2018 Summer league Thread

[Coolbreeze44]

I think I might have been on to something with Kevin Knox. Wish we would have had a chance to draft him.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Okogie's offense will be fine next year assuming he's not asked to do too much. And while he didn't shoot it that well in Summer League, I still expect him to shoot around 43-45% from the field and 35-36% from 3P. Okogie ranked in the 90th percentile on no-dribble spot-up jump shots last season. As long as he's paired with Tyus Jones and Minnesota allows him to be the facilitator he is, I expect a lot of Okogie's offense to come from spot up jumpers, cuts to the hoop, free throws, transition buckets, and energy/hustle put backs.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Summer League stats:

- Josh Okogie: 11.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.3 SPG, and 2.0 BPG.
- Keita Bates-Diop: 15.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.8 SPG and 1.3 BPG.

[Lipoli390]

Okogie's offense will be fine next year assuming he's not asked to do too much. And while he didn't shoot it that well in Summer League, I still expect him to shoot around 43-45% from the field and 35-36% from 3P. Okogie ranked in the 90th percentile on no-dribble spot-up jump shots last season. As long as he's paired with Tyus Jones and Minnesota allows him to be the facilitator he is, I expect a lot of Okogie's offense to come from spot up jumpers, cuts to the hoop, free throws, transition buckets, and energy/hustle put backs.

Cam - I'm not as confident as you in Okogie's shooting. He only shot around 42% from the field last season in college. But I think your point is that, paired with Tyus Jones as the primary ball-handler/facilitator, Okogie should end up taking far more no-dribble spot-up jumpers and that's something he excelled last season. That's a good analysis. He shot 38% from behind the college arc last season, so 35% might be a reasonable projection. Did you noticed that nearly all Okogie's 3-point misses in Summer League games hit the front of the rim? That's a good sign in my view because it shows he's accurate from NBA distance but simply needs to adjust to that greater distance.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Okogie's offense will be fine next year assuming he's not asked to do too much. And while he didn't shoot it that well in Summer League, I still expect him to shoot around 43-45% from the field and 35-36% from 3P. Okogie ranked in the 90th percentile on no-dribble spot-up jump shots last season. As long as he's paired with Tyus Jones and Minnesota allows him to be the facilitator he is, I expect a lot of Okogie's offense to come from spot up jumpers, cuts to the hoop, free throws, transition buckets, and energy/hustle put backs.

Cam - I'm not as confident as you in Okogie's shooting. He only shot around 42% from the field last season in college. But I think your point is that, paired with Tyus Jones as the primary ball-handler/facilitator, Okogie should end up taking far more no-dribble spot-up jumpers and that's something he excelled last season. That's a good analysis. He shot 38% from behind the college arc last season, so 35% might be a reasonable projection. Did you noticed that nearly all Okogie's 3-point misses in Summer League games hit the front of the rim? That's a good sign in my view because it shows he's accurate from NBA distance but simply needs to adjust to that greater distance.

Precisely right, Lip. As mentioned in my pre-draft analysis and ever since, Josh Okogie is a good perimeter shooter when he's set. Almost every metric you'll find will support that. His shooting off the dribble is what needs some real work. And as you correctly alluded to, I believe Tyus Jones -- and even Jeff Teague here and there -- primarily handling the ball and allowing Okogie to play off of him will reduce the number of jumpers he's taking off the bounce, which should in all likelihood help his efficiency.

Additionally, I did notice that a lot of his misses during Summer League were either hitting front rim or clanking off the back of the rim. That is far easier to correct than if his shot was pulling left or being pushed right -- in which his mechanics/shot release would likely be the problem. I believe he'll adjust to the NBA distance with time and it'll eventually be a non-issue.

[Monster]

I think I might have been on to something with Kevin Knox. Wish we would have had a chance to draft him.

Yeah cool I was always pretty intrigued with the theory of Knox if he put it together. I saw him early in the season last year and he wasn't in shape and he still had a nice skillset. I don't know if he will put it together but where teams were at that did or cold have picked him I thought it was a good spot to be.

[Monster]

Okogie's offense will be fine next year assuming he's not asked to do too much. And while he didn't shoot it that well in Summer League, I still expect him to shoot around 43-45% from the field and 35-36% from 3P. Okogie ranked in the 90th percentile on no-dribble spot-up jump shots last season. As long as he's paired with Tyus Jones and Minnesota allows him to be the facilitator he is, I expect a lot of Okogie's offense to come from spot up jumpers, cuts to the hoop, free throws, transition buckets, and energy/hustle put backs.

Cam - I'm not as confident as you in Okogie's shooting. He only shot around 42% from the field last season in college. But I think your point is that, paired with Tyus Jones as the primary ball-handler/facilitator, Okogie should end up taking far more no-dribble spot-up jumpers and that's something he excelled last season. That's a good analysis. He shot 38% from behind the college arc last season, so 35% might be a reasonable projection. Did you noticed that nearly all Okogie's 3-point misses in Summer League games hit the front of the rim? That's a good sign in my view because it shows he's accurate from NBA distance but simply needs to adjust to that greater distance.

