Wolves Summer League Player Expectations

[Q-is-here]

I actually think this Summer League is a pretty damn intriguing one because a couple of these guys have a legit shot to be in the regular season rotation and potentially even contribute in the playoffs. Not to mention the importance of guys on rookie deals in 2025-26 and beyond.

Here is what I will be looking for with each of the signed players on the roster:

Daishen Nix - He is the most senior in terms of NBA experience. I was actually kind of surprised he was brought back. So far his 1,225 NBA minutes across three seasons have been marked by profound inefficiency, with a career TS% of 46% and an assist to turnover ratio of 1.5. Those are AWFUL!!! He's going to have to look extremely poised and efficient for me to pay much attention to him. I don't think he's a serious NBA player at the moment.

Josh Minott - This is likely the beginning of the end for Josh. Yes, he's still young, but this will be his third summer league and obviously he hasn't done anything to crack the rotation in his first two seasons. That being said, he still has a tantalizing athletic profile and plays with a ton of energy. May be, just may be there is something to salvage here. Two big things I'll be looking for on him: 1) Can he stay in front of wings off the dribble when guarding one-on-one?; 2) Can he make the wide open 3? I already know he's a decent rebounder and passer. But those things don't matter if you can't guard your man or make wide open 3s.

Leonard Miller - Not concerned whatsoever about how he looks on offense. I saw enough of him in the G-League to know he has skills on that side of the court and I expect those to keep growing as time goes on. It's all about defense with him. Does he play hard on defense? Is his defensive technique improving?

Jaylen Clark - I'm basically looking for him to be a NAW replica. Is he a disruptor and fighter defensively? Can he make the open 3? Really don't care about anything else with him other than defense and catch-and-shoot 3s. I'm pretty confident about his defense. It's the 3-ball I'm worried about. Prove me wrong Jaylen!

Terrence Shannon, Jr. - I kind of put him in that same 3 & D category as Jaylen and Josh in terms of what I'm looking for in Summer League even though he established himself as an all-around great player at Illinois. Can he defend at a high level one on one and can he make the open 3? Anything over and beyond that in terms of dribble drive game and shot making is gravy.

Jesse Edwards - I'm looking at two things with him. First, how well does he move his feet and enable his natural length to defend, meaning he stays grounded and walls up versus getting jumpy and bringing the arms down on guys? It would be awesome to have a true Center in the development pipeline that has good defensive fundamentals. Second, how are his hands? We already know he has the length and athleticism to put pressure on the rim, but can he catch the damn ball and hang onto it!?

Rob Dillingham - Believe it or not, I have minimal expectations of him. He is by far the youngest and least experienced player on the squad. I'll basically be looking to see how he does creating good shots, whether that's for himself or others. Don't care as much if those shots go in for now. Ultimately he needs to show he can break down a defense because that is why we drafted him.

I know there are other unsigned guys on the roster that could stand out - Nadir Hifi and Jaedon LeDee are two that come to mind. You just never know!

Other thoughts/expectations?

[60WinTim]

I like this post, and it will be fun to gauge how the players perform in Summer League against your expectations.

There had been some hype/hope building around Nadir this past week. But after a couple days of practice, the Wolves signed Nix to that last two-way. I assume this means Nadir is not standing out in practice...

[FNG]

Commitments in town and 118 degrees in Vegas are preventing me from going this year, but still I'm envious of Lip that he'll be there...it's going to be the best Summer League ever for the Wolves, and Q captured what we're going to be looking for. I have to disagree with him on Rob though. He was the most prolific scorer in college last year on a per minute basis, and he was mostly playing against players older than him. So I don't think he is going to find the level of competition he faces there much different than what he has been seeing. I think he will struggle at first when he has to face actual NBA players, many of whom are a decade older than him. But I think the offensive brilliance he showed at Kentucky will be on full display in Vegas.

But I'm guessing the player the Wolves are most interested in watching is Clark. I've gone back and watched some of his defensive highlights at UCLA, and there's no question he has the ability to be an elite disruptive NBA defender. He has said publicly that he can guard 1-5, and also that he has improved his jump shot in the past year "a whole bunch". The coaching staff will be eager to see if he is the same shut-down defender he was in college, and whether his shot has improved enough to warrant a rotation spot. He's probably solely a SG on offense, but I suspect they may also give him some run at PG to see if he is a backup option there. We all saw what Derrick Jones Jr. did for the Mavericks in the playoffs...I see Clark has having even more potential defensively.

So many players to watch as Q has said. But those are the two I'm most intrigued by.

[Q-is-here]

Commitments in town and 118 degrees in Vegas are preventing me from going this year, but still I'm envious of Lip that he'll be there...it's going to be the best Summer League ever for the Wolves, and Q captured what we're going to be looking for. I have to disagree with him on Rob though. He was the most prolific scorer in college last year on a per minute basis, and he was mostly playing against players older than him. So I don't think he is going to find the level of competition he faces there much different than what he has been seeing. I think he will struggle at first when he has to face actual NBA players, many of whom are a decade older than him. But I think the offensive brilliance he showed at Kentucky will be on full display in Vegas.

But I'm guessing the player the Wolves are most interested in watching is Clark. I've gone back and watched some of his defensive highlights at UCLA, and there's no question he has the ability to be an elite disruptive NBA defender. He has said publicly that he can guard 1-5, and also that he has improved his jump shot in the past year "a whole bunch". The coaching staff will be eager to see if he is the same shut-down defender he was in college, and whether his shot has improved enough to warrant a rotation spot. He's probably solely a SG on offense, but I suspect they may also give him some run at PG to see if he is a backup option there. We all saw what Derrick Jones Jr. did for the Mavericks in the playoffs...I see Clark has having even more potential defensively.

