Kings announce Summer League Roster featuring KEEGAN MURRAY(?)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Caccia
Starter
Or they are pushing as hard as they can to find their place on the court, just what you want to see.
Colby Jones is most likely going to the G-League given our guard depth on the main roster. There will be a chance for him to grow into a rotation spot down the line if we end up including Huerter or Mitchell in a trade and/or Monk doesn't re-sign next summer. He'd be competing for that spot (if one opens up) with Keon Ellis who also seems likely to return. I suspect those 2 guys will be our two-way contracts this year.
I think Jalen Slawson is the guy to watch here for summer league as he could be competing for a roster spot in the Fall. Here's my reasoning: (1) We don't have nearly the same roster crunch at the forward/wing positions that we do at guard. (2) As a 5th year senior he's already 23 years old (yes, he's older than Kessler Edwards). (3) His defensive performance in college was substantial enough (in a smaller conference but still Div. I) that he might be ready to fill that swingman wing/forward defensive role for us right now. Monte only spent a late second on him so he's effectively a lottery ticket but he wouldn't be here if Monte didn't think he had a shot at finding a role right away. If he has a standout performance or two in the summer and into the pre-season, I wouldn't be surprised if he's our only rookie on the active roster when the regular season starts in October.
I know he's a cult hero around here so my opinion about him is not going to be popular, but I'm not on the Kessler Edwards hype train yet. He looks the part physically but 2 years into his NBA career his shooting hasn't arrived yet and there's no measurable evidence that his defense has been any better than average. Mostly he's looked like a guy who will be fighting to stay in the NBA in a few years. I suppose the best case for us would be some friendly competition between these guys elevating each other's play and suddenly giving us multiple defensive specialists to match up with taller guards and small forwards.
I think Jalen Slawson is the guy to watch here for summer league as he could be competing for a roster spot in the Fall. Here's my reasoning: (1) We don't have nearly the same roster crunch at the forward/wing positions that we do at guard. (2) As a 5th year senior he's already 23 years old (yes, he's older than Kessler Edwards). (3) His defensive performance in college was substantial enough (in a smaller conference but still Div. I) that he might be ready to fill that swingman wing/forward defensive role for us right now. Monte only spent a late second on him so he's effectively a lottery ticket but he wouldn't be here if Monte didn't think he had a shot at finding a role right away. If he has a standout performance or two in the summer and into the pre-season, I wouldn't be surprised if he's our only rookie on the active roster when the regular season starts in October.
I know he's a cult hero around here so my opinion about him is not going to be popular, but I'm not on the Kessler Edwards hype train yet. He looks the part physically but 2 years into his NBA career his shooting hasn't arrived yet and there's no measurable evidence that his defense has been any better than average. Mostly he's looked like a guy who will be fighting to stay in the NBA in a few years. I suppose the best case for us would be some friendly competition between these guys elevating each other's play and suddenly giving us multiple defensive specialists to match up with taller guards and small forwards.
miltonap
Starter
Colby is a 3 imo and Slawson wont be in the rotation next year he'll be in the GL to polish his game up.
Also I don't think Colby is bad enough to be riding the bench I think he will be providing value asap with his smarts and what seems to be an elite floater
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I think Colby looks more like a combo G to me but in Browns G lineups he could play SF. Size wise he's a big guard. He does play with some heft though and seems strong but he could get some minutes at SF if TD did. But that was largely out of necessity sometimes.
Interesting take on having Slawson as the one who makes the active roster but not Jones. I think the road for Slawson to get playing time is going to be harder than Jones. I know we have one of the best guard rotations in the league, but with the NBA playing smaller and smaller, there’s going to be minutes to go around for all players if they manage to beat out another guy for PT. Specifically, I’m looking at TD’s minutes and role. I think someone’s going to have to fill the void of an off-ball shooter. TD is smaller, but is able to defend up a size on certain matchups. That’s where I envision Colby coming in and filling that slot. Colby is an all-around player who isn’t really great at anything. Slawson is the same way, except I think Colby has more to get as a playmaker and ball handler. I think Colby is someone who can legitimately play PG, SG, and SF for stretches of a game. His versatility helps keep him on the floor. Slawson is limited to more SF/PF and doesn’t offer the same type of on-ball playmaking skills.