Precisely right, Lip. As mentioned in my pre-draft analysis and ever since, Josh Okogie is a good perimeter shooter when he's set. Almost every metric you'll find will support that. His shooting off the dribble is what needs some real work. And as you correctly alluded to, I believe Tyus Jones -- and even Jeff Teague here and there -- primarily handling the ball and allowing Okogie to play off of him will reduce the number of jumpers he's taking off the bounce, which should in all likelihood help his efficiency.

Additionally, I did notice that a lot of his misses during Summer League were either hitting front rim or clanking off the back of the rim. That is far easier to correct than if his shot was pulling left or being pushed right -- in which his mechanics/shot release would likely be the problem. I believe he'll adjust to the NBA distance with time and it'll eventually be a non-issue.

I'll add that I agree with What Thibs said that both KBD and Okogie look comfortable shooting from that distance. I don't watch Okogie shoot that shot and think "I think he is trying to take that shot." It looks fine. Could some things be smoothed out? sure but I think there is reason to be optimistic about him as a spot up shooter.

[Monster]

I watched the last game. and here are a couple quick thoughts:

Andrew White finally had a few minutes he didn't suck. YAY! He wasn't good overall pretty dissapointing.

Barford had some moments, but there were some moments that made be get why he might not have gotten playing time. Additionally I thought he didn't look like a very smooth athlete. COmpare him to Terrell or even Cousins and he looked kinda clunky.

Cooke makes me hold my breath when he has to dribble. Ok he isn't that bad but he isn't very good either.

I don't want to go all crazy about KBD but he looks good. I think he can play some 3 but he looks like a guy with talent to play as a complimentary starting PF. I'm not saying he WILL BE that good but its not that hard to imagine it happening. He had some closeouts (also fouled a jumpshooter) where guys blew past him but he did keep them from getting up a 3 so at least he accomplished that. I think there is enough there to have real optimism about having selected a real NBA player in the 2nd round. That's somewhat foreign to us around here.

Gray and Cousins do some nice things scoring the ball. They will be guys that put up nice numbers in a league like the G-league. Stark will probably do fine at that level also.

Amile got his tooth knocked out and Jon Lucas (that coaches for Houston) went out and found the tooth on the floor. Amile wanted to go right back in but they held him out for a while bu he returned and played well. He really knows how to play he sets screens and also knows team defense quite well. His mobility helps alot.

Terrell is a mixed bag. He competes on both ends. I think he looks to be aggressive but I don't think he is selfish. Everything I have read about him raves about him as a team guy and someone that helped that program take a step forward. He has some nice skills and his athleticism is plenty welcome. If he has some room to get going he can finish at the rim in transition. Its worth noting that the best talent isn't always who sings the 2-way deals. Some guys may hope for a better deal either from an NBA team or overseas. I think players are probably a bit more willing to sign this year than last but I still thinks some guys will try and bet on themselves. OKC signed Deonte Burton to a 2-way deal and based on his stats in SL there isn't anything that special. He was one of the top scorers in the Korean league though so...

The Wolves got through the summer league with their draft picks showing some good things especially with some splash defensive numbers. They also got through it with no significant injuries which is a win. Also the guys out there played hard.

[Lipoli390]

The main purposes of Summer League are to get a further sense of the potential of your draft picks and identify other young players to add to your organization as a regular roster player or a two-way G-League player. Now that Summer League has ended for the Wolves, here are my thoughts on those two objections as they relate to the Wolves for this upcoming season.

DRAFT PICKS:

The overall performance of our two draft picks has confirmed for me that both are definitely NBA material. I see both ultimately becoming rotation players in the NBA. I also think both have the ability to eventually be solid starters while Okogie has the potential in my view to be an allstar. The three questions for both are (1) how soon they'll reach their floor as rotation players; (2) whether they'll ever reach their respective ceilings; and (3) how long it will take to reach their ceilings if they every get there.

How about this season? I think both might eventually be able to help the Wolves this season, but I think it's more likely KBD will be able to help this season. It would be a huge lift for the Wolves if at least one of these two can become positive contributors as part of the rotation at least by mid-season this year.

Regarding Okogie, I love his high-reving motor, his toughness and his tenacious defense. He displayed a shot-blocking ability I haven't seen from a SG since Dwayne Wade in his prime. At a minimum, Okogie should and likely will become a highly disruptive defender, harassing opposing ballhandlers, jumping passing lanes, blocking shots and forcing turnovers. If he is used properly, as Cam explained, he can also give us some much-needed perimeter shooting as a spot-up shooter. If he eventually tightens his handle and develops at least a little shake in his dribble-drive game, then we're talking about an elite player.

