Official 2016 Summer League Thread

[2centsworth]

Just watched the Sixers replay.

Kyle absolutely crumbled down the stretch. He's not a pure scorer, so that hurts him in tight situations.

Simmons has a Russell Westbrook type game. Explosive but wild with lots of turnovers. Best Athlete on the team though

Forbes is a pure shooter and isn't embarrassing defensively like Eddie Jarrell.

Arch has to show something on O. Looking forward to watching more without Simmons and KA.

[SAGirl]

Lastly, I'm not impressed with Juice. We all know he can score against this level of compe ion. If working on the fouling is what pop wants to see then the next thing is turnovers. I think it would be smart to pull Kyle after Utah but let Juice continue. Keep juice at the three, move livio to the four and hopefully milutinov to the five, with Forbes and Murray at the guards. Let Archie and Murray fight for the starting spot from day one. Maybe Simmons doesn't play either and bertans starts the three. I think you only pull juice and slomo if the stashed picks arrive.

Thanks for sharing your insight Raybies much appreciated. I like to read thoughtful comments and you always deliver!!!
I agreed with everything. I selected just a snippet bc I wanted to see what others though about these two this SL. I know ElNono is utterly disappointed that they are much the same but I don't think he's paid attention to how aggressive Kyle was with the 3 and how different he's played within the offense making plays strictly as a big at times and not handling the basketball as he was used to.

We didn't see him on PnP 3s even in the last SL or all last season even. This past game he was off the ball a lot. It seemed like something they will use in the RS, not like just a test.

Chinook thinks they should both be pulled so Spurs can see and evaluate others and that makes sense. I am ready to move on from both if we concede Simmons is what he is and be done with it. He will be a good energy guy but not someone you want to hand the basketball to and tell him to go nuts. As much as he scored aver 30 points he almost gave this game away too. Very misleading stat line.

Kyle was already a SLMVP at 21 yrs old. He looks so much more polished than other bigs here that is almost a bit cruel and I didn't think he'd benefit from this initially but he's really displayed a different game this time as a strict 4 and not necessarily playmaking, but PNP shooting 3s and playing off the ball. He's modified his game. I think he could benefit from repe ion at this spot bc he could turn into a significant bench piece, maybe even the 3rd Big off the bench. Boban is not matchup proof and Kyle is more versatile and him hitting that 3 makes him playable with the starters in a spread offense. The league is increasingly perimeter too and I think Kyle may end up playing more minutes than last season w/o Boris or D west. It's possible there's no more he can learn in these games, but it's not like he's an experienced 4.

Between us, I think Pop intended to not use Kyle in this fashion until his 4th season, thus they wanted to keep Diaw and give him even further time to develop. He was in a longer sche dule like Cojo IMO. But the situation being what it is, his timeline was accelerated and this is where he's at. He played some 4 last season, not a lot. He's more like a sop re NBA player rather than 3rd year in regards to that. There are bigs whose physicality will get the best of him or athleticism. But he likely won't see those until the NBA anyways so it's a judgment call.

Maybe they both get pulled though bc they already got the footage they wanted and will work on deficiencies in training camp.

[Mnky]

Turnovers are obviously an issue at 9 for Simmons, but this is summer league. This is where you want him to make those so he can learn how to fix them. His potential ability to score is far beyond any of the other players at the moment. He doesn't need to rely on the system. For less than a million, he's a ridiculous bargain. If he was a starting sg, we couldn't afford him. Count your blessings. Also don't see why people talk about his age so much. Get over this ESPN crap about age limiting growth. Only someone who has never competed in high level sports or never coached would think that. The guy was playing pickup basketball a couple years ago. He's much improved from where he started, which was not an NBA player.

Same can be said for Kyle,as he is still developing and learning to play without being the focal point. Something that Diaw, one if the best point forwards, still struggled with late in his career as he would fade when not running the offense through him. Kyle was basically a 2ND round pick. Kid is good value. Give him more time.

I also notice all the Kyle supporters constantly praising Kyle and complaining about Kyle trolls... but the majority of them keep trying to highlight Simmons negatively.
Ironic.

[r0drig0lac]

[r0drig0lac]

I still believe KA can be a very good player.

OV, come on man, 9 turnovers in a Summer League game....you can't count that. Too many new faces, tempo of game etc.

I see Hedo Turkoglu (magic version) potential

[Obstructed_View]

I still believe KA can be a very good player.

OV, come on man, 9 turnovers in a Summer League game....you can't count that. Too many new faces, tempo of game etc.

Pop sent KA and Simmons to summer league with a mandate on decision making. I guarantee you Pop is counting nine turnovers in a summer league game, whether you are or not.

[ceperez]

Some thoughts after watching the game again

First of all, seeing Kyle play like this is expected so I don't get too excited about the points and all, but it's the release of his shot that's starting to get to me. If he can consistently get his shot off like that, then it opens his game up. He already has a nice mid range game, he has a developing post game, so now as a threat beyond the line, it will cause defenders to properly close out on him which opens the door to more penetration. This should increase his scoring and not to mention improve the spacing on the floor.

Secondly, I like Arcidiacono. I think he's one of those blue collar career third stringers. In my mind he's the perfect type you want next to Murray pushing him to reach his full potential. If Murray starts show boating or getting sloppy you put Archie in and he'll play the right way. If Murray starts slacking on d or is not giving the effort you want, you put Archie in and he'll play his heart out. One is Captain America and one is Iron Man imo. Archie has the intangibles down. While I'm not ready to say trade mills, I think if Forbes and Archie can sustain this level of play and you need more cap, you can then look to o trade Patty.

As for Forbes, he's a star in my mind already. It's too bad we only got him on a one year contract. I think you start looking go or ways to add him on the roster. Unless he has a meteoric collapse or has an injury, I see him as this year's Gary Neal with like a curry swag.

