NBA Summer League is a time for teams and players to experiment with new on-court roles and responsibilities, but the tinkering doesn't always produce encouraging results. Some players flash improvements in their game or tap into the potential scouts spotted earlier in their careers while others highlight the gaps in their development.
The lesson to remember is that it's just summer league and real value can only be proven on NBA courts during meaningful games, but sometimes it's hard to throw out the production completely. With these thoughts in mind, the following players are standing out for their own reasons.
Three Prospects Playing Well
Jonas Valanciunas
The learning curve for young big men in the NBA is typically steep, but second-year big man Jonas Valanciunas -- the No. 5 overall pick in 2011 by the Toronto Raptors -- has flashed some impressive improvements in his game over the past week.
He's been physical in the paint during every game, and his stats have been outstanding. Valanciunas is a top-five scorer in Vegas, and owns a double-double average for the tournament through four games. Here are his stats:
| G | MPG | PPG | FG% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF |
| 4 | 29.3 | 18.8 | 0.561 | 0.879 | 2.8 | 7.3 | 10 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 5 | 5.8 |
The scoring and rebounding number speak for themselves, but the turnover and foul stats are still a bit alarming. Valanciunas made some improvement in those areas in Toronto's most recent contest, however.
Here's the account of that game, in which the big man scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, from team blog Raptors HQ:
The Lithuanian didn't only impact the game offensively. He stifled the paint, scaring the Nuggets guards from taking it to the hole. Most of the time, he would force penetrators into tough looks that they missed most of the time or would block the shot attempt. His dominant presence forced Denver to shoot 28 three-point shots. Valanciunas also did an exceptional job of going straight up, something he had failed to do the three games prior. Averaging 6.3 fouls-per-game, the big man did an excellent job of defending without fouling in this particular contest even though his stat-line shows he finished with four fouls. Three of those fouls came in the fourth quarter, two of which were in garbage time, that is, when the game was just about wrapped up. Finally, he continued his exceptional free-throw shooting, going 5-for-6 from the line.
Austin Rivers
The New Orleans Pelicans have loaded up with backcourt talent in the wake of Rivers' disastrous rookie season, but the second-year guard from Duke has shown signs of life in Vegas as he's scoring 17 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting through four games to go with four rebounds and 2.5 assists. Those may seem like modest numbers, but they speak to how bad things were for Rivers in 2012-13. At the Hive knows there is still a way forward for Rivers, and he seems to be on track.
The young guard believes he has made big strides during the offseason, too, and he told Paul Flannery of SB Nation that his rookie year has become a motivating influence in his NBA journey:
"I have a chip on my shoulder," Rivers said. "Last year was up and down for me. I didn't have a great year. That was tough. That was the first time in my life that everything wasn't roses and successful. I had to look in the mirror and be like, ‘All right. What am I going to do?'"
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"This is a test," Rivers said he told himself. "I'm going to rehab the heck out of my hand. I'm going to come back better."
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"You can see the difference between last year and this year," Rivers said. "I wanted to show people that I'm healthy, I'm back and this year is a big year for me."
Jordan Hamilton
Jordan Hamilton only started three games and appeared in 66 contests during his first two seasons in the NBA, but he finally looks confident and comfortable in Vegas. Hamilton is only shooting 40.4 percent from the field, but he's hitting a scorching 44 percent of his three-point shots. Through four games he has posted impressive raw stats: 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest.
Paul Flannery of SB Nation caught up with Hamilton at summer league to discuss his transition into the NBA under George Karl and his new opportunity with head coach Brian Shaw:
"I never thought I'd come to a team and not play at all," Hamilton told SB Nation. "But I've learned a lot from coach (George) Karl. He taught me a lot of things both on and off the court. I admire coach Karl. It's tough being a coach. I never rode him or anything like that. I just sat back and waited my turn and hopefully this is it."
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"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for," he said. "As of right now we're kind of thin on the wings with Gallinari down and a few guys leaving. I definitely think I can fit that mold once the season starts. This is the opportunity I've been waiting for to finally feel like I'm an NBA player."