Others have pointed it out before, but we have a lot of guys who can defend the flex SF/PF positions, but I think we need another player who can defend SG/SF. This is Kessler’s calling, but his lack of 3pt shooting and offense saw him get kicked out of the rotation as soon as we made the postseason.
I like Slawson, but I think it’s a bold prediction! I’m excited to see what both guys do during the SL
Colby Jones couldn't shoot the 3 until this past season and he was decent at 37.8% but not stellar. Additionally, his free throw shooting (67.9 average for his college career and it went down every year) does not give a lot of reason to be optimistic about the three-point shooting translating right away. I think he's a solid player but he probably needs at least 1 season in the G-League to dial in his jumper. He'll also have more opportunities to handle the ball in the G-League so that's probably the best place for him at this stage in his career.
I also think the expectations for Slawson are going to be different than for Jones. Even if we consider Jones a 2/3 he doesn't have the length to guard up to the 4 position. Slawson does have the length to guard 2-4 and he even flashed some upside as a weakside shot blocker. Slawson's shooting may also lag a bit (he shot 39.4% this past season but on only 2.9 attempts per game), but I think the odds are in his favor to sneak in at that defensive wing position. Remember that Brown started this past season with KZ Okpala not only on the roster but starting in front of Keegan Murray. He obviously values versatile defenders at the forward positions.
I also think the expectations for Slawson are going to be different than for Jones. Even if we consider Jones a 2/3 he doesn't have the length to guard up to the 4 position. Slawson does have the length to guard 2-4 and he even flashed some upside as a weakside shot blocker. Slawson's shooting may also lag a bit (he shot 39.4% this past season but on only 2.9 attempts per game), but I think the odds are in his favor to sneak in at that defensive wing position. Remember that Brown started this past season with KZ Okpala not only on the roster but starting in front of Keegan Murray. He obviously values versatile defenders at the forward positions.
Defensively, go back and watch him against PHX and playing D vs Booker. He absolutely can play D effectively
I assume you're referring to Kessler Edwards. You're talking about a sample size of 2 games. I'm not saying he can't do it, only that I'm not flipping out over his potential until he proves he can do it consistently.
PorchSurfin
Starter
Thats that Mike Brown culture.
Colby will need to work with a shooting coach on his jumper. If he wants to carve out an early role on this team, he has to have an automatic trigger. I'd like to see him be more of a willing shooter during both SL series. Same for Slawson, it would be good for both to get comfortable taking a high number of 3s.
With Slawson, he's too slow to guard 2s. He might even have some trouble with quicker SFs in the league. I think Colby has more defensive flexibility, but they play different positions even though we'd all technically call them both wings. Their SL performances are probably going to give us an idea heading into next season. I feel like they've been a good measurement for us every year.
miltonap
Starter
Colby is like 2-3 where Slawson is like a 4 I feel
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
I’m thinking this summer league stint is more mental and emotional growth for Keegan than anything else. Give him the confidence to step up into a bigger role this year. He’s probably only had about 40 days to work on his handle and iso game so I won’t be expecting major improvements there just yet. After summer league he will have a couple more months to sharpen up.
Go easy on the cult hero!
Statistically, he held opponents to >10% below their average at the rim last year - link.
I don't know how any of them will go but I am looking forward to seeing kore in summer league.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I’m surprised he is playing. Don’t really see the point as summer league is largely for evaluation. He had plenty to work on but maybe they are hoping to give him experience leading a team. Or we are showcasing him
I like it. He's not going to have Sabonis & Co getting him the ball, so he's going to have to exercise his iso-shot making ability and his ball handling more. It could be good for his development.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I'm in agreement about Edwards. I like the potential of Ellis more than him at this point. Regarding the bolded type, that seems to be Monte plan at this point (unless there really is a trade in the works). If he can just get one keeper out of Edwards, Ellis, the two rooks and Duarte, I'd be happy.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Keegan has a swirl to his game already, a drop step spin. Put it on the menu coach.
miltonap
Starter
He's really cool. I like this guy
Hopefully we don't see Keegan's "gross" hook shot at Summer League.
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