The Void’s Summer League Takeaways

Summer league is officially in the books, and The Void’s Charley Collier and Billy Creger are here to provide their takeaways.

There has never been an NBA off-season like this before. The league has dominated the conversation all summer, from the Finals, to the draft, to free agency, to summer league.

It’s a lot to wrap one’s head around. Luckily, you have us to give you our takeaways of everything that went down during summer league, from Jason Tatum’s dominance to Lonzo Ball and the Lakers 180 degree turnaround after a shaky start. We wish every NBA Summer League could have the discussions and story lines that this year’s did, and in the future, they might. But for now, we’re here to talk about everything that made this year so special.

Has the summer league impacted your opinion of the 2017 draft class?

Charley Collier: While I try not to take the summer league too seriously, I must admit that the 2017 draft class looks deeper than I first thought it would be. It’s important not to make strong judgements without taking into account the competition level in the NBA Summer League. Most of these players are D-Leaguers, but if you look at the one-on-one matchups, top to bottom this draft class looks very competitive.

Billy Creger: Summer league allowed the incredible quality and depth of this class to be put on full display. Players taken in the top three shined, as expected, and players taken in the second round were showcased as well. The most important post-summer league takeaway on the 2017 draft class is that yes, these players are worth the hype. If the past couple weeks are a sign of what’s to come, this class will be in the conversation as one of the best draft classes since 2003.

Over/Under: 15.0 PPG for Lonzo Ball in the regular season

Collier: I’ll take the under: Ball will sit somewhere around 12 PPG. Lonzo plays like a traditional, pass-first point guard — there will be games where he will rack up points, but I don’t think his primary focus will be scoring. He is a true facilitator and should already be considered one of the best passers in the league despite having yet to play a minute of regular season basketball. I actually think he will come close to averaging a double-double.

Creger: Lonzo Ball will average right around 15 PPG this season. I think he will have trouble finding his shot, especially early on, due to the increased pace and quality of the league relative to what he’s experienced in the past. But considering his elite layup package, high pick and roll IQ, and the Lakers lack of scorers in the backcourt, it’s easy to see Lonzo averaging at least 15 a game.

What was your biggest disappointment of the summer league?

Collier: The biggest disappointment for me was Markelle Fultz. I just don’t understand how he was unanimously considered the best prospect in this class. Don’t get me wrong, he had a great year at Washington, but a lot of his best games came against inferior opponents. Also, he didn’t help his team win enough games. He’s just not an elite talent in my eyes.

I was hoping that he would prove me wrong in the summer league. However, he looked very pedestrian in the few games he played before he rolled his ankle and was shut down by the Sixers. A handful of games in summer league will not be indicative of his entire career, but it would have been nice to see more out of the №1 pick.

Creger: The biggest disappointment this year was Markelle Fultz. I’m not saying that he is a bust, or even that he will be. It’s just that we, the fans, were robbed of the opportunity to see the first match-up between Fultz and Ball, which was a bit disappointing. In the end, though, Philly made the right call to be cautious and have him sit out the rest of summer league. These are just exhibition games, after all.

Finally, who was YOUR MVP of the summer league and why?

Collier: I actually have two MVPs of the summer league, both a little bit out of the box. My first is a Miami big man, Bam Adebayo. I had low expectations for Bam coming out of college. I thought he lacked explosiveness and didn’t have a strong enough scoring ability to succeed at the NBA level. He proved me wrong this summer, scoring more points than he ever did in college while also being a force on the defensive end. Another thing that really stood out to me was how quickly he was able to gel with his teammates.

My second MVP isn’t a player at all, but is instead everyone’s favorite father. Mr. Ball has never been shy