Summer League 2018: who you excited about the most?

The correct answer is always 'yes'

 

The players I'm most excited about: Simons and Caleb

 

Just noticed that K.J. McDaniels' PER was 21.4 last season in the D-League (31 games, good sample size). #32 pick 4 years ago, 6-6, but Olshey got 4 SGs, so he will get no time, and later be picked up by another team.

He's interesting. And HCP is right about merging this with the main thread.

 

I would not go as far as to say I am excited to watch him, but I am very anxious to see if he can help this team. Maybe they saw something last year to make them think he can earn back up center minutes? That would explain a few things.

 

Baldwin and Trent

 

Lmao.

There's multiple players that did well in the G-
League last year that aren't good enough to make the NBA. Elite athleticism is always an advantage at that level (remember Elliot Williams?). You need more than that to be an NBA player.

McDaniel has a career 1 to 1.7 ast-tov ratio. That's horrible for a guard. He can't shoot (career 29% 3pt shooter, career 51TS%) yet hes a black hole (Career 1.6 assists per 36 minutes). It's reflected in his -3.6 OBPM for his career.

There's a reason he's not in the league.

 

Before posting that, I read about McDaniels for an hour, and guess who I passed by. Elliot Williams. Somehow he kept playing a few more years, but stopped about 3 years ago. Caught up to date on him. Anyway, there's no comparison because McDaniels hasn't gone through major surgeries.

McDaniels is supposed to be high on athleticism, as in leaping around the basket, and putting it in. If someone throws him a pass near the basket, he'll turn it into an assist. He's not good from the 3. He's listed at 6-6, 205, but the 205 was the same at the end of high school, so I bet he's heavier now. Sounds like a natural forward just barely too short. As you know, I'm looking for such SFs unnoticed by other teams. Too bad about the 3-point shooting. How is his dribbling?

 

The last thing I'd get excited about would be any of the 4 new guards. Combined, they won't help as much as one SF who can shoot and dribble, no matter how tiny. We need roster balance to offset guards, not more roster imbalance. Olshey values (and thus overpays) the wrong players.

 

Trent is a SF that can shoot and dribble.

 

I don't think it's good considering his TOV rate.

You would rather have someone like that instead of Trent?

 

Collins - his development is about the only way I see the Blazers improving. You know what you get (or don't get) from Dame, CJ, Nurk Aminu, ET, etc, but with Collins you could see significant increases in production.

 

I agree for the most part. I think Nurk has some improvement that could/will/should be made though. If he improves his under the rim attack and Collins takes a big step, we could be pretty good as is.

 

I want to see Collins. He's the guy that could have a significant impact on the team next season.

 

Collins and Simons.

 

Call me an old sourpuss...but I long ago concluded the only thing you can learn from summer league is how well injured players are recovering. That kind of ratball environment makes evaluating player development very deceptive. I've seen too many guys like Outlaw or Woods look like future all-stars in this setting.

 

I want to see how much Swanny has improved.

 

With Big Ed gone I'm actually excited to see Swanigan and Layman...see how they measure up at the 4...other than that..Trent jr....I'm still waiting for Simons to gain about 40 lbs....

 

Sure I want to see if last year's guys have improved. But if the question is who am I excited to see, it's Baldwin, because I hope he knocks our socks off this season, and Simons, because he's the great unknown.

 

Or Batum look like a deer in headlights (we all assumed he’d go back to Europe for a couple years) and he actually was able to contribute his rookie year.