Lastly, I'm not impressed with Juice. We all know he can score against this level of compe ion. If working on the fouling is what pop wants to see then the next thing is turnovers. I think it would be smart to pull Kyle after Utah but let Juice continue. Keep juice at the three, move livio to the four and hopefully milutinov to the five, with Forbes and Murray at the guards. Let Archie and Murray fight for the starting spot from day one. Maybe Simmons doesn't play either and bertans starts the three. I think you only pull juice and slomo if the stashed picks arrive.

Let me say something about juice. One of the reasons for Spurs collapse at the hands of OKC was that we couldn't rely on Parker or Manu to slash to the basket. Leonard was the only one, but he was doubled by the bigs. Spurs need slashers like Juice to break down the defense. Without them, Spurs aren't going to have the looks that they want.

Now if he's working on how to individually break down his defender.... then those turnovers are a learning experience.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm in agreement with a lot of you that I'd be fine seeing Anderson called home. I've seen enough to be satisfied with his improvement, and I'd like to see his minutes distributed to other players.

[ceperez]

I'm in agreement with a lot of you that I'd be fine seeing Anderson called home. I've seen enough to be satisfied with his improvement, and I'd like to see his minutes distributed to other players.

You got only 3 players on the team that's scoring ... so until the likes of Murray, Bertans and Hanlan step on the court, I'm happy that Kyle and Jonathon are building up confidence and skill.

[Obstructed_View]

I also notice all the Kyle supporters constantly praising Kyle and complaining about Kyle trolls... but the majority of them keep trying to highlight Simmons negatively.
Ironic.

Kyle has visibly bulked up and developed what looks like a really nice jumper out to three point range. Simmons is shooting 2-9 from three point range and has 13 turnovers in two games. The Simmons of last year scored a lot of points with a lot of turnovers. In an offseason where both were told to improve, one of them looks exactly the same as he did at the end of Vegas last year. Sorry, dude. That's a negative. Dribbling deep into traffic and willing the ball in with superior athleticism works great against guys that won't make an NBA roster, but it's not terribly successful against NBA talent. Nobody's rooting for Simmons to fail, but there are things he needs to do if he's going to help the team win.

[Obstructed_View]

You got only 3 players on the team that's scoring ... so until the likes of Murray, Bertans and Hanlan step on the court, I'm happy that Kyle and Jonathon are building up confidence and skill.

I completely agree with you. All three of those guys will be with the team by the time Vegas starts, which is why I'd like to see Anderson home after tomorrow's game.

[benefactor]

I think we've seen Simmons' ceiling or very close to it. Not sure he will even be on the roster come the ASB.

[TheGreatYacht]

Simmons is too good to be playing against a bunch of scrubs

[ceperez]

Simmons is too good to be playing against a bunch of scrubs

He's a man among boys.... literally.

[Obstructed_View]

Simmons is too good to be turning the ball over this much against a bunch of scrubs

[TheGreatYacht]

He's a man among boys.... literally.

The Westbrook of the summer league, literally tbh. Hope he's our backup SG next year

[ceperez]

The dude is just a bully:

[r0drig0lac]

watching highlights of Bryn in michigan, the kid is a machine

[Obstructed_View]

The dude is just a bully:

720p60 is the best way to watch sports other than live. It's amazing.

[MaNu4Tres]

I think we've seen Simmons' ceiling or very close to it. Not sure he will even be on the roster come the ASB.

Simmons is turning 27 soon, with him being on a 1 yr rental and with no room to grow really, I'd be cautiously shopping him around.

Players peak at 27, and a lot of Simmons game relies on athleticism. I don't see him improving, he's the best he's going to be right now.

[Obstructed_View]

Simmons is turning 27 soon, with him being on a 1 yr rental and with no room to grow really, I'd be cautiously shopping him around.

Players peak at 27, and a lot of Simmons game relies on athleticism. I don't see him improving, he's the best he's going to be right now.

I'm holding out hope because I really do like him, but when he showed up looking like exactly the same player as last summer, I wouldn't be surprised.

[AFBlue]

Arch has to show something on O.

Passing is considered offense. Arci is doing just fine...controlling the offense, making the smart plays and hitting shots when needed. I'm thinking he'll get more opportunity to show out if/when Simms/Anderson take a seat for good.

[Maddog]

https://twitter.com/DejounteMurray/s...26975635103744

[objective]

Count me in the Simmons-Believer minority.

He does things no one else on the bench has proven they can do (anymore): penetrate, dish, finish. Create opportunities for himself and others. And he can hit the three, when he's not passing the shot up. And murder in transition. If he can stop getting stuck on every screen he might become a plus defender.

Anderson can sleepwalk into a fadeway and awkward layups and maybe pull the trigger on threes now. Ginobili used to be able to do everything awesome. Murray is a question mark. Bertans didn't look like that kind of player.

But Simmons adds the offensive versatile firepower the Spurs need. If there's going to be any kind of shot against GS, the offense needs that juice. If it's a bunch of attempted post feeds for LMA or Pau, GS will cluch and grab with the refs and elbow and knee their way into making the feeds messy or taking down the shot clock. They can't just pass the ball around the perimeter either without trying to get to the rim. Kawhi can't iso and outscore GS by himself.

Free Juice!

[benefactor]

Simmons is turning 27 soon, with him being on a 1 yr rental and with no room to grow really, I'd be cautiously shopping him around.

I agree. I think a team that's weak at PG might be interested in parting with a decent asset if you tossed him in as a sweetener to a deal involving Patty. Might be good for Simmons too. He could get more minutes and wind up with a decent contract in the upcoming spending spree.