duncan228
07-21-2008, 01:04 AM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/chris_mannix/07/20/vegas.recap/?eref=sircrc
Five thoughts from Las Vegas
Chris Mannix
LAS VEGAS -- Five thoughts from Vegas and my 2008 All-Summer League team as I prepare to enter week two in Hell's playground.
1. Jerryd Bayless Is The Real Deal
I know, I know -- summer league statistics need to be taken with an entire box of salt. I'm still smarting over Marco Belinelli following a 22.8 point per game performance in the 2007 summer league with a 2.9 point per game regular season with the Warriors. But by all accounts, Bayless, the dynamic Trail Blazers guard, is legit. Showing uncanny explosiveness, Bayless averaged 27.7 points in four games, knocking down an absurd 44 out of 55 free throws on his way to winning the award for the league's top rookie handily. "He's got a lot of talent," said an Eastern Conference personnel executive. "He plays a little for himself, which makes me wonder whether he can be a true point guard. But he is going to be a very good player."
Bayless' ability to pick up the point guard position will be worth watching. "He's going to have to work on [playing point guard] a little bit," said Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "He can score; that's his mentality. But we need him to do more. He has to be able to set [the offense] up and create opportunities."
The Blazers will show patience with Bayless. McMillan said incumbent Steve Blake will be the opening-night starter ("It's Steve's job," McMillan said. "He will be our point guard.") and Bayless will have to battle for minutes with second-year playmaker Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez, a 6-foot-6 combo guard who is coming over from Europe after spending the last seven seasons playing in the elite Spanish ACB League.
Bayless, however, may have something to say about that.
"I think it's [an open competition]," said Bayless. "Obviously we're teammates and you have to keep a positive attitude, but when we're out on the court everyone is going to compete.
Whether or not he starts, McMillan says the door is wide open for Bayless to play a significant role this season. The Blazers coach says he can envision a Bayless-Blake backcourt ("we could play some zone there," said McMillan) and says that if Bayless can fill it up like he did at Arizona -- he averaged 19.7 points in his lone season with the Wildcats -- he has no problem leaving him on the floor.
"Even though we want him to play point guard, we need him to score," McMillan said. "Jerryd will have to work for minutes, but if he can help us win, he'll play. That's just the way I coach."
2. Still no love for Love
If you are a column reader -- and I know there are at least three of you -- you know that I am not a member of the Kevin Love Fan Club. It's not that I don't see him having a long NBA career; quite the contrary. I think Love can be a serviceable forward for the next 10-12 years. But when you are taken with the fifth pick in the draft (and traded for a potential star like O.J. Mayo), you are expected to be more than a more skilled Bryant Reeves.
Statistically speaking, Love acquitted himself well in Las Vegas: In four games Love averaged 18.0 points and a league-best 13.5 rebounds. He was unquestionably one of the most skilled players on the floor and at times showcased a well-placed mean streak. But dominating Lorenzo Mata-Real is a lot different than picking apart Tim Duncan.
"You see all those pump fakes?" asked a coach of an Eastern Conference team. "He can do that against this competition. But he tries that [stuff] against Duncan or [Kevin] Garnett and it's going nowhere. At the end of the day, you have to remember he's a 6-8 guy who plays below the rim."
Here's something more disconcerting: Love is considered by some to be a major injury waiting to happen. An NBA front office source with a team who worked out Love describes him as a "train wreck" physically, pointing to his surgically repaired knee as the biggest point of concern.
Then there is the question of Love's weight. Several league sources I talked to expressed concern that Love, who dropped 15 pounds and reduced his body fat from 15-16 percent to 11-12 percent in the months leading up to the NBA draft, will put that weight back on once the regular season starts.
Stay tuned.
3. Memphis' third 'lottery' pick
No GM is more maligned than the Grizzlies Chris Wallace. Over the last 12 months, Wallace has been accused of everything from handing the Lakers the Western Conference crown to getting swindled by Kevin McHale in the Love-Mayo swap.
But it might be time to give Wallace a reprieve. Mayo averaged 18.8 points and 3.6 assists in summer league and looked every bit the potential All-Star he has been billed as. Wallace also may have found a gem in the Lakers deal in 7-foot-1, 265-pound center Marc (don't call me Pau) Gasol, who was not on Memphis' summer league team (he had already committed to the Spanish national team) but comes to the Grizzlies with an impressive résumé: He won the ACB league's Most Valuable Player award this season and was one of two ACB players to rank in the top five in scoring (fifth), rebounding (third) and blocks (third). The younger Gasol's 65.3 field goal percentage with Akasvayu Girona was second in the league.
