[Game] [VSL Game 1] Kings vs Magic, 7/10/2025 4:30 Pacific 7:30 Eastern (NBATV)

Raynaud(first half) and Clifford(second half) showed out. IJ was good. Rough showing for Devin.

Not to sound like a jerk since summer league is most important for these guys, but we’ve all seen Mason Jones ball out in summer league and G league. We know after 3-4 years he’s the NBA equivalent of a 4A player.

I didn’t think he should be starting or playing significant minutes alongside Carter and Clifford. Especially if we were trying to do some Carter at PG since we know Mason is a guy who has the ball a lot. He had significant usage and it’s a 17-5-5 game that nobody will want to talk about
 
Raynaud(first half) and Clifford(second half) showed out. IJ was good. Rough showing for Devin.

Not to sound like a jerk since summer league is most important for these guys, but we’ve all seen Mason Jones ball out in summer league and G league. We know after 3-4 years he’s the NBA equivalent of a 4A player.

I didn’t think he should be starting or playing significant minutes alongside Carter and Clifford. Especially if we were trying to do some Carter at PG since we know Mason is a guy who has the ball a lot. He had significant usage and it’s a 17-5-5 game that nobody will want to talk about

Yeah, point of this should be getting the ball in the hands of Carter/Nique/Stevens (since he's our 2-way) as much as possible and seeing what happens. Letting them get developmental time with their on-ball skills. Pretty frustrating we just flat out stopped getting the ball to Raynaud in the 2nd half.

Mason Jones is the "break in case of emergency guard" that if he wants to stick in Stockton, fine.
 
Raynaud(first half) and Clifford(second half) showed out. IJ was good. Rough showing for Devin.

Not to sound like a jerk since summer league is most important for these guys, but we’ve all seen Mason Jones ball out in summer league and G league. We know after 3-4 years he’s the NBA equivalent of a 4A player.

I didn’t think he should be starting or playing significant minutes alongside Carter and Clifford. Especially if we were trying to do some Carter at PG since we know Mason is a guy who has the ball a lot. He had significant usage and it’s a 17-5-5 game that nobody will want to talk about

I'm sure they're going to lean on Mason Jones considering he's a vet at this. At least until the other guys get settled in. It'll be interesting to see how Carter responds next game and what the coaching staff does. The Magic legit had him as the number 1 target. They darn near tripled him a few times. Maybe put in some wrinkles to really exploit that if the other teams do that.
 
Interesting listening to Perry’s comments.

Talked about Reynaud sliding his feet on defense. They could be looking at him as a stretch 4.

Talked about Clifford being able to pass the ball and potentially being a back up point.
 
Raynaud(first half) and Clifford(second half) showed out. IJ was good. Rough showing for Devin.

Not to sound like a jerk since summer league is most important for these guys, but we’ve all seen Mason Jones ball out in summer league and G league. We know after 3-4 years he’s the NBA equivalent of a 4A player.

I didn’t think he should be starting or playing significant minutes alongside Carter and Clifford. Especially if we were trying to do some Carter at PG since we know Mason is a guy who has the ball a lot. He had significant usage and it’s a 17-5-5 game that nobody will want to talk about
I agree but rather have Mason Jones who is a fringe NBA player than guys who are not going to sniff the NBA playing for themselves.
 
Nique looked pretty solid. He seems to have a habit of damn near jumping from the free throw line when driving the lane that'll need to be corrected. Probably left a couple trips to the line on the floor by doing that. He really helped out at the end when DC and Jones were playing hot potato every possession with seconds left on the clock.

Maxime really showed out in an obvious way in the first quarter. Really slowed down after that but I liked what I saw from him. Pretty much just made the right play every time he was given an opportunity.
 
