Offseason Beat: Summer League: Pacific

The Pacific isn’t quite as stacked as it used to be. Obviously the Warriors are the class of the NBA and the Clippers loaded up in the offseason, but the other teams are down.

Warriors (Impact rating: 3)

They’re very good. As much as teams like the Spurs, Clippers and Cavs added some depth, the Warriors are still the best team in the NBA. That means their Vegas team won’t get much burn.

Roadblocks aside, McAdoo looked like a player in Vegas, averaging 16.4 points, 6.0 boards, 1.8 assists and 0.8 blocks. McAdoo also attempted three shots from deep, so the Warriors are trying ton expand his range. He didn’t settle for jumpers much and was elevating over his opponents throughout the event.

If McAdoo does get minutes due to a couple of those aforementioned bigs missing time, he’ll be worth watching. In his one game with more than 24 minutes last season, JMM scored 16 points with five boards, one steal and one block. He also might have some DFS value late in the year if the Dubs rest guys.

Kevon Looney, Warriors F – He wasn’t quite as good as McAdoo, but Looney was impressive. Like JMM, he was expanding his range in halfcourt sets and sat on the 3-point line at times. Looney said he’s working on that and he’s focusing on taking what the defense gives him.

In his 19.7 minutes per game in Vegas, Looney averaged 9.3 points, 7.2 boards, 1.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.5 treys. Looney is behind McAdoo for minutes right now and he does have a bigger injury risk. His upside is high for stat production, but the Warriors are too deep.

Aaron Craft, Warriors G – He led Vegas in gritty plays, but that was about it. In his six games, he averaged 4.8 points, 3.2 boards, 4.5 assists and 1.5 treys. Craft made just 27.8 percent of his two-pointers. That’s no bueno.

Matt Stainbrook, Warriors C – I was disappointed to find out Uber isn’t in Las Vegas anymore. Stainbrook was an Uber driver at Xavier and he said it’s fine to give cash tips to Uber drivers. Besides that, there’s not much here on his chances for minutes.

Clippers (Impact rating: 2)

Branden Dawson, Clippers F – He was one of the best players in Orlando Summer League. Dawson averaged 12.8 points, 10.3 boards, 1.0 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks and 2.8 turnovers in his four Summer League games. He was second in Orlando for rebounds per game and was very active on both ends.

The Clippers stole the Michigan State product with the 56th pick in the draft after purchasing the selection from the Pelicans. He’s a little undersized at 6’6” as a power forward, but the team still likely wants to play him there in their rotation. Dawson isn’t a strong 3-point shooter and actually didn’t make a single one in his four years at MSU — that’s probably why he fell in the draft.

In you haven’t heard, the Clippers rotation is nutso. Coach Doc Rivers usually goes nine deep, so Dawson is stuck and would need some help to get playing time. Plus, even if he does get in there, his fantasy ceiling isn’t high being an undersized forward without 3-point range.

Suns (Impact rating: 7)

The Suns are a strange team. They have a lot of very good players and some solid depth, but they lack having a star. Plus, coach Jeff Hornacek likes to run up and down, so there is potential for players to break out. Hornacek also is not afraid to use unconventional lineups, which makes it easier for up-and-coming players to find a way to get minutes.

T.J. Warren, Suns F – For the second summer in a row, Warren was one of my favorite players. Last summer, he played more in the open court and on the wings as an off-ball guy who would get the ball and score on one or less dribbles. This year, he really blossomed as an scorer. He killed his guys with a crossover and had space on his shots for days. Warren also was the ball handler in pick-and-roll much more than usual and his on-ball stuff was almost a new frontier for him.

If you haven’t watched Warren in the NBA, you are missing out. The guy is a coach’s dream for off-ball movement and setting up great shots. He was just a rookie last season, but he was already in the upper echelon for cutting to the basket and getting shots at the rim. His teammates all love him for it and the sense around the team at Summer League is that he has more minutes coming his way. The Suns felt comfortable letting go of Marcus Morris and Gerald Green, so there will be more minutes to go to Warren. Although, Warren benefitted down the stretch last year because Brandon Knight was out with an ankle injury.

As much as I love Warren, he’s still not worth drafting in 14-team standard leagues. He doesn’t hit treys and he’s not really a guy who fills it up with defensive stats. He could be a DFS guy with just one key backcourt guy missing time, though.

Devin Booker, Suns G – He can shoot it. Booker couldn’t get it going early on and missed his first eight shots from beyond the arc, but then he hit 12-of-21 to finish the event. He put up a 31-point game on July 19 and finished with averages of 15.3 points, 4.9 boards, 1.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.7 treys in 30.4 minutes.

He was a little like Kyle Korver at times and really just played off the ball. While that sounds like it’s not that impressive, Booker is just 18 and he seemed like he’s aware of defensive spacing and moving along the 3-point line with the dribble penetration.

The problem for Booker is playing time. Even with the Suns parting ways with Gerald Green and Marcus Morris, Booker is still unlikely to be in the rotation. If he does ever get minutes, he should have some solid fantasy value. Maybe next year, and I also like his Dynasty value a lot.

Alex Len, Suns C – The main thing to take away here is Len is taking 3-pointers. The Suns were even drawing up plays for Len to get 3-pointers, so he didn’t luck into his lone attempt. This development just started for Len, so it might become a bigger thing around training camp.

As for the rest of his Summer League, it was pretty solid. He crushed the glass in his 24.4 minutes per game, averaging 9.8 boards, 10.8 points, 2.2 blocks and 2.2 turnovers in five games. Those are pretty solid numbers and the Suns gave him a little more freedom in offensive halfcourt sets. Plus, his offensive rebounding was a big story, too.

Even with the promising changes, the presence of Tyson Chandler overshadows everything. Chandler is going to get big minutes at center as the backbone of the defense. Even if the Suns play Len at power forward, there still isn’t much of a chance for him to get 27 minutes or so. Still, Len is going to be worth owning with just 22-24 minutes per game or so because of blocks and solid percentages. Don’t sweat the backup role and look to grab Len in the later rounds of standard drafts. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

Archie Goodwin, Suns G – He actually had his third summer league with the Suns. Goodwin was very impressive in his first Vegas trip as a rookie, but he didn’t really take a step forward in the last two seasons based on that hot start. To be clear, he wasn’t a letdown or anything, he just has a somewhat linear line of improvement. He’s more of a y=mx + b where guys like Rudy Gobert were y=x^2. OK, last algebra ref for the rest of the summer decade.

For two season finales in a row, Goodwin left us with a reminder of what he can do. He dropped 29 points in 2014 and 18 in 2015. However, his career numbers are not good, making just 42.1 percent from the field. Goodwin will need a jumper before he’s a fantasy factor in most leagues.

Mike James, FA G – He had a 32-point game in the final and some team will give him a look. He would likely just be a camp body unless he goes bonkers.

Kings (Impact rating: 5)

Kangz.

Willie Cauley-Stein, Kings C – The Kings didn’t draft him for offense, but he didn’t have much trouble getting easy looks at Summer League. In his five games, Cauley-Stein averaged 11.4 points, 5.4 boards, 0.4 steals and 2.8 blocks in just 22.4 minutes. Those are obviously fantastic per-36 averages and the Kings really leaned on him on offense. In fact, he had 10.6 shots per game in the first three outings and he even had 10 attempts from the line in his final game.

He did most of his damage in the open floor, which will really help him at the next level. The problem is that the open dunks won’t come as easily in the NBA and at that kind of magnitude. Cauley-Stein had 60.6 percent of his shots come from at the rim at college, which includes 20.3 percent of his shots coming on putbacks. Those are tough to put up in the NBA.

The other obvious problem is his playing time. DeMarcus Cousins is going to get huge minutes while Kosta Koufos will be higher on the depth chart. Thrill also made just 61.7 percent at the line at Kentucky and 65.0 percent at Vegas. His ceiling isn’t too high to begin with.

