Vegas Summer League and the Kings

[CruzDude]

30 days until the start of the Vegas Summer League.
This year it should be really exciting with 21 teams scheduled to appear for the 10-day run. If they plan each team to get 5 games then they will have to do what they started last year as an experiment, play simultaneously in both the main Thomas & Mack arena and in the Cox Pavilion practice facility connected to it. It used to be all games were in the practice facility, a nice cozy, get down and close venue. But with 10 games a day, 5 in each facility (my guess only at this point), it will be a basketball junkies dream.

Now to the Kings who will participate. Usually we find out the official rosters for summer league about a week or 10 days prior to the opening date but usually start hearing about invitees in June.

For example, we already know that Noel Felix, the 6-9, 225, 27-yr old CBA Defensive Player of the Year 04-05 has been invited. One of those "under the radar guys", Noel played briefly for the Sonics in Mar-Apr 2006 after a 2-yr stint in the CBA, then in '06 he signed a 2-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, a perennial powerhouse in the EuroLeague. He then played briefly in the D-League in 2007 for the Anaheim Arsenal before signing with Hapoel Jerusalem his current team.

A Fresno State alum in 2003, a line from his Bulldog Bio reads, "Immensely talented players who is poised for a big senior season � very athletic and runs the court well � a tremendous leaper who has shown the ability to scrape the ceilings of arenas for rebounds � very aggressive on defense". Lets hope......

Two others expected to play on the summer league team are Spencer and Shelden along with the Kings draftees at #12, #42 and #43. Will update this as more invitees are known

UPDATED TEAM LIST on 6/11 at bottom of this thread.

 

[CruzDude]

Three previous Kings summer league players to look for that were my personal favorites at last years summer league who played for the Kings:

Nick Caner-Medly, Maryland, 6-8, 230: showed well in Vegas Summer League in 07, was leading 3-pt shooter in ACC his final year at Maryland, caught on into season with Philly I think but did not play much; left handed shooter and excellent ball handler, aggressive and a banger at 6-8 and 230. IMHO would be a really good SF coming off bench and could light it up from 3.

Mustafa Shakur, Ariz, 6-3, 190 PG, in final 4 games at VSL '07 had 5, 5, 7 and 9 assists while scoring at just over 9ppg. Good FT shooter and gets to line. Was starting PG on Polish team Prokom Trefl Sopot who won their league championship.

Darryl Watkins, Syr, 6-11, 241, seemed a beast in the summer league, decent defender, very good rebounder and shot blocker but didn't see a lot of minutes. Played in D-League for a bit. Didn't shoot well or get to show much in 9 games with Kings in November 07 then was waived for Dahntay Jones.

 

[bajaden]

Three previous Kings summer league players to look for that were my personal favorites at last years summer league who played for the Kings:

Nick Caner-Medly, Maryland, 6-8, 230: showed well in Vegas Summer League in 07, was leading 3-pt shooter in ACC his final year at Maryland, caught on into season with Philly I think but did not play much; left handed shooter and excellent ball handler, aggressive and a banger at 6-8 and 230. IMHO would be a really good SF coming off bench and could light it up from 3.

Mustafa Shakur, Ariz, 6-3, 190 PG, in final 4 games at VSL '07 had 5, 5, 7 and 9 assists while scoring at just over 9ppg. Good FT shooter and gets to line. Was starting PG on Polish team Prokom Trefl Sopot who won their league championship.

Darryl Watkins, Syr, 6-11, 241, seemed a beast in the summer league, decent defender, very good rebounder and shot blocker but didn't see a lot of minutes. Played in D-League for a bit. Didn't shoot well or get to show much in 9 games with Kings in November 07 then was waived for Dahntay Jones.

Good info Cruzy. Caner Medly was one of my favorite players last year and I thought he might make the team. Unfortunally our logjam at the 3 spot is a problem for him. He may choose to go elsewhere this year. I hope not. I also liked Watkins.

 

[BMiller52]

Three previous Kings summer league players to look for that were my personal favorites at last years summer league who played for the Kings:

Nick Caner-Medly, Maryland, 6-8, 230: showed well in Vegas Summer League in 07, was leading 3-pt shooter in ACC his final year at Maryland, caught on into season with Philly I think but did not play much; left handed shooter and excellent ball handler, aggressive and a banger at 6-8 and 230. IMHO would be a really good SF coming off bench and could light it up from 3.

Mustafa Shakur, Ariz, 6-3, 190 PG, in final 4 games at VSL '07 had 5, 5, 7 and 9 assists while scoring at just over 9ppg. Good FT shooter and gets to line. Was starting PG on Polish team Prokom Trefl Sopot who won their league championship.

Darryl Watkins, Syr, 6-11, 241, seemed a beast in the summer league, decent defender, very good rebounder and shot blocker but didn't see a lot of minutes. Played in D-League for a bit. Didn't shoot well or get to show much in 9 games with Kings in November 07 then was waived for Dahntay Jones.

Is Watkins coming back? I liked his game. Has he been playing D-League or something?

 

[CruzDude]

Is Watkins coming back? I liked his game. Has he been playing D-League or something?

His game is somewhat limited to the defensive end and being shot blocker, kinda a bigger meaner version of Justin Williams. Limited scoring, even at Syracuse where he never scored (average) in double figures. Good offensive rebounder (ave 3/gm) therefore scoring with putbacks. He is unfortunately a terrible FT shooter, around 50% and only once even 60%.

So if we have a bench that can score from anywhere, which we didn't this past year other than Cisco, he might be a long shot. But watching him he was good in summer league terms.

 

[jimbodan]

We should have really nice summer league team this year, I'm assuming Spencer, Williams (I think he is still eligible?), Douby, our first round pick, and our 2 second round picks should all be there and that should make for some nice basketball. It will be good to see who has improved and what our rookies can bring to the table.

 

[Entity]

His game is somewhat limited to the defensive end and being shot blocker, kinda a bigger meaner version of Justin Williams. Limited scoring, even at Syracuse where he never scored (average) in double figures. Good offensive rebounder (ave 3/gm) therefore scoring with putbacks. He is unfortunately a terrible FT shooter, around 50% and only once even 60%.

So if we have a bench that can score from anywhere, which we didn't this past year other than Cisco, he might be a long shot. But watching him he was good in summer league terms.

He actually showed some jump shooting ability and was a better FT shooter than Justin was. However he did not display the hustle and hyper active athletic ability that Justin did. I am guilty of being wowed by Justins athletic ability and hustle and ignored his inability to be fluid on offense.

 

[CruzDude]

He actually showed some jump shooting ability and was a better FT shooter than Justin was. However he did not display the hustle and hyper active athletic ability that Justin did. I am guilty of being wowed by Justins athletic ability and hustle and ignored his inability to be fluid on offense.

To be a better FT shooter than Justin is just about everybody in the league including Shaq!!! Darryl is much more the lunch pail, blue collar type of PF who bangs and is quick enough to block other face-to-face. Justin is a leaper, and a skinny leaper at that and not someone who gets in the flow, or as you put it doesn't get "fluid on offense".

 

[Vlade4GM]

I can't wait for the SPL, should be fun. Hopefully we'll have a kick *** new prospect

 

[bajaden]

To be a better FT shooter than Justin is just about everybody in the league including Shaq!!! Darryl is much more the lunch pail, blue collar type of PF who bangs and is quick enough to block other face-to-face. Justin is a leaper, and a skinny leaper at that and not someone who gets in the flow, or as you put it doesn't get "fluid on offense".

A good analogy. Darryl is a much better man on man defender than Justin. Justin is a good weakside defender. With out a doubt, Watkins is more fundamentaly sound than Williams, and at least has a jump shot. Williams is a better leaper and probably a little better rebounder as a result. Pick your poison.

 

[CruzDude]

Teams in Vegas Summer League 2008

Following is the official list of teams participating in the Vegas Summer League this year running 11-20 July. No schedules or rosters until end of June. With 21 teams it means 2 games playing simultaneously 11am to 8pm for 10 days!!! The ultimate BB Junkie Fix!!

Charlotte Bobcats
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Hornets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

I liked Watkins. He never got the same hype Justin Williams did, but he was bigger, stronger, and had a nice jumper. Reminds me of PJ Brown.

 

[CruzDude]

Several of us are poking into the Kings grapevine to try to find out who is being invited to the Kings squad for summer league. So far only one and that is third hand.

Will keep you all posted as soon as we know something.... or anyone else knows who are getting invited. Likely not until 1-2 weeks before start on July 11.......hey!! Thats only 20 days away (as of Sat, 6/21).

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I definitely expect our 12th pick and our two mid-2nd rounders to participate, and we can round off the rest of the summer league roster with key undrafted gems in this year's draft or VSL players from years past.