Grades:

Maxime Raynaud- A
About as good a debut as you could hope for from the Kings 2nd round pick. Looked extremely versatile on the offensive end and very comfortable with the ball in his hands. Very fluid mover; does not move like a "big" Not only had the huge scoring flurry in the 1Q, but 2 passing plays really stood out; had 1 ball fake, drive to the basket and hit the corner 3 for an assist...only to do the same thing a minute later with a ball fake on the shot and hit the cutter at the rim. Great stuff. SL perimeter players did what SL perimeter players do and started ball hogging in the 2nd half instead of getting Raynaud involved.

Defensively was VERY vocal yelling at his teammates to get in the right spots. Just seems like a guy who's trying to make the right play, every time.

Got taken to school a bit by Skal Labs in the 4th, but probably the only blemish from him tonight.

Nique Clifford: B+
Billed as a do-it-all wing by draft prognosticators and delivered on that billing tonight. Was matched up with TDS for most of the night, had possessions as the POA defender, very active in passing lanes. Had 2 or 3 deflections along with a couple steals. Looks very comfortable on-ball and creating as evidenced by him taking over in the 4th Q and saving the W for the Kings. Along with Carter, was the only Kings player consistently hitting the paint to create. 10 FTA very good! only 6 FTM not very good.

Isaac Jones: C+
Was very rough in the 1H, but that was possibly mask related because he turned it around in the 2H. Was hoping to see a bit more overall from him, or at the very least a progression on his shooting. Mostly played okay, but didn't see a ton of development from where he was at last year; energy guy, great hands around the rim. 9 FTA is excellent though.

Devin Carter: C
Might seem high if you just look at the shooting numbers, but he was incredibly good defensively and I really liked his progression offensively about getting to the paint and kick out. Lead to a positive play pretty much every time he was able to do so.

The bad was he was incredibly wild in this one. Just a bunch of sloppy shots and turnovers or just flat out bad decisions with the ball. And of course just can't ignore the 2-14. I think needs to be more decisive with getting into the offense; too much standing out on the perimeter, waiting for the set to happen. Maybe that's on the other guys, but we got into a stretch where Mason Jones and him just kind of stood on the perimeter the whole shot clock to heave a bad shot.

Just has to make better decisions with the ball if he wants to convince Perry and Doug he can take the back-up PG spot. He already seemingly is "behind" in that aspect and more poor showings is going to just convince them to go get someone else.
 
Nique Clifford: B+
Billed as a do-it-all wing by draft prognosticators and delivered on that billing tonight. Was matched up with TDS for most of the night, had possessions as the POA defender, very active in passing lanes. Had 2 or 3 deflections along with a couple steals. Looks very comfortable on-ball and creating as evidenced by him taking over in the 4th Q and saving the W for the Kings. Along with Carter, was the only Kings player consistently hitting the paint to create. 10 FTA very good! only 6 FTM not very good.
I feel like I remember when we picked him those really high on him said "you'll love him until he shoots free throws" and that pretty much sums up how I felt tonight. I didn't assign letter grades but this is about right.

I'm not sure if we have plans for Mason Jones but he certainly assisted in the 4th and frankly had we lost tonight after jumping out to a huge lead and pushing it back the first time Orlando brought it within single digits I'd have been very upset. Far too early to make a prediction about our summer league "title" chances. But with a "veteran" team I think not making the semis would be unacceptable.
 
Nique Clifford: B+
Billed as a do-it-all wing by draft prognosticators and delivered on that billing tonight. Was matched up with TDS for most of the night, had possessions as the POA defender, very active in passing lanes. Had 2 or 3 deflections along with a couple steals. Looks very comfortable on-ball and creating as evidenced by him taking over in the 4th Q and saving the W for the Kings. Along with Carter, was the only Kings player consistently hitting the paint to create. 10 FTA very good! only 6 FTM not very good.
You mean 6'8" Tristan Da Silva? The guy who played 3/4 for Orlando last year and was a regular rotation player for a playoff team? The guy who is a promising young wing in the NBA? You mean our new rookie matched up with him most of the night?

But I thought he couldn't possible guard 3s? Sactowndog is in ruins...
 
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