Grades: Spurs vs. Hornets – Summer League Game #1
Sidy Cissoko and the Spurs began summer league with a dud (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs started their 2024 summer league adventure with a whimper. The Charlotte Hornets outscored the Spurs 23-9 in the first quarter and strolled to a 97-65 victory.
San Antonio bounces right back and plays their second summer league game on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
Stephon Castle
The good: It’s already clear that Castle actually does have point guard skills. He was right, by golly. His ball-handling looked really good for a player his size. His passing — particularly his live passing off the dribble — was impressive. Castle’s three-point shots looked natural from long range. He got to where he wanted to go offensively and was careful with the ball. On the other end, we saw tangible evidence of an ace perimeter defender in the making.
The bad: Castle’s transition defense was too slow and nonchalant a few times. The angle he took defending against drives needs improvement. On offense, his decision-making could have been better and he missed a lot of chippies in the lane. Castle tried to rely on strength a bit too often.
Overall: All in all, I liked what I saw. Forget the easy misses and his teammates bricking about a dozen would-be assists. In the bigger picture, it was great to see Castle look like a point guard — or at the very least a secondary playmaker. Knocking down two three-pointers in his summer league debut is big because that was his supposed weakness. One of those threes was a result of the defense going under a screen. Castle didn’t do that at UConn. If he can make teams pay for going under screens in the NBA, it’d be wraps — the kid would be a certified stud.
Grade: B-
Harrison Ingram
Uh, yeah, not the most aesthetically-pleasing debut. Ingram could typically be found stumbling over lines on the court or fumbling the ball when trying to dribble. He did a good job on the offensive glass and made a few quick, heady passes. I wouldn’t say Ingram was especially good or bad on defense. It just seemed like he was nervous and playing too fast for his body to handle. In terms of the eye-test, early returns aren’t great. He looked relatively limited athletically and didn’t appear to be notably strong. It’s obviously too early to come to any conclusions but Ingram doesn’t look rosterable at the NBA level after one summer league game.
Grade: C-
Sidy Cissoko
I’m not sure if Cissoko is still hampered from his offseason knee surgery but it sure looked like it. Defensively, he wasn’t as involved as usual. He was in the passenger seat during most possessions. Offensively, Cissoko tried to handle some of the load but couldn’t quite do it. His forays to the rim usually stopped short. The good news is Cissoko got to the line nine times and seemed to get a little better as the game progressed.
Grade: D+
Jamaree Bouyea
Bouyea wasn’t amazing but he was a mixture of Einstein and Magic Johnson compared to every guard on the team not named Stephon. He got the Spurs into their sets dependably. His ball-handling was a plus and he made the right passes. He didn’t shoot straight but Bouyea was otherwise a positive presence offensively. Defensively, he competed and was quick to loose balls.
Grade: B-
Nathan Mensah
The good: For a center, his perimeter defense is a plus. Mensah’s rebounding was better than advertised. His activity level was high on both ends and his court sense was above average for a center. The bad: Mensah struggled to make contested shots, even if he was spoon-fed right below the rim. The fact that he wasn’t a threat to do anything on offense kept the lane clogged. Defensively, his rim protection was minimal.
Grade: C+
Tyson Ward
Ward’s numbers don’t look good but there were flashes of intriguing ability. The Spurs had him defending point guards even though he’s 6-foot-7-ish. He moved his feet well on the perimeter and played good team defense. On offense, his effortless left-handed three-point stroke was clean. I’d trust him to hit a decent percentage just based on his mechanics. Hopefully we get to see a lot more of Ward because it looks like he may have a chance of being an NBA role player.
Grade: B-
Seth Millner Jr.
I really don’t understand what the Spurs see in this guy. They had him on the summer league team last season and even signed him to a two-way contract at one point. Millner looks like a poor athlete with terrible footwork who can’t do anything when there’s a defender on him. The team ran a couple plays for him but he didn’t have the wherewithal to finish. On the other end, I don’t see any hope of Millner being even adequate on D.
Grade: D-
Yauhen Massalski
Massalski seemed to have a good attitude and he communicated well. He doesn’t have any modern big man skills that I can see, though.
Grade: C
Jameer Nelson Jr.
Oh my gosh was he bad. It was painful watching Nelson play. The Spurs ran him at point guard even though he couldn’t dribble or pass. Whenever he touched the ball, the Hornets would start circling him like sharks just waiting for his next mistake. The only thing Nelson could do was call his own number and hope for the best. He was almost as bad on the defensive end. I’ll give him a little bit of a break because he was a rookie playing in his first summer league game but he has a long, long, long way to go.
Grade: D-
Luke Avdalovic
Avocado’s mechanics are picture perfect. If he’s open, he’s going to knock down the shot. Unfortunately, he’s unathletic and — even worse — he knows it. He looks embarrassed to even attempt to put himself in a position to rely on his athleticism. There were a few times he just stopped and watched plays unfold instead of hustling into the mix.
Grade: C
Darin Green Jr.
Now it’s clear how this guard had 32 assists in 32 games as a senior at Florida State despite playing more than 30 minutes a game. He came in firing away and didn’t think twice even when he was airballing.
Grade: C-
Tyrece Radford
The Hornets went way under his screens but Radford didn’t have enough confidence in his jumper to make them pay. That said, his limited time at backup point guard was better than what we saw from Nelson.
Grade: B-
Riley Minix
Well that sucked. Minix was in line to be the go-to scorer for the bench unit but he got hurt a few seconds after he checked into the game. It looked like he dislocated his shoulder. Hopefully Minix can play at some point in summer league because he’s one of the most interesting players on the roster.
Grade: Inc.
Kenny Trevino
No one wants to lose by 32 points in their head coaching debut. Trevino deserves some of the blame because he didn’t react soon enough to the team’s horrid bench play. Staggering Castle and Bouyea would have been the easiest fix. But, yeah, anything but watching Nelson get eaten alive would have been preferred. In Trevino’s defense, he was without David Duke Jr. and RaiQuan Gray — arguably the two most NBA-ready players on the team. He also lost Minix one minute in and Minix was likely going to be the scoring source for the bench. I did really appreciate how Trevino allowed Castle to spend quality time at point guard. That made up for a lot of the more forgettable aspects of the evening.
Grade: C+