2016 NBA Summer League Superlatives
As the sun sets on another chapter of NBA Summer League, there seems no more fitting way to reflect on the past 11 days of basketball than to dish out superlative awards to some of the players who stood out most in the Las Vegas heat.
There is a long, long list of deserving candidates, but here’s who the yearbook committee has decided to honor this year.
Most Likely to Still Somehow Not Get Minutes in the Regular Season
Tyus Jones, Minnesota Timberwolves
I have not come to bury the Summer League MVP but to praise him. Unfortunately, Jones will likely find himself buried nonetheless on a point guard depth chart that currently includes advanced metric darling Ricky Rubio and top-5 pick Kris Dunn. And who knows if new pack leader Tom Thibodeau will continue the time-honored tradition of giving very-much-not-a-point-guard Zach LaVine minutes at the 1.
Nevertheless, Jones was in absolute peak form this week, carving up the competition to the tune of 20.3 points and 6.8 assists per game and helping lead the 24th-seeded Summer Wolves to within fingertips’ grasp of winning the whole shebang. He also saved his best for last, coming up with a pair of huge plays in the waning seconds of both the quarterfinal and championship game. Jones would probably prefer that the former is never, ever spoken of again, but he’ll be playing the latter on repeat for years to come, taking special care to stop the tape immediately after that shot goes in.
Yearbook Quote: “I’ve been working hard this offseason, all summer, just in the weight room and spending lots of hours at the gym. Seeing it pay off is definitely motivating.”
—Jones, after the championship game
Most Likely to Be President Someday
Denzel Valentine, Chicago Bulls
The reason Tyus Jones will want to stop the tape right there is so that he doesn’t have to relive Valentine’s heroics. Denzel Valentine finished the championship game with 7 points. Here’s five of them. When Valentine caught the ball with 3.1 seconds left, he was shooting 23.9 percent on 3-pointers in Summer League play. He was 1-8 from the field on the night. There were two defenders closing out on him. He was falling away. And when the ball rattled down through the net, he collected himself off the floor and sauntered away with the casual gait of a man on his way to pick up the newspaper. That kind of cool cannot be taught. It’s the kind of thing you’re born with when your parents name you Denzel Valentine.
This week probably went about as well as it could have gone for Valentine without actually going all that well. He immediately dismissed concerns about how he’d fare against NBA athletes by controlling the Bulls’ opener against the Boston Celtics, showcasing just about every component of his versatile game. Yet he went 0-9 on 3-pointers. That kind of trend would continue, as Valentine averaged 11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals, proving to be every bit the savvy playmaker he was at Michigan State — while posting a meager .420 eFG%. But when it mattered most, Valentine got buckets. And for a guy who shot .444 on 3-pointers in his senior year at Michigan State, there’s every reason to believe that his shooting will eventually come around. Valentine should be just fine. If nothing else, he’s already got a certain teammate’s attention already.
Yearbook Quote: “The Bulls picked me up for a reason — to be a confident player, to come through when my team needs me and be a winner.”
—Valentine, after hitting the championship-winning shot
Most Likely to Be Reincarnated as an Instant Fan Favorite
Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were a whole lot of fun to watch in their opening night win over the skeleton crew representing the New Orleans Pelicans. Much fanfare was expected from second overall pick Brandon Ingram and returning players D’Angelo Russell and Larry Nance Jr., but the biggest revelation was 19-year-old center Ivica Zubac, who burst onto the scene with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. This made it all the more tragic when Jerami Grant ended Zubac’s life 24 hours later with this monstrous dunk. Zubac’s own Wikipedia page was even updated to reflect his departure from this plane. Commenting on his own ‘death,’ Zubac told SB Nation’s Harrison Faigen “I did [die] a little bit,” also noting that they “don’t have that in Europe.”
But it would be a shame for that one play — awesome as it was — to be the lone memory people have of Zubac from this past week, because the young Croatian was an absolute joy to watch. Zubac was a difference maker on both ends of the floor, averaging 2.6 blocks per contest (including 6 — SIX! — against Utah) while displaying surprisingly soft touch on his short range jumper. For Lakers fans who were distraught over the recent Timofey Mozgov signing, fear not. It’s only a matter of time until L.A.’s other center from eastern Europe has Staples Center singing a chorus of “ZUUUUUUUUUUU!”
Yearbook Quote: “It’s too much fun. Every day, every game, on the court, it’s fun to play with these guys. And when I sit on the bench, it’s fun. Every moment here is fun.”
—Zubac, after the Warriors game
Most Likely to Expedite the Next Lockout
Patrick McCaw, Golden State Warriors
So, the Golden State Warriors are pretty good at basketball. This may sound like a bit of a reach, but with the Warriors adding former MVP Kevin Durant to the core of a team that won a record 73 games last season, there is reason to believe that they will once again be something of an above-average team in the 2016-17 season. So, it seems patently unfair that they’d have a guy like Patrick McCaw — widely considered one of the premier 3-and-D prospects — fall into their laps with the 38th pick.
It seems even more unfair after watching McCaw wreak havoc in his five games of Summer League action. Demonstrating every bit of the D and even more of the 3 than he flashed in college, McCaw was a firecracker for the Summer Warriors, averaging 15.8 points per game with an eFG% of .575. For many players, the transition from college 3-pointers to NBA range can be difficult. In McCaw’s case, apparently it just makes him better, as he upped his 3-point percentage from .368 at UNLV to .382 at… well, UNLV (where LVSL is held). He also tacked on a pair of steals per game, making him a strong candidate to be the Warriors’ new relative unknown who comes on for 10-15 minutes every few playoff games and leaves a trail of opposing fans spewing profanities in his wake.
Yearbook Quote: “Coach is always on me, just telling me to make basketball plays. They know what I can do, and they just want me to be aggressive on both ends of the floor.”
—McCaw, after the Sixers game
Most Likely to Win Rookie of the Year
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
The book on Ben Simmons coming out of LSU was that he was going to be something of a point forward in the mold of a LeBron James or Lamar Odom. If Summer League is any indication, the book was wrong. In four games of Las Vegas Summer League action, Simmons looked every bit as much of a point guard as Kris Dunn or Wade Baldwin IV. Much has been said about Simmons’s court vision, and standing at 6-foot-10, he certainly has an advantage when it comes to seeing the floor. But nobody said anything about him having this level of anticipation. There were plays where the ball was out of his hands almost as soon as he got it. There were moments where he genuinely looked like an enormous Jason Kidd. That is absolutely terrifying.
As for his much-maligned jumper, it seemed generally fine, though you wouldn’t know it given Simmons’s steadfast refusal to let it rip in his first few appearances. As the week went on, it seemed like Simmons started to highlight chase a little bit, but with that, he also started pulling up left and right from mid-range, and his jumper appears very much workable — if not already passable. The bigger issue is probably his maddening tendency to try to finish with his right hand while driving left, which didn’t do him any favors this week. But man alive, the Sixers got themselves a player. After years of praying at the altar of process, the Sixers have a certifiable stud. And he’s only going to look better and better the more they surround him with actual NBA talent.
Forget League Pass. You might just want to go ahead and get a CSN Philadelphia subscription.
Yearbook Quote: “It is pretty perfect. I could not be in a better situation.”
—Simmons, to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk