LAS VEGAS — As we enter the tournament phase of Summer League, it is pretty much the halfway point, which seems a good time to take stock of some of the player evaluation and development that is really the focus out in Las Vegas.
And when you talk player evaluation, you should always try to use a Clint Eastwood movie theme. It’s one of the Web’s golden rules… or it should be. We almost went with “The Bridges of Madison County,” but at the last minute went with “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”
THE GOOD
Cody Zeller, Charlotte Bobcats. I’ll admit it, I thought the Bobcats missed on this when they grabbed him at No. 4. Turns out he’s been the best rookie at Summer League (in my estimation, he is at least in the conversation). He played primarily in the post in college but with the Bobcats next season Al Jefferson owns the post, so Zeller has been working to be more of a midrange, stretchy type four — and he’s shown a real skill for it. He’s averaged 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds a game, has a decent midrange game and is a pretty deft passer.
Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors. He is probably the most improved veteran at the tournament and it’s all about his physique — the skinny kid out of Europe has worked out and filled out his upper body, and with that he’s been a man among boys in the paint at Summer League. He has been a force on both ends of the court. We’ll see how that translates when he starts playing against men again, but Masai Ujiri has got one key piece from the Bryan Colangelo era that can be part of the future here.
Andrew Goudelock, Chicago Bulls. If after three games there was a vote for Summer League MVP, Goudelock would probably get the win. That’s a fairly dubious honor, but Goudelock has a game built for Summer League — he can score. He had a 31-point game to show that off, he is averaging 22.7 points per game and is hitting 60 percent of his three pointers. He can score off the bounce, on the catch-and-shoot, he has crazy range and hasn’t seen a shot he doesn’t like. There’s a reason Lakers fans called him mini-Mamba — he will take shots just like the big Mamba. He is a disinterested defender, but his scoring at Summer League will remind GMs of how he can fill it up and that should get him an NBA contract somewhere.
(Note: There are a lot of other players who could have made the good category such as Dennis Schröder, John Henson and Ray McCallum, but I just pulled out the big three.)
THE BAD
Jan Vesely, Washington Wizards. Maybe bad is too harsh a term here, he has shown improvement on the offensive end. It’s clearly working on his game a little. But his defense is still unimpressive, particularly in transition. As Wizards Summer League coach Sam Cassell told PBT, he just expects more out of Vesely, and I think we all do. He needs to make a jump with his game or the Wizards have to think about what’s next.
Otto Porter, Washington Wizards. His game is just not a good fit with Summer League, on top of that Cassell and the Wizards’ brass want to see what kind of player they have so he has played the one, two, three and four spots. He’s smooth, he makes smart decisions, I think in the season when he gets a more defined role and in a less pickup style 5-on-5 he will look better. But not a great time in Vegas from him.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats. He has the athleticism and kind of determined game that should show better in Summer League, but if you’re a guy who works off the ball in a showcase league where point guards what to get noticed, you don’t always get the looks you want. The result is he floats through games and just hasn’t impressed.
THE UGLY
Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s shooting 29.5 percent in Summer League and turning the ball over a lot. He’s better than this, he showed it in games that mattered last year, but his Summer League has not been good.
(Summer League is supposed to be a little ugly, so we’re not going to pile on a bunch of guys here.)