But that may not even be Wallace's coup de grace. In former Kansas star Darrell Arthur, the Grizzlies believe they have secured a third "lottery" pick. According to sources, Arthur is still seething over a draft day circus that saw the 6-foot-9 forward slip from a potential lottery pick to a late-first round selection thanks to teams being misinformed about a possible kidney ailment. Adding insult to, well, insult was the fact that Arthur was traded three times before eventually winding up in Memphis.
"He's playing with a big chip on his shoulder," said one front-office source.
That's good news for Memphis.
4. The Sixers have some trade bait
The signing of Elton Brand has left Philadelphia with a bit of a logjam at power forward. With Brand, who has averaged 38.3 minutes in his career, expected to log heavy minutes at the position, incumbents Reggie Evans and Jason Smith will be fighting for the backup minutes.
If Sixers GM Ed Stefanski is looking to trade one (and there have been no indications that he is), Smith has value. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward concluded a superb summer league where he averaged 15.6 points and 8.0 rebounds. Several scouts I talked to were impressed by Smith's improved ability to knock down the 15-18 foot jump shot with regularity.
"He's a starter in this league," said one Eastern Conference scout. "No question."
Smith will make $1.3 million this season and with team options at $1.4 and $2.2 million, he is one of the league's best bargains.
5. The Darius Miles dilemma
Kudos to SI.com colleague Ian Thomsen for starting a mini-firestorm in Las Vegas with his column on the possible return of injured forward Darius Miles. Several media outlets have endeavored to advance the story and there have been no shortage of opinions in Vegas on whether a team should take a chance on Miles.
Most, at least in my reporting, have been against it.
"Why would anyone pick him up?" said one league source. "He's the same guy he was with the Clippers and the same he was with Portland. Nothing has changed."
SI.com All-Vegas Summer League Team
PG -- Jerryd Bayless, Portland
SG -- O.J Mayo, Memphis
SF -- Donte Green, Houston
PF -- J.J. Hickson, Cleveland
C -- Kevin Love, Minnesota
Five thoughts from Las Vegas
Chris Mannix
LAS VEGAS -- Five thoughts from Vegas and my 2008 All-Summer League team as I prepare to enter week two in Hell's playground.
1. Jerryd Bayless Is The Real Deal
I know, I know -- summer league statistics need to be taken with an entire box of salt. I'm still smarting over Marco Belinelli following a 22.8 point per game performance in the 2007 summer league with a 2.9 point per game regular season with the Warriors. But by all accounts, Bayless, the dynamic Trail Blazers guard, is legit. Showing uncanny explosiveness, Bayless averaged 27.7 points in four games, knocking down an absurd 44 out of 55 free throws on his way to winning the award for the league's top rookie handily. "He's got a lot of talent," said an Eastern Conference personnel executive. "He plays a little for himself, which makes me wonder whether he can be a true point guard. But he is going to be a very good player."
Bayless' ability to pick up the point guard position will be worth watching. "He's going to have to work on [playing point guard] a little bit," said Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "He can score; that's his mentality. But we need him to do more. He has to be able to set [the offense] up and create opportunities."
The Blazers will show patience with Bayless. McMillan said incumbent Steve Blake will be the opening-night starter ("It's Steve's job," McMillan said. "He will be our point guard.") and Bayless will have to battle for minutes with second-year playmaker Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez, a 6-foot-6 combo guard who is coming over from Europe after spending the last seven seasons playing in the elite Spanish ACB League.
Bayless, however, may have something to say about that.
"I think it's [an open competition]," said Bayless. "Obviously we're teammates and you have to keep a positive attitude, but when we're out on the court everyone is going to compete.
Whether or not he starts, McMillan says the door is wide open for Bayless to play a significant role this season. The Blazers coach says he can envision a Bayless-Blake backcourt ("we could play some zone there," said McMillan) and says that if Bayless can fill it up like he did at Arizona -- he averaged 19.7 points in his lone season with the Wildcats -- he has no problem leaving him on the floor.
"Even though we want him to play point guard, we need him to score," McMillan said. "Jerryd will have to work for minutes, but if he can help us win, he'll play. That's just the way I coach."
