Power ranking shoe company rosters for an actual 5v5 tournament
4. Puma
The Team: Terry Rozier, Otto Porter Jr., Kevin Knox, Marvin Bagley, Deandre Ayton
Projected Offensive Rating: 111.7, Projected Defensive Rating: 111.5, Projected Net Rating: 0.2
Team Puma is the sleeper team in this tournament. They have 3 rookies, Scary Terry who burst onto the scene in the playoffs, and the stable Otto Porter Jr.
However, it is just that which holds them back. As incredible as Terry Rozier was in the playoffs, he isn’t a proven commodity yet. As a matter of fact, those great performances were mostly capped by impressive fourth quarters. He only shot 40.6 percent from the field in the playoffs, posting 16 points per game. That still was an increase of his regular season performance where he only shot 39.5 percent from the field. It is tough to know which version of Rozier shows up in this tournament.
Then there are the three rookies. While they are three of the top nine draft picks from this year, including the top two picks, we aren’t sure what they have. Knox was a dominant scorer in Summer League, putting up 21.3 points per game. Also, Ayton was strong in the post, averaging just over 10 rebounds per game in 26.8 minutes, shooting 60 percent from the field in doing so. However, Bagley only played one game and wasn’t terribly impressive in doing so. Even with Knox and Ayton showing off, it is still just Summer League — the same tournament that had the world thinking Lonzo Ball was going to set the league on fire only for him to come out to a cold start to the season.
The one proven commodity for Team Puma is Otto Porter Jr., who has been the steadying force on a toxic Wizards team in his tenure there. He has evolved into a tremendous 3-point shooter, at 44.1 percent last year. He does this while constantly taking on the toughest defensive assignment for the Wizards. However, he still struggles to create his own shot. He only finished in the 32nd percentile in isolation plays last year, so he cannot be counted on to carry this team.
While President of Basketball Jay-Z has done a great job signing rookies for Team Puma, this team needs to prove itself before we can fully buy in. Give them a few year and Team Puma could be on top.