James Anderson, Kings G/F – He is probably the only other King who may get minutes. Anderson was really good at Summer League, averaging 12.3 points, 2.7 boards, 2.0 assists and 4.7 turnovers on 63.6 percent from the field. He was with the 76ers back in the 2013-14 season and played 28.9 minutes per game in 80 outings.

Anderson’s Summer League was cut short due to a minor injury, but it won’t affect him at camp. He still might not make the team and fantasy owners can ignore him for now.

Sim Bhullar, Kings C – He played 21 minutes in one game and had a solid night on the glass. Bhullar scored four points with 10 rebounds and one block. He’s a giant at 7’5” and 360 pounds, but he’s really just a big body and doesn’t have the skills to go with it yet. It would be great to see him succeed in the NBA, but he’s not there right now.

Lakers (Impact rating: 8)

The Lakers lucked out in the draft to take the second pick away from the Knicks. They also could have lost their pick to Philly had they fell to sixth because it was only top-five protected. As for the upcoming year, it’s still Kobe Bryant’s tea, but they had some key players get run in Vegas.

D’Angelo Russell, Lakers G – If you look at the stats alone, you would think Russell is the worst No. 2 pick since Hasheem Thabeet in 2009. OK, maybe not that bad, but still pretty bad. Russell averaged 11.8 points, 5.2 boards, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.2 blocks, 0.4 treys and 5.2 turnovers. He had a two-game span with just four combined assists and a ridiculous 15 turnovers. For what it’s worth, no player in the NBA has had a two-game stretch with more than seven turnovers in each while failing to hand out at least three dimes in either outing. It was bad and it was showing in his demeanor.

Russell was getting very frustrated and it snowballed on him. The Ohio State product also seemed to be making it a point to show he can play in a halfcourt set. He did allow the doubles teams to force him into bad stuff and he was just trying too hard to make a play rather than taking what was there. He said he wore No. 0 in Ohio State because that’s how many people can guard him in college, but he found out his jersey number would probably be triple-digits in the NBA right now. To round out the bad news, Russell wasn’t very efficient with a field goal percentage of 37.7, a 3-point percentage of 11.8 percent and only 68.8 percent from the line. His shot selection actually wasn’t too bad except in that aforementioned two-game nightmare.

His most impressive part of Summer League had to be his first step. My eye-opener moment was when he needed just one dribble out of the triple-threat position to get around Jahlil Okafor. Russell has a lot of explosiveness in his legs and he’s really going to perform when he can cut down on mistakes. He did make 62.2 percent at the rim as a freshman, so he has a great chance to buoy his shooting numbers from close range. After all, he is a legit 6’5. He should also be a 2.0 trey per game guy next season — maybe this year, too.

Russell has some very quick feet and it really helped him on the defensive end. Coach Mark Madsen said that Russell will be playing some three, which indicates how much we’re going to see a Russell-Kobe-Clarkson 1-3 lineup this season. Russell was actually very active off the ball when Jordan Clarkson was on the ball, so that’ll really help him get 3-pointers. He was not a catch-and-shoot guy much at Columbus, but the potential is definitely there.

The bottom line here is Russell is a little more raw than I thought. Still, his ceiling is crazy and he could be a Harden/Curry kind of guy in a few seasons. For re-draft, I probably wouldn’t consider him as a top-three rookie pick due to inefficiency concerns and Kobe Bryant being around. In Dynasty, he is a top-two guy. He could be a superstar.

Jordan Clarkson, Lakers G – The Lakers had a plan to play Clarkson and Russell at both guard spots while next to each other. Interestingly, both players ran a different style at the point. Clarkson was playing at arguably the fastest tempo at Summer League as the point guard while Russell played more of a halfcourt style. Clarkson was almost unstoppable in transition and for the first two games he got to the rim whenever he wanted to. This was the second Summer League in a row in which Clarkson killed guys off the dribble and last summer was foreshadowing to that skill showing up in the regular season. Obviously, the numerous injuries on the Lakers last season certainly helped Clarkson to even get in the rotation, but he’s shown enough to get minutes and probably even start.

