Another game, another loss that sets back this team a decade. The entirety of our hopes and dreams for the Kings franchise is crumbling before our eyes like a cake removed from its baking pan far too early. Papa sucks, Skal sucks, Buddy Hield can't shoot, De'Aaron Fox can't shoot and is too light, and Justin Jackson is obviously a bust. If there ever was a time to cut ties with Vlade it'd be now. That Jack Cooley guy is totally a keeper. White, in his mid twenties, undersized with little to no athleticism? Now that's a guy I can get behind.
In all seriousness, I've been preaching the relative meaninglessness of Summer League as any sort of benchmark of the rebuild's progress going forward. There were some good things and some bad things and random scrubs on their last legs in the league scrapping and clawing for the chance to continue cashing an NBA paycheck.
Plus, considering it's a tournament system, it's not like losing our first two games of Summer League has completely blow any chance at winning the Ty Corbin Trophy.
Justin Jackson (C-):
On the plus side, played completely within the offense and took few bad shots. On the negative side, he missed almost every shot he took. Considering his track record in college and his debut game several nights ago, this game is probably an aberration but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. Down the stretch, Jackson had a bunch of wide open threes that probably would have completely turned the game's momentum over in the Kings' favor. On defense, wasn't particularly bad but obviously still has room to improve, even taking into consideration his relatively average lateral speed.
Skal Labissiere (B-):
Continuing off of his mediocre play to start of summer league, Skal had (if you really squint) a bit of a bounce back game. While the continued lack of any self-generated offensive game game remains concerning, he ran the rims hard and obviously has a bit of chemistry with De'Aaron that will hopefully come in handy for the next decade or so. He even decided to throw in a rebound or two this time around after barely even managing one against the Suns. Still, Skal's been far too passive for my liking in Summer League, especially when he's arguably the second most talented player on this squad. Let's see if he takes it to the Lakers next time around.
Georgios Papagiannis (C):
While doing nothing to calm the randomly rising tide of resent meant against him in certain pockets of the fanbase, I thought Papa had a pleasantly middling game. Down the stretch, Papa combined with De'Aaron on a couple of plays converting a lob and a putback dunk to keep the Kings in striking distance. The Greek Peak continues to show difficultly making a play on the ball in traffic, which may be part of the reason why we've been seeing the team use him in the high post, but is more often than not a nuisance for the other team who most definitely is aware of his presence. As our third youngest player, if Papa can carve out a simple role as a finisher and physical enforcer inside for this season, that would be enough to convince me that his development is still following a good arc.
Buddy Hield (C-):
Buddy's performance may be the most frustrating aspect of the Summer League thus far. We all know Buddy can shoot and that Buddy can score. We all know that he's not the most athletic guy in the world but that he can still make plays. Thus far however, Buddy's driving abilities have been more on display that his hot shooting. Combined with Justin Jackson, may have right shot the Kings right out of the victory except in his case he forced a bajillion shots and his man on defense went out and dropped a game-high score on him. If this continues in the regular season, we have live a half-dozen other two guards to take some of his minutes so I'm not too worried here.
De'Aaron Fox (B):
It was a tale of two halves for the prized point guard. In the first half, Fox seemed tentative and was eaten alive by former Kingsfans.com draft crush Wade Baldwin, looking every bit the rookie that his is. In the second half, the speedy guard played like he did at times in the first game, showcasing the speed and playmaking that can make him a special player in the league. One caveat to the performance today is that his inconsistent shot really came up to bite him in the butt tonight. Sure, he hit a three to help the box score at the end of the game but he missed some shots he should have made. If he wants to succeed in the league, that'll definitely need to be something he needs to work on but I think he knows that. Either way, another encouraging game from the Speed Demon and anyone capable of doing this deserves at least a little praise.
Eric Stuteville (inc):
Random summer league roster filler guy got to see some playing time thanks to the several injuries above him on the depth chart and him being a local kid who is Sac State's first ever summer leaguer. Pulled in a couple boards, hit a free throw. I'm sure some team in Asia will be happy to have him.
Luis Montero (inc):
Same story here. Montero's seen time in the league before but probably won't be seeing anymore, at least with the Kings. Did grab a board though.
Frank Mason (C):
Has perhaps been similtaniously the most disappointing and by-the-numbers of the Kings draft class. As the 34th pick, expecting him to take the league by storm is dumb and he's been relatively solid in his time on the floor and yet, considering the hype surrounding this pickup, you have to be a little disappointed that he hasn't shown too many flashes in his time this summer. Being the third string PG will give him time to figure things out though.
Jack Cooley (M for MVP):
Seemingly every season in Kings summer league, there is that one random big man scrub dude who endears himself to the fanbase and garners unhealthy expectations of how he'd actually be in an NBA game. Louis Amundson, Justin Williams, Jon Brockman, Eric Moreland, wash rinse repeat. That isn't to say that watching him barrel into crowds of other random scrubs and grabbing boards and hustle stats isn't fun but just a general reminder that this is summer league and things are weird here. People wanting to cut Papa to sign Cooley may have had one too many casino cocktails.
