The Las Vegas Summer League, by and large, was a success overall. Unfortunately, the bright lights of Vegas didn’t shine admirably upon everything and everyone associated with the NBA’s marquee summer event.
Whether it was by absence of body or actual play, the following list constitutes the five biggest disappointments from the Las Vegas Summer League.
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5. ABSENCE OF TOP DRAFT PICKS
Usually the Las Vegas Summer League provides fans with a glimpse of the upcoming elite. Unfortunately, this year’s draft class was filled with role players, which hurt the value of the summer league project in general. That misfortune multiplied as some of the more intriguing guys missed the 11-day event with injuries. Fans missed out on a chance to see Shane Larkin (Mavs), Alex Len (Suns) and the No. 1 pick, Anthony Bennett (Cavs) due to various physical ailments. I don’t know the last time the No. 1 pick didn’t play in Summer League and it would have been especially sweet to see him in the town he played his college ball in. Missing those guys was a total vibe killer.
[RELATED: The Top 5 Surprises From The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League]
4. SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD/GORGUI DIENG, Minnesota Timberwolves
Many praised Flip Saunders and his staff for having a good draft and turning one pick into two with a draft night trade involving the Utah Jazz. Getting Muhammad with the 14th pick and Dieng at 21 was supposed to be great value and could turn out to be so. However, neither guy did much to make those early assessments hold weight at Summer League.
Muhammad averaged just 8.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in the six games he played in Vegas. He shot the ball at just 37 percent from the field and was even more dreadful at 35 percent from the free throw line. He was at times confused whether to play inside or out, but the decision became clearer each game as his shots from outside were regularly awry. His ability to finish in traffic and with contact around the rim is suspect and his poor showing from the line just made matters worse when he was fouled.
[RELATED: The 5 Biggest Disappointments From The NBA’s Orlando Summer League]
After a very good NCAA Tournament where he improved his draft stock, Dieng came to Vegas and struggled. Somewhat surprisingly, he came off the Minnesota bench in four of the six games they played and might have earned the dreaded “project big” label. He was regularly pushed off the block defensively, which resulted in lots of fouling on his part as he tried to recover. Guys like Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic (if he’s still in Minnesota) will have their way with him in practice in the fall, but hopefully that will push him (no pun intended) to be better and become a solid contributor off the Minnesota bench.
[RELATED: The 5 Biggest Surprises Of The NBA’s Orlando Summer League]
3. MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST, Charlotte Bobcats
There are expectations that come with being a high draft pick and playing in Summer League… especially in year two. MKG wasn’t too impressive or involved in his second-straight appearance in Summer League. He isn’t and will probably never be a volume scorer, but one might expect him to pick things up against the watered-down competition in Vegas. Instead, he coasted most of the way, seemingly uninterested, and played in short spurts. He opted to let guys like Jeff Taylor and Cody Zeller shine brightly as he played in the background.
It is entirely possible he wasn’t that focused due to his involvement with the USA Basketball Olympics mini-camp, which is also in Vegas following Summer League. Still, it would have been nice to see some aggression/desire to dominate from Kidd-Gilchrist, who averaged 10.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in the three games he played.
Keep reading to see which two lottery picks were major disappointments in Vegas…
2. BEN McLEMORE, Sacramento Kings
Hopefully McLemore had better luck off the court in Vegas than he did with his jumper in Summer League play. He shot just 33 percent from the floor and 19 percent from three. McLemore has a beautifully constructed jumper on which he always seems square while getting great lift. Alas, mechanics alone were not enough and his misses were responsible for more than a few drafts in the Vegas heat. His scoring output of 15.8 points is inflated by two games in which he caught fire and scored 26 and 27 points respectively.
He rebounded the ball well at five per game but a passing savant he is not. Somehow he managed to post a zero in the assist category for the week, despite playing 30 minutes per game. He made poor decisions when trying to enter the ball into the post or hitting cutters to the basket.
All in all he showed some signs of promise, including an epic throwdown over Atlanta’s Mike Scott in his final game of the tournament. Consistency will be the key for McLemore going forward but that can be said for every player.
1. OTTO PORTER, Washington Wizards
As the third overall pick in the NBA Draft, Porter was the highest selection to play at the Las Vegas Summer League. Porter was underwhelming in every sense of the word, with just 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds on a putrid 30 percent from the floor. He got some good looks overall and was able to create space with an escape dribble to get shots off but just wasn’t able to connect. His balance isn’t always perfect and his release is reminiscent of a right-handed Tayshaun Prince.
To add insult to his subpar performance, he tweaked his hamstring and only played in three of Washington’s five games. On defense, he was disruptive and showed good lateral moment keeping opponents in front of him. He seems like a nice complementary player but he wasn’t ready to be the go-to-guy on the Wizards summer league roster. Things should get better for him when John Wall and Bradley Beal are around to set him up and take pressure away during the regular season. Unfortunately, summer league just wasn’t his cup of tea.
Who do you think was the week’s biggest disappointment?
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