A question that had nothing to do with Ball, and they said his name 5 times.
3. Who was the biggest surprise at summer league?
MacMahon: Ball wasn't the only Lakers rookie who lit it up in Las Vegas.
Kyle Kuzma, the 27th overall pick, was spectacular throughout the summer league. He's a skilled 6-foot-9 guy who certainly benefited from playing with
Ball, which could be the case for years.
Herring: Kyle Kuzma, who finished summer league with a 30-point, 10-rebound performance and championship game MVP honors, looked far more like a lottery pick than a late-first-round one. He has impressive range for a big, runs the floor in transition (important when your teammate is
Lonzo Ball) and can move his feet on defense.
Tedesco: John Collins already looks like he'll become a pretty good stretch-4 -- and maybe even stretch-5 -- after hiding most of those skills at Wake Forest. More than half of his college
shot attempts were at the rim, and he attempted only one 3! He didn't really test his ability from deep range at summer league, but he made some nice plays out to the elbows, and I think he can extend further. At No. 19, that's a steal for Atlanta.
Adams: I was blown away at the consistent high level of play from this year's top rookies. Summer league is typically dominated by second-year players or ball-dominant types, and it's common for top picks to struggle. In addition to
Ball, Dennis Smith looked explosive and in control,
Jayson Tatum showed an impressive offensive repertoire, Josh Jackson was a terror on the boards and
Donovan Mitchell was a two-way menace.
Pelton: I didn't consider Kuzma a first-round talent because he was a late bloomer, and his box-score stats didn't really reflect an ability to utilize his obvious athleticism. In Las Vegas, he showed that he can make the NBA 3-pointer (although his 48.0 percent shooting on a robust 50 attempts surely isn't sustainable), and his speed up the court was a perfect match for
Ball's long outlet passes in transition.
The John Collins take is pretty funny. He's saying John is gonna be a good stretch 4/5 but then he says John hasn't shot any 3's... at least he didn't say anything about ball.