2. Still no love for Love
If you are a column reader -- and I know there are at least three of you -- you know that I am not a member of the Kevin Love Fan Club. It's not that I don't see him having a long NBA career; quite the contrary. I think Love can be a serviceable forward for the next 10-12 years. But when you are taken with the fifth pick in the draft (and traded for a potential star like O.J. Mayo), you are expected to be more than a more skilled Bryant Reeves.
Statistically speaking, Love acquitted himself well in Las Vegas: In four games Love averaged 18.0 points and a league-best 13.5 rebounds. He was unquestionably one of the most skilled players on the floor and at times showcased a well-placed mean streak. But dominating Lorenzo Mata-Real is a lot different than picking apart Tim Duncan.
"You see all those pump fakes?" asked a coach of an Eastern Conference team. "He can do that against this competition. But he tries that [stuff] against Duncan or [Kevin] Garnett and it's going nowhere. At the end of the day, you have to remember he's a 6-8 guy who plays below the rim."
Here's something more disconcerting: Love is considered by some to be a major injury waiting to happen. An NBA front office source with a team who worked out Love describes him as a "train wreck" physically, pointing to his surgically repaired knee as the biggest point of concern.
Then there is the question of Love's weight. Several league sources I talked to expressed concern that Love, who dropped 15 pounds and reduced his body fat from 15-16 percent to 11-12 percent in the months leading up to the NBA draft, will put that weight back on once the regular season starts.
Stay tuned.
3. Memphis' third 'lottery' pick
No GM is more maligned than the Grizzlies Chris Wallace. Over the last 12 months, Wallace has been accused of everything from handing the Lakers the Western Conference crown to getting swindled by Kevin McHale in the Love-Mayo swap.
But it might be time to give Wallace a reprieve. Mayo averaged 18.8 points and 3.6 assists in summer league and looked every bit the potential All-Star he has been billed as. Wallace also may have found a gem in the Lakers deal in 7-foot-1, 265-pound center Marc (don't call me Pau) Gasol, who was not on Memphis' summer league team (he had already committed to the Spanish national team) but comes to the Grizzlies with an impressive résumé: He won the ACB league's Most Valuable Player award this season and was one of two ACB players to rank in the top five in scoring (fifth), rebounding (third) and blocks (third). The younger Gasol's 65.3 field goal percentage with Akasvayu Girona was second in the league.
But that may not even be Wallace's coup de grace. In former Kansas star Darrell Arthur, the Grizzlies believe they have secured a third "lottery" pick. According to sources, Arthur is still seething over a draft day circus that saw the 6-foot-9 forward slip from a potential lottery pick to a late-first round selection thanks to teams being misinformed about a possible kidney ailment. Adding insult to, well, insult was the fact that Arthur was traded three times before eventually winding up in Memphis.
"He's playing with a big chip on his shoulder," said one front-office source.
That's good news for Memphis.
4. The Sixers have some trade bait
The signing of Elton Brand has left Philadelphia with a bit of a logjam at power forward. With Brand, who has averaged 38.3 minutes in his career, expected to log heavy minutes at the position, incumbents Reggie Evans and Jason Smith will be fighting for the backup minutes.
If Sixers GM Ed Stefanski is looking to trade one (and there have been no indications that he is), Smith has value. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward concluded a superb summer league where he averaged 15.6 points and 8.0 rebounds. Several scouts I talked to were impressed by Smith's improved ability to knock down the 15-18 foot jump shot with regularity.
"He's a starter in this league," said one Eastern Conference scout. "No question."
Smith will make $1.3 million this season and with team options at $1.4 and $2.2 million, he is one of the league's best bargains.
5. The Darius Miles dilemma
Kudos to SI.com colleague Ian Thomsen for starting a mini-firestorm in Las Vegas with his column on the possible return of injured forward Darius Miles. Several media outlets have endeavored to advance the story and there have been no shortage of opinions in Vegas on whether a team should take a chance on Miles.
Most, at least in my reporting, have been against it.
"Why would anyone pick him up?" said one league source. "He's the same guy he was with the Clippers and the same he was with Portland. Nothing has changed."
SI.com All-Vegas Summer League Team
PG -- Jerryd Bayless, Portland
SG -- O.J Mayo, Memphis
SF -- Donte Green, Houston
PF -- J.J. Hickson, Cleveland
C -- Kevin Love, Minnesota