JaKarr Sampson (B-):
One casualty of the random asset shuffling phase of the early Sixers process, Sampson has seen some time in the NBA, albeit on the Sixers at their Process-iest (the starting point guard at the time was Tony Wroten), and would seem to serve the role of random depth SF that this team still needs. While a full-on NBA roster slot is probably out of the question given our full roster, I could see us bringing him in for a two-way deal. Still seemed to show that he is deserving of at least a little burn down the Summer League stretch.
In all seriousness, I've been preaching the relative meaninglessness of Summer League as any sort of benchmark of the rebuild's progress going forward. There were some good things and some bad things and random scrubs on their last legs in the league scrapping and clawing for the chance to continue cashing an NBA paycheck.
Plus, considering it's a tournament system, it's not like losing our first two games of Summer League has completely blow any chance at winning the Ty Corbin Trophy.
Justin Jackson (C-):
On the plus side, played completely within the offense and took few bad shots. On the negative side, he missed almost every shot he took. Considering his track record in college and his debut game several nights ago, this game is probably an aberration but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. Down the stretch, Jackson had a bunch of wide open threes that probably would have completely turned the game's momentum over in the Kings' favor. On defense, wasn't particularly bad but obviously still has room to improve, even taking into consideration his relatively average lateral speed.
Skal Labissiere (B-):
Continuing off of his mediocre play to start of summer league, Skal had (if you really squint) a bit of a bounce back game. While the continued lack of any self-generated offensive game game remains concerning, he ran the rims hard and obviously has a bit of chemistry with De'Aaron that will hopefully come in handy for the next decade or so. He even decided to throw in a rebound or two this time around after barely even managing one against the Suns. Still, Skal's been far too passive for my liking in Summer League, especially when he's arguably the second most talented player on this squad. Let's see if he takes it to the Lakers next time around.
Georgios Papagiannis (C):
While doing nothing to calm the randomly rising tide of resent meant against him in certain pockets of the fanbase, I thought Papa had a pleasantly middling game. Down the stretch, Papa combined with De'Aaron on a couple of plays converting a lob and a putback dunk to keep the Kings in striking distance. The Greek Peak continues to show difficultly making a play on the ball in traffic, which may be part of the reason why we've been seeing the team use him in the high post, but is more often than not a nuisance for the other team who most definitely is aware of his presence. As our third youngest player, if Papa can carve out a simple role as a finisher and physical enforcer inside for this season, that would be enough to convince me that his development is still following a good arc.
Buddy Hield (C-):
Buddy's performance may be the most frustrating aspect of the Summer League thus far. We all know Buddy can shoot and that Buddy can score. We all know that he's not the most athletic guy in the world but that he can still make plays. Thus far however, Buddy's driving abilities have been more on display that his hot shooting. Combined with Justin Jackson, may have right shot the Kings right out of the victory except in his case he forced a bajillion shots and his man on defense went out and dropped a game-high score on him. If this continues in the regular season, we have live a half-dozen other two guards to take some of his minutes so I'm not too worried here.
De'Aaron Fox (B):
It was a tale of two halves for the prized point guard. In the first half, Fox seemed tentative and was eaten alive by former Kingsfans.com draft crush Wade Baldwin, looking every bit the rookie that his is. In the second half, the speedy guard played like he did at times in the first game, showcasing the speed and playmaking that can make him a special player in the league. One caveat to the performance today is that his inconsistent shot really came up to bite him in the butt tonight. Sure, he hit a three to help the box score at the end of the game but he missed some shots he should have made. If he wants to succeed in the league, that'll definitely need to be something he needs to work on but I think he knows that. Either way, another encouraging game from the Speed Demon and anyone capable of doing this deserves at least a little praise.
Eric Stuteville (inc):
Random summer league roster filler guy got to see some playing time thanks to the several injuries above him on the depth chart and him being a local kid who is Sac State's first ever summer leaguer. Pulled in a couple boards, hit a free throw. I'm sure some team in Asia will be happy to have him.
Luis Montero (inc):
Same story here. Montero's seen time in the league before but probably won't be seeing anymore, at least with the Kings. Did grab a board though.
Frank Mason (C):
Has perhaps been similtaniously the most disappointing and by-the-numbers of the Kings draft class. As the 34th pick, expecting him to take the league by storm is dumb and he's been relatively solid in his time on the floor and yet, considering the hype surrounding this pickup, you have to be a little disappointed that he hasn't shown too many flashes in his time this summer. Being the third string PG will give him time to figure things out though.
Jack Cooley (M for MVP):
Seemingly every season in Kings summer league, there is that one random big man scrub dude who endears himself to the fanbase and garners unhealthy expectations of how he'd actually be in an NBA game. Louis Amundson, Justin Williams, Jon Brockman, Eric Moreland, wash rinse repeat. That isn't to say that watching him barrel into crowds of other random scrubs and grabbing boards and hustle stats isn't fun but just a general reminder that this is summer league and things are weird here. People wanting to cut Papa to sign Cooley may have had one too many casino cocktails.
JaKarr Sampson (B-):
One casualty of the random asset shuffling phase of the early Sixers process, Sampson has seen some time in the NBA, albeit on the Sixers at their Process-iest (the starting point guard at the time was Tony Wroten), and would seem to serve the role of random depth SF that this team still needs. While a full-on NBA roster slot is probably out of the question given our full roster, I could see us bringing him in for a two-way deal. Still seemed to show that he is deserving of at least a little burn down the Summer League stretch.
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