So many players to watch as Q has said. But those are the two I'm most intrigued by.

On Dillingham, it's not that I expect him to struggle in summer league. I'm just saying that if he does struggle with his shot or finishing, I'm not going to get too uptight about it. Obviously I'd be elated if he was as prolific and efficient in summer league as he was at Kentucky.

On the contrary, if a guy like Clark, Shannon, or Minott have crappy looking shots and badly miss wide open 3s, I will legit be concerned. They have more to prove as shooters IMO.

Dereck Jones Jr., McDaniels, Dort, Herb Jones, KCP....the list goes on. You simply can't be a playoff-caliber wing defender that stays in the rotation if you can't hit the 3. These guys all figured it out. NAW legit hurt us as we got deeper into the playoffs because his shot abandoned him.

[Monster]

Good thread and thoughts Q.

I agree with what to watch for with Nix. I will say last year in the preseason which of course is limited sample but he won the right to be on the roster on a 2-way of course part of that was other guys not doing well to keep that spot. The thing I'm watching for Nix is his defense. If he isn't standing out there I don't know why he would be kept around. His competition is probably not other guys on the summer league roster but other players that are available and could pop. Other than Dillingham, Nix is the most PG type guy except maybe Bishop IV but I don't know much about him and whether he will even get any minutes. I'm expecting someone else to pop more than him to be honest but I'll be happy if he shows some progress towards being a more steady player. Like you pointed out the turnover rate is bad.

I think in some ways I'm expecting the most out of TSJ. Aside from his experience and what he did in college etc it seems like some of his strengths would lend themselves to success in this format.

[Q-is-here]

Good thread and thoughts Q.

I agree with what to watch for with Nix. I will say last year in the preseason which of course is limited sample but he won the right to be on the roster on a 2-way of course part of that was other guys not doing well to keep that spot. The thing I'm watching for Nix is his defense. If he isn't standing out there I don't know why he would be kept around. His competition is probably not other guys on the summer league roster but other players that are available and could pop. Other than Dillingham, Nix is the most PG type guy except maybe Bishop IV but I don't know much about him and whether he will even get any minutes. I'm expecting someone else to pop more than him to be honest but I'll be happy if he shows some progress towards being a more steady player. Like you pointed out the turnover rate is bad.

I think in some ways I'm expecting the most out of TSJ. Aside from his experience and what he did in college etc it seems like some of his strengths would lend themselves to success in this format.

TSJ also has 5 years of college ball under his belt and is old enough to be Dillingham's legal guardian, LOL.

[Monster]

Good thread and thoughts Q.

I agree with what to watch for with Nix. I will say last year in the preseason which of course is limited sample but he won the right to be on the roster on a 2-way of course part of that was other guys not doing well to keep that spot. The thing I'm watching for Nix is his defense. If he isn't standing out there I don't know why he would be kept around. His competition is probably not other guys on the summer league roster but other players that are available and could pop. Other than Dillingham, Nix is the most PG type guy except maybe Bishop IV but I don't know much about him and whether he will even get any minutes. I'm expecting someone else to pop more than him to be honest but I'll be happy if he shows some progress towards being a more steady player. Like you pointed out the turnover rate is bad.

I think in some ways I'm expecting the most out of TSJ. Aside from his experience and what he did in college etc it seems like some of his strengths would lend themselves to success in this format.

TSJ also has 5 years of college ball under his belt and is old enough to be Dillingham's legal guardian, LOL.

Lol Have you watched the after practice video from the other day of TSJ? If not you should. There are a couple of funny moments.

[Lipoli390]

Good thread and thoughts Q.

I agree with what to watch for with Nix. I will say last year in the preseason which of course is limited sample but he won the right to be on the roster on a 2-way of course part of that was other guys not doing well to keep that spot. The thing I'm watching for Nix is his defense. If he isn't standing out there I don't know why he would be kept around. His competition is probably not other guys on the summer league roster but other players that are available and could pop. Other than Dillingham, Nix is the most PG type guy except maybe Bishop IV but I don't know much about him and whether he will even get any minutes. I'm expecting someone else to pop more than him to be honest but I'll be happy if he shows some progress towards being a more steady player. Like you pointed out the turnover rate is bad.

I think in some ways I'm expecting the most out of TSJ. Aside from his experience and what he did in college etc it seems like some of his strengths would lend themselves to success in this format.

TSJ also has 5 years of college ball under his belt and is old enough to be Dillingham's legal guardian, LOL.

Lol Have you watched the after practice video from the other day of TSJ? If not you should. There are a couple of funny moments.

Monster - Could you post that video?

[Monster]

TSJ also has 5 years of college ball under his belt and is old enough to be Dillingham's legal guardian, LOL.

Lol Have you watched the after practice video from the other day of TSJ? If not you should. There are a couple of funny moments.

Monster - Could you post that video?

Sure here it is!

https://youtu.be/5fRm9973Qqo?si=f-I81jbjleH1jGg8

[KG4Ever]

Lol Have you watched the after practice video from the other day of TSJ? If not you should. There are a couple of funny moments.

Monster - Could you post that video?

Sure here it is!

https://youtu.be/5fRm9973Qqo?si=f-I81jbjleH1jGg8

Are you sure you linked the right video. Check again!