Three Struggling Prospects
It's too early to say much of anything about McLemore's role with the Kings for next year, but so far it's been ugly for the rookie shooting guard in Vegas. For a prospect known to have a sweet shooting stroke, it's alarming to see McLemore's 28.1 percent conversion rate from the field and his ghastly 17.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc on more than 14 shot attempts per game. For all the talk about Shabazz Muhammad and his lack of assists, McLemore has yet to record a single helper despite playing an average of 28.8 minutes over four contests.
Mike Prada of SB Nation has been watching McLemore closely in Vegas, and he thinks the rookie is thinking too much about his game and pressing things at this point. Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty and SB Nation isn't worried about McLemore at all. This is your reminder that it's just summer league:
1. McLemore is 20 years old. He's so young he can't even see his peak with binoculars.
2. It's Summer League. As the final results of the game indicate, the Kings' squad isn't exactly stacked with talent. No second- or third-year NBA-level players, and only one other guy (Ray McCallum) who is even semi-likely to be in an NBA rotation next season. Even by Summer League standards this is a thin team. At least most squads have their 2012 first-rounder in place. Ours is playing for Portland.
3. It's Summer League. McLemore finished his first post-high school season in March, trained for the draft, worked out for a few teams and got plopped into Vegas to learn a system and NBA range and NBA speed and all of that.
4. It's Summer League. McLemore's 0-8 came in his third game in three days. He played a combined 63 minutes on Monday and Tuesday.
5. It's Summer League.
Tony Wroten
Wroten has the athleticism and tools to be an effective penetrating guard in the NBA, but his skill level has lagged his early transition to the NBA. His jump shot hasn't improved and when teams focus on pushing him right -- away from his dominant left hand -- the results are typically poor. The 20-year-old guard has taken 14.6 shots per game and only converted 26 percent of his attempts. Furthermore, his average of four assists has been undercut by the accompanying 3.5 turnovers. He's not effectively creating offense for himself or his teammates.
Tom Lorenzo of SB Nation has been following Wroten at summer league, though, and the young prospect said that the team is still encouraging him to shoot the ball ... regardless of the results:
My first impression from watching Wroten in Game 4 was that despite his struggles in the first three games, he still knew that at the top of the Summer League agenda was for him to work on his jump shot. Wroten said after the game, "I've been working really hard on that, regardless of how many I miss they kept telling me to keep shooting." And that is exactly what he did, becoming, if you will, the objective of Summer League play for the Grizzlies.
Last season Wroten shot just 38.4 percent from the floor in limited action, making just 7-of-36 jumpers, good for just 19.4 percent of his attempts. Again, the Summer League objective was to fix this. The aesthetics of his shot looked better in warmups, but without a live hand in his face he can't expect to get better.
Waiters is yet another volume scorer who hasn't done much to improve his efficiency profile during summer league play. The second-year player from Syracuse has scored 17.3 points per game, but he's done it on 37.3 percent shooting and 15.4 percent accuracy from three-point range. His 3.5 turnovers to 3.0 assists ratio isn't exactly inspiring either, even if it does point to his aggressiveness with the ball in his hands.
A 27-point performance on 12-23 shooting on Thursday raised his overall shooting numbers significantly, though, and Conrad Kaczmarek of Cavaliers blog Fear the Sword filed his recap on the scene in Vegas
Dion Waiters came out with his typical aggressive mindset. He got to the basket several times, made a couple nice passes, and hit two jumpers in the first quarter. He also committed a lazy turnover when he tried to split a double team. The good news is that his jumper looked to be finally falling. When he's able to hit jumpers consistently, it makes it much easier for Waiters to get to the rim and score easy baskets. Despite his normal boneheaded heat checks and ill-advised gambles, Waiters basically did whatever he wanted. He scored in a variety of ways and the Spurs couldn't really do anything to stop him. Unfortunately, Waiters does the defense a favor anytime he decides to pull up for a jumper.
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