’11”, 260-pound big man and he was strong enough to defend the classic low-post fives, too. Jokic was solid in his five games, averaging 8.0 points, 6.2 boards, 1.4 assists, 1.4 blocks, 0.8 steals and 0.4 treys in 21.0 minutes per game. He also passed the ball very well out of the post when he was doubled.
You could say Jokic was one of the best unknown pleasant surprises this week because he didn’t really show any glaring weaknesses. If the Nuggets don’t have Jusuf Nurkic (knee) ready to go, Jokic could be someone to watch.
Ian Clark, Nuggets G – He was the MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League two years ago with the Warriors, but he wasn’t quite as effective this time around. Clark still was able to turn in averages of 13.4 points, 2.8 boards, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.4 treys per game. The Nuggets used him on the ball more than most teams and did so when Mudiay was on the bench.
Clark could wind up competing with Harris for backup shooting guard minutes. Mudiay is going to get too many point guard minutes, so Clark’s only chance should come on the wing.
Erick Green, Nuggets G – Much like Bryce Cotton for Utah, Green is in a bad spot. He’s an undersized point guard and is currently sitting at No. 4 on the depth chart — Nick Johnson is likely ahead of him. Still, Green had himself a very nice run in Vegas, scoring 14.8 points per game with 4.0 dimes, 1.8 steals and 1.6 treys on 53.7 percent from the field. He’s still not going to get minutes in the current situation.
Wolves (Impact rating: 7)
Karl-Anthony Towns, Wolves F/C – He went into the event as a player with the most upside and he left with the same distinction. Towns is just a freak on both ends and he is going to be a guy who can fill up every part of the stat sheet. One of the most impressive and perhaps surprising aspects of his game was his ability to recognize when and where the double team was, and how he effectively passed out of the situation. He had a handful of beautiful bounce passes on cuts to set up his teammates for easy buckets and rarely turned it over with the extra defensive pressure on him.
Of course, the block presence is real. Towns ranked first in the SEC for block percentage with 2.3 per game in just 21.1 minutes, which translates to 4.3 per 40 minutes. His instincts on weak-side blocks and when to leave his man were beyond his years. Plus, he has a 7’3 wingspan to go with than athletic seven-foot frame. He is going to compete for a blocking crown in as little as two or three seasons.
On the flip side of the blocking, there were some fouling issues. Towns had nine fouls in two of his first three games in Las Vegas, so that’s a problem. Although, Summer League coach Ryan Saunders said he wasn’t worried about the fouling issues with Towns following the second game of the event. The team trusts its prized rookie to figure it out on his own. KAT did have 2.9 fouls per game in just 21.1 minutes last year, so that’s a shade high because the NBA is a little more picky on calling fouls than in college. To his benefit, he didn’t need to be as careful with his foul allotment due to his low minute total.
On the scoring side of things, Towns can be a monster. He was very good on face-up plays, was really able to establish position in the low post and he stretched the floor very well. The 19-year-old big man has a fairly quick release, nice arc and did a good job staying on balance on his jumpers both on catch-and-shoot and off the bounce. He probably won’t be able to hit over 0.5 treys per game in the first two seasons, but it’s something he could add to his game.
With regards to the minutes increase, Towns did mention it took some getting used to. He was used to the platoon approach with Coach Cal in Kentucky. Following the first game, the rookie said he wasn’t used to getting 10-minute stretches of action without resting, but he mentioned it was a lot easier as the event went on. He is certainly capable of playing 30 minutes once the team is ready to get him there.
As a quick aside, Towns was easily my favorite person to listen to. He loved to joke around, was as honest as any player I’ve ever heard, he gave great detail with his cataloging of plays and was very articulate in every sense of the word.
There is so much ceiling here. Towns could eventually be the next Anthony Davis with his stats in every category while keeping his turnovers down and being a plus in free throw and field goal percentage. For re-draft fantasy leagues, there’s a very good chance someone is going to reach for him as high as the fourth round. However, the rookie adjustment period is real, so I probably wouldn’t pull the trigger until the sixth round or so. For Dynasty, I’m all in, though.
Zach LaVine, Wolves G – His Vegas run was cut a bit short due to a laceration on his finger while dunking the ball on Friday. He did play on Saturday, but made just 5-of-20 from the field in that one. Summer League coach Ryan Saunders said that LaVine’s finger may have been affecting his shot, so the bad Saturday game was the deciding factor to sit him.
Even with just two games, it was very clear the Wolves wanted to play LaVine at shooting guard. The vast majority of his minutes came next to Tyus Jones or Lorenzo Brown, who both were staying above the break on the offensive side. LaVine was really forcing a lot of shots from 20-plus feet out, which again was really a focus for him coming in.
While LaVine did improve, it’s still going to be tough to count on him in fantasy. The Wolves will have a healthy Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins is only going to get better, and Towns’ passing ability in the post should make him a nice option in halfcourt sets, too. There’s more downside than upside with the second-year player out of UCLA.
Adreian Payne, Wolves F – Coach Ryan Saunders said he was using Payne and Towns interchangeably at the four and the five, but Payne was usually further away from the basket as a stretch option. Payne really focused on his 3-pointers late in the event with 4.0 attempts per game in his last four. On the whole, he finished with averages of 14.2 points, 8.4 boards, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.6 blocks and 1.2 treys per game.
Coach Flip Saunders absolutely wants to get his team out of the basement for treys after they ranked dead last in makes last year. The problem is they don’t have the personnel with their two main ball-handlers, Rubio and Wiggins, both sub-par shooters.
As nice as it sounds for Payne to get minutes, the Wolves are expected to start Kevin Garnett at power forward, but it’ll be just a matter of time before he has to shut it down. The Wolves also hinted that Towns is going to play more four, so that’ll take minutes away from Payne, too. Once we see Nikola Pekovic and KG go down, we can start looking into Payne’s upside, which is solid.
Tyus Jones, Wolves G – He didn’t do anything impressive. Jones had a really rough start and it looked like it was his first game playing ball in five years. The Duke product did turn it around, eventually finishing with averages of 7.8 points, 2.0 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 treys in 24.2 minutes per game. Jones couldn’t really separate from his man and couldn’t get clean looks on his way making just 40.7 percent from the field.
Looking at his college shot location stuff, he only had 25.0 percent of his shots come at the rim and 78.7 percent of his treys were assisted. His overall averages at Duke were 11.8 points, 3.5 boards, 5.6 dimes, 1.5 steals and 1.2 treys on 41.7 percent from the field. Those are a very misleading and it’ll be quite some time before Jones is producing. Even if Rubio goes down, Jones probably won’t be putting up useful numbers.
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