Minnesota Sports Forum

Not much to put here right now but I'm excited to see Dunn and Tyus play. I wonder if Payne will also be on the team. Maybe Dunn and Tyis can make him look good. Lol

They play their first game against Denver July 8 so maybe we will see Murray and Dunn match up which would be fun.

I had a terrific time last year in Las Vegas, but I was excited to see KAT, Zach, Payne and Tyus play. It's fun to see so many top rookies up close. I don't know that Dunn and Jones is enough draw for me to go out there again this year, but I'm thinking about it. It's a fun week for true NBA fans, although the basketball can be quite sloppy. New coaches sometimes coach their summer league teams, so I wonder if Thibs will coach. Or will he be tied up with his Olympic team duties?

Yeah, with summer league being dominated by guards, we ought to get a great look at Dunn!

longstrangetrip wrote:I had a terrific time last year in Las Vegas, but I was excited to see KAT, Zach, Payne and Tyus play. It's fun to see so many top rookies up close. I don't know that Dunn and Jones is enough draw for me to go out there again this year, but I'm thinking about it. It's a fun week for true NBA fans, although the basketball can be quite sloppy. New coaches sometimes coach their summer league teams, so I wonder if Thibs will coach. Or will he be tied up with his Olympic team duties?

I wouldn't be shocked if Ryan Saunders ended up coaching especially since Lip mentioned he was in on the draft prep. He has a rep of working with Guards and Dunn and Tyus would be the guys of most interest to develop. Doesn't really matter all that much to me that's just what popped into my head reading your post. Take if for what you want it was your inspiration. lol

Also I gotta go out there one of these years. This year won't be it but someday. I'm becoming more of a basketball junky all the time.

Wolfson rewteeted someone tweeting Coty Clarke is in for the Wolves Summer league

https://twitter.com/nikilupo25/status/746420409684262912

Below is his draft express profile. They say in their he is sort of a Draymond Green type in their d-league minicamp round up. He is undersized but his a career 40%+ 3 point shooter both in college and in the d-league while rebounding the ball at a healthy rate. He put up some interesting stats in the d-league and got called up for a couple games with the Celtics. He turns 24 on the 4th. I'm not expecting anything out of him but he is interesting especially for SL.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Coty-Clarke-65470/

Edit:

The more I read and watch clips of this guy the more I think he has a real opportunity to make a roster. The comparisons to Draymond Green keeps seeming more spot on than ridiculous except you obviously can't expect him to become that good but that's the type of guy he is on and off the court (the good stuff). His story is pretty amazing he has had to work hard for everything to just get a look in a training camp and last year Boston signed him to a couple 10 day contracts.

Tyus and Dunn could easily see plenty of time at the 1 and 2 at the same time. They should actually complement each other really well.

Payne would be a great summer league player. He's been a great D league player, actually. I don't mind him nearly as much as the consensus on this board. He's a boneheaded guy and tries to do too much sometimes, but I like his length and athleticism as an option off the bench. One of the last options off the bench, mind you, but still an option! :) I'd happily send him to the D league and tell him to concentrate on playing smart, solid defense, running the floor, and cutting down on turnovers and bad shots.

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Tyus and Dunn could easily see plenty of time at the 1 and 2 at the same time. They should actually complement each other really well.

Payne would be a great summer league player. He's been a great D league player, actually. I don't mind him nearly as much as the consensus on this board. He's a boneheaded guy and tries to do too much sometimes, but I like his length and athleticism as an option off the bench. One of the last options off the bench, mind you, but still an option! :) I'd happily send him to the D league and tell him to concentrate on playing smart, solid defense, running the floor, and cutting down on turnovers and bad shots.

Yeah, it will be fun to compare Tyus and Kris in Vegas...2 completely different styles.
Payne was our best player last year in Vegas, and left me really hopeful for his second year...but it didn't translate to the regular season. Let's see if Thibs can harness that energy better than Flip and Sam did.

Something called Jarrid Famous committed to be on our Vegas roster...it's coming together!

Man I don't even know why we continue to field a summer league team. We always fill them with players that we'll never hear from again and players that never have a chance to make it. When's the last time an undrafted free agent made our roster from summer league?

WildWolf2813 wrote:Man I don't even know why we continue to field a summer league team. We always fill them with players that we'll never hear from again and players that never have a chance to make it. When's the last time an undrafted free agent made our roster from summer league?

Coty Clarke I think has a legit chance to make the roster. Boston really liked him but with all their draft picks some with similar skill sets he will be looking for another spot to land. I'm very intrigued by him.

I do think in the past the Wolves have sort of mailed it in at times getting talent on SL teams. So far we have a couple guys in Clarke and Famous who are at the very least very legit D-league guys. Jarrid Famous one year was putting up like 13 points and 15 rebounds in the d-league. He isn't wildly physically gifted but he is way better than the lumbering guys or undersized Josh Morgan types we have seen here. He is more of a run the floor get rebounds do dirty work from what I can gather from watching some highlights which sounds great with guys like Tyus and Dunn handling the ball.

I do think SL has its place for a number of reasons. It gives the rookies a chance to get a taste of what it's gonna be like playing in the league. PGs find out quickly it's not going to be easy as a number of hungry and somewhat talented guys at that position play their ass off thrying to make an impression. 2nd year or other young guys get to try out some stuff they have been working on and hope to make some progress or build some confidence. Tyus could benefit from a nice showing. It's also a chance for some other guys to show something and get a contract from an NBA team of some sort. Probably the biggest reason for the SL though is for the other guys that don't make a roster to get seen by various other leagues. The Wolves have tried to do right by those guys giving them a shot to be seen.

Any updates on the roster? I saw that the Suns named their roster http://arizonasports.com/story/720540/phoenix-suns-announce-2016-summer-league-roster/yesterday. Games start on the 8th. I've got some time off coming so I'm thinking of
making the trip this year.

FYI, the Orlando Summer League kicked off today. Henry Ellenson is playing now on NBA TV.