re: Summer League Game Thread vs Minnesota Wolves 3:30pm CT

All of this.

Since SL is about developing and assessing players for the regular season, Im just looking at guys’ play compared to roles that we expect them to play for us in November.

Dyson played off ball a lot, which means we don’t view him as being a backup primary ball handler this year; Hawkins clearly had the green light to take any 3 and did so both off screens and off the dribble; Liddell really looked to facilitate and move the ball rather than score; and we switched a lot on defense similar to how we play with Nance on the floor.

Obviously I was hoping that someone would absolutely shine in game one, but I’d say that for what we are going to ask of those three players, all three did fine.

As for the others, I think they were really hoping seabron could give us another option if Jose goes down again other than Kira. It seems pretty clear that’s not going to happen. Nolley on the other hand looked very solid. It’s hard to pop in these streetball games but showed pretty much everything you’d want to see from a guy like him: hit his 3s, made good IQ plays on both ends, and has decent size. He seems like a guy whose game will translate better at the professional level as a role player than college. In a perfect world, he turns into your Naji replacement next year

Highlights from the game.

Dyson

Hawkins

This all sounds like a pretty solid review. Also sounds like Nolley turned some heads. Will start paying attention to him.

Was Liddell making the correct switches? Would be huge if he can give us minutes. We are pretty desperate up front.

I can’t believe I even have to ask this question, but is there any reason not to think that as of now Zion is healthy and would be at 100% on opening day? No known “setbacks” or anything, correct?

Almost every problem we have goes away if he’s healthy.

Question for the people concerned about Hawkins defense. Are you saying that because he looks too skinny to you, or did you see actual instances of getting abused? I feel like I know what that should look like after all of the time I’ve spent over the years watching Brian Roberts, Jordan Crawford, and Frank Jackson get abused for being too small. You can probably throw a young Austin Rivers in that mix too. They basically escort guys to the basket and provide no resistance at the point of attack.

I didn’t see any plays like that yesterday but I was focused on Dyson and the Bigs a lot on defense. The only play i remember defensively from Hawkins was when he was switched onto a big and got a foul called on him for fighting too hard to dig him out of the post. He got the foul, but he also seemed to be keeping the big in check which I found a little surprising.

How often was he beaten on defense because he wasn’t strong enough to resist?

His size worries me. That’s my only legit concern with him. The effort is there tho


Also watching the thunder rn. These guys just don’t miss with their draft picks. Every guy is an nba level talent. Holmgren, Dieng, Jalen Williams, Jaylen Williams, Josh Giddey, tre Mann. Cason Wallace looks great rn. Absolutely insane draft haul these last 3 years. Even Poku is a nice upside pick

Gotta remember most rookies who are not known for their defense that come into the league do not defend well right off the bat. What you needed to see from Hawkins was 3 things. Effort, good reads, and flashes.

I thought we saw that yesterday. He showed quick feet and stayed in front of his man the majority of the time. And when he got beat off the dribble, I saw some recovery to give me hope. He also got back on defense in transition and had the IQ to release his man and covered the paint. Obviously he's too small to affect the play once he's caught under the basket with a bigger player.

We saw some breakdowns as well. Sagging off too much and was late to recover to his man in the corner resulting in an easy corner three and when he gets back on transition on one play where he was in position to make a play or prevent the basket, he jumped straight up into the air too early and got eurostepped when he should have predicted the path and taken the charge.

It's no secret he needs to get stronger and get a little more physical at the point of contact. His tools and IQ are there. Just needs to get stronger.

I'm not that worried about him being hunted. I think we have strong enough perimeter defenders to hide him a little bit. I think he'll give the bench an offensive engine to work around. But I think his best usage is in short bursts while giving him the green light to be an instant offensive weapon off the bench.

Keyonte George might be good

Man idk which pic you saw. But Luka looked damn skinny in most of the ones I’ve seen from the Quai event. It’s pretty obvious that Zion is at least 25 pounds heavier than Luka imo.

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His size worries me. That’s my only legit concern with him. The effort is there tho


Also watching the thunder rn. These guys just don’t miss with their draft picks. Every guy is an nba level talent. Holmgren, Dieng, Jalen Williams, Jaylen Williams, Josh Giddey, tre Mann. Cason Wallace looks great rn. Absolutely insane draft haul these last 3 years. Even Poku is a nice upside pick

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And they have 35 picks (15 1sts) over the next 7 years. Amazing!