Regarding KBD, I like his basketball IQ and his expansive 7'3 wingspan. We already knew he had great length for a SF or even a PF, but now we know that he plays long. What I really liked about his play in Summer League was how he defended and I particularly liked how he resisted falling for pump fakes. Watching him guard Anunoby effectively was the clincher for me in concluding that KBD is ready to defend at the NBA level. He also showed a nice long-range shooting touch and seemed comfortable from NBA 3-point range. Finally, he has very good rebounding instincts. He doesn't have an NBA-caliber handle for a SF yet, but he should be able to improve that part of his game to some extent. In the meantime, he has the length and rebounding ability to be an effective stretch 4.

OTHER YOUNG PROSPECTS

The only other member of our G-League squad I'd consider adding to the Wolves roster would be Amile Jefferson. It's frustrating to watch his lack of explosiveness and difficulty finishing at the rim. And he clearly lacks any shooting range beyond the paint. But I absolutely loved his hustle, his high basketball IQ and his nose for the ball. And while he's not particularly long or strong, he has a real knack for rebounding. He also seems like such as solid guy, which has been his reputation throughout his college career. I'm thinking the Wolves ought to give the 15th roster spots to Amile. Otherwise, I'd definitely give him the other 2-way contract assuming League rules allow us to do that two seasons in a row.

I was down on Terrell initially, but the more I saw of him the more I could see why Thibodeau gave him one of our 2-way contracts. He has an NBA body to go with a nice NBA-caliber handle and a decent shot. I don't think we've seen the best of him yet. He looks like a player and it will be interesting to see how he performs and develops in the G-League.

Other than Jefferson and Terrell, I didn't see any other NBA-caliber players on our Summer League squad. I like Starks defense. He has very quick hands, is very quick laterally and gets in the ballhandler's space consistently the way I wish current Wolves guards would. He has a decent floater and not a bad looking shot. So he could perhaps become an NBA bench player some day. Gray and Cousins weren't bad and should preform well in the G-League. But I don't see either one playing in the NBA yet and I don't think the Wolves should use a two-way on either one.

I'm really disappointed that Igor didn't get more of a run. I think the organization make a serious mistake by not giving him substantial playing time. He was a bona fide 3-point marksman in college and he actually looked decent in his limited Summer League minutes. I would have also liked to see more minutes from Barford. I know Monster thought he looked a bit clunky, but he just didn't get enough playing time to get a rhythm. Cousins, Gray and Terrell looked clunky the first game that I saw live in Vegas. They got better game to game. Barford's college stats tell he deserved more of a shot and I think the Wolves organization short-changed itself by not failing to do so.

There you have it. Nothing to get overly excited about, but I though there were some good things for the Wolves coming out of Summer League. The real key for the Wolves is whether Thibodeau/Layden spotted any hidden gems on other Summer League squads.

[Monster]

Egor just didn't play enough to get a feel for him either. If we are going off college stats etc most of the guys that got minutes were 3 point shooters. Maybe he and Barford didn't do something in practice that the staff wanted. Maybe they had some minor ankle tweak or got sick something we don know about. Andrew White seemed primed to take a step forward but he sucked...really bad. Almost shockingly bad not that he should be so good or anything but yeah. Meanwhile Josh Gray put up nearly 20ppg and shot over 40% from 3 in the g-league last year. It should not be shocking he got minutes on this team. Cousins shot 40% on 3's in the g-league also. Just sayin.

Last year it feels like the Wolves did pretty well with this level of their roster. Last year's Sumer league was pretty well stocked. 5 players from that team signed 2-way deals last year with NBA teams. Amile ended up as one of the best bigs in the entire G-league in his first year. The Wolves kinda started from scratch with their G-league team. One of their first moves was dealing their 1st overall pick in the G-league draft and some other guy to get Michael Bryson and Millsap. I looked back and the players the Suns got in that deal basically didn't do anything. Bryson was a nice complimentary player with some sweet highlight dunks and Millsap was (although iso heavy at times) a pretty good player when healthy. It seems like last year the guys in the g-league draft didn't do a whole lot. They signed Anthony Brown to a 2-way deal and he did what he has done for a few years at that level play fairly well. Some people wondered about signing Marcus Paige to a 2-way deal. They ended up with Melo Trimble who did cool off and Paige came on strong but one guy was just on the g-league roster and the othe rtook up a 2-way deal. Being able to sign Amile later was much preferred to having Paige.

I don't want to get carried away here but there are some signs of an organization that might actually have some clue about identifying and MAYBE even developing this level of talent. Maybe it doesn't seem like a big deal but teams like the Spurs have supplemented their roster for years this way and with the G-League and 2-way players there is even more of a Path to finding these guys. If your franchise is above average at identifying that level of talent it's quite possible you will actually hit on some decent players that can actually help. Like a lot of things time will tell but to me there are some signs with being encouraged about. It won't hurt if they get a guy like Amile to actually become a rotation player and the Wolves can be like "See look at Amile we can develop you too" it's a different time but I remember hearing on a podcast a few months ago someone that worked for the Heat said they used to get some of the undrafted guys to come to the heat sometimes for less money because they would tell them something about look at Haslem we signed that guy and...

A G-league team like this was a bigtime thing for me for years because I think it's a real chance at developing guys. Sorry about getting a bit geeked up about it.