I honestly am not really a fan of bringing in players that we've had from summer leagues past...I mean, if that player was that good, he would stick on our team, considering our roster overturn (we waived Orien Greene, Justin Williams, Watkins, etc.) early in the season. Fact of the matter is, those players were cut for a reason, whether with flaws of lack of skill level, crazy erratic play or whatnot. I'm definitely in the preference of bringing in fresh young talent out of the undrafted pool in this year's draft class. Hopefully more young athletic shotblockers--perhaps Longar Longar--and a backup PG--perhaps Sean Singletary--of course, amongst others. The rest can be filler, and if that's Shakur, Watkins, or Caner-Medley, I'm definitely not expecting them to make it a second time.

 

[GeraldWallace#3]

Lets not forget about Pooh Jeter he's always there.

 

[bajaden]

I definitely expect our 12th pick and our two mid-2nd rounders to participate, and we can round off the rest of the summer league roster with key undrafted gems in this year's draft or VSL players from years past.

I honestly am not really a fan of bringing in players that we've had from summer leagues past...I mean, if that player was that good, he would stick on our team, considering our roster overturn (we waived Orien Greene, Justin Williams, Watkins, etc.) early in the season. Fact of the matter is, those players were cut for a reason, whether with flaws of lack of skill level, crazy erratic play or whatnot. I'm definitely in the preference of bringing in fresh young talent out of the undrafted pool in this year's draft class. Hopefully more young athletic shotblockers--perhaps Longar Longar--and a backup PG--perhaps Sean Singletary--of course, amongst others. The rest can be filler, and if that's Shakur, Watkins, or Caner-Medley, I'm definitely not expecting them to make it a second time.

One of the reasons you might bring back someone from previous summer leagues is because you thought he has potential, but had some areas to work on. You have to allow for improvement by a player. There have been a lot of players that had to play in the CBA for a few years, honing their game before making it to the NBA. I think that Watkins might have stayed with the team all year if it had not been for the salary situation of SAR and K. Thomas.

 

[CruzDude]

Short (under 6 ft) PGs don't fare too well in the NBA these days. Speedy Claxton, Sebastian Telfair, Damon Staudamire, Brevin Knight, Earl Boykins, and Nate Robinson are the only under 6 ft PGs in the league ranked in the top 50. All are backup PGs but all have started at one time or another. In fact of the top 40 the vast majority are 6-2 and 6-3.

Pooh Jeter, whom I've seen in two summer leagues now was and is on the bubble at 5-11. Very good in summer league and D-League but just not NBA.

Mustafa Shakur I saw last summer and he looked good and has an NBA PG body at 6-3 and 190 plus a 4-yr pedigree at Arizona where he was 3rd all time leader in assists and started 129 of 131 possible games. Really good playmaker but tends to pass up wide open shots looking to pass.

Orien Green is another on-the-bubble NBA body PG at 6-4 and 193 and he played in 7 games last year but was replaced by Dahntay Jones who was later cut.

Otherwise pickins' kinda slim, as it is with 10-12 other teams.

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

Don't get me wrong, I loved Shakur's game....back when he was a freshman at Arizona. Ever since then, his game was depressing; it seemed like he did a full 360 regression in his game and lost all the confidence that had previously driven his game. Don't forget, we were dealing with someone who was supposed to be a future lottery pick, and had the talent to back it up...but like so many before him and like so many that will come after him, he apparently bought into his own hype too early and lost the skills that made him good in the first place. He's a mere skeleton of himself, and I'm pretty sure Petrie figured that out when we signed him on our summer league last year. Obviously he was given a chance only because he was once a "big name" in college circles, and potential, name and hype alone can often get you a small sniff at the NBA before everyone realizes that your skills have eroded and you get turned back in the blink of an eye. That's what happened to Shakur. He doesn't need to be a given a second chance by us. Maybe another team.

 

[CruzDude]

KINGS SCHEDULE for Vegas Summer League

Schedules are out for the Vegas Summer League. Kings games are below:

Sat, 12 Jul, 1pm Kings - Raptors

Tue, 15 Jul, 7pm Kings - Blazers

Wed, 16 Jul, 3pm Kings - Mavs

Fri, 18 Jul, 7pm Kings - Warriors

Sun, 20 Jul, 5:30pm Kings - Rockets


Full schedule for all games can be found at:

http://www.nba.com/media/summerleague2008/1d1_NBA_SL_ScheduleFlyer_NewW.pdf

All games are at Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the southwest corner of the UNLV campus in Las Vegas.