As great as he was in the open floor and getting to the rim, the main concern still remains: Clarkson needs a jumper. He is not going to have the ball in his hands nearly as much and playing off the ball is not his forte, so it’s unfair to expect him to match his post-break numbers from last season. In that span, he averaged 16.7 points, 4.6 boards, 5.4 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 treys on 47.9 percent from the field and 84.3 percent from the line. Those numbers gave him third-round value.

The changing role and the reloaded roster hurts Clarkson a lot. A lot of his value comes from the dimes, steals and even the boards. On the other hand, those are very efficient percentages, so he’s worth drafting in fantasy leagues. He’s someone to look at around the 80-100 range for standard leagues. He’ll need Kobe Bryant to miss time to really blossom.

Julius Randle, Lakers F – He really started to look like a player down the stretch at Summer League. In his four Vegas games, Randle averaged 11.5 points, 4.0 boards, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game. Not bad, but he made just 39.5 percent from the field.

While the stats are not great, there was a lot to like in his game. He showed a lot of effort and was looking to get points on fast break. Randle also wasn’t settling for jumpers whatsoever and really liked to attack the basket. He did the same thing last summer and did a lot of it in the preseason, too. Randle loves to take on contact around the basket, which is usually good. However, he is going to have to avoid that in the early going to add some durability to his career. He also didn’t really attack the offensive glass much, but that was probably by design.

As for the defensive side, he didn’t really separate from his man. That explains the low block totals and he also only had 0.8 per game at Kentucky, too. He was a much better rebounder at Kentucky as well, so that part of the defensive stats should come. As for the blocks, there won’t be much there. Those tendencies are actually a very nice fit next to Roy Hibbert, too.

Randle wasn’t shy about not liking his minutes being kept down either. The Lakers wanted to keep him at around 20 and he mentioned keeping everything in “perspective” and focusing on the long term. Randle mentioned he didn’t like having to come out just when he was getting into a groove. Of course, he did understand that he just broke his leg last season and the Lakers are clearly aware of that. The main point is he looked healthy and didn’t lose a step.

Randle is going to have his minutes limit lifted eventually and there are not many guys out there standing in his way for minutes. On the other hand, he’s likely going to be a sub-par big for percentages, won’t block many shots and his rebounding numbers shouldn’t be great. He’s not someone worth targeting in standard leagues.

Tarik Black, Lakers C – He had more to do with fouls than a chicken farm. No good? Anyway, Black had 9.0 fouls per game in his first two games in Vegas. Nine! Black eventually lowered his fouls per game to 6.0 in the five games, so at least there was an improvement! Besides that, he had a solid run with averages of 9.2 points, 7.6 boards, 0.8 blocks and 1.6 turnovers in 23.2 minutes per game.

Black is set up for minutes this year, but it might not even matter. Due to his sub-par output last year and a low ceiling for fantasy, there’s really no need to be too aggressive in drafting him in any league. Black picked up 20.9 minutes per game after the break last season, averaging just 6.6 points, 6.1 boards and 0.4 blocks. Those numbers put him outside of the top 200 for per-36 value.

Jabari Brown, Lakers G – He was actually a stud as a starter. In five starts last season, Brown averaged 19.8 points, 2.8 boards, 3.6 assists, 0.4 steals and 1.6 treys in 41.6 minutes per game. Obviously he’s not getting 41.6 minutes per game this upcoming season.

In Summer League, Brown was productive with 17.7 points, 3.3 boards, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.3 treys. He played at both wing spots and didn’t have any trouble getting by guys on offense. He, like Clarkson, was great in transition.

Even with the production in starts last year and looking good in Vegas, the Lakers still may not keep Brown. They have more pressing issues at the point and at center, so that hurts Brown’s chances.

Larry Nance Jr., Lakers F – The crowd at Thomas and Mack Center was chanting “Larry! Larry! Larry!” on July 11 when he scored eight points. Nance didn’t really showcase much outside of his athletic ability. We won’t see him in the rotation unless there are a ton of injuries.

Robert Upshaw, Lakers C – There are just too many off-the-court issues for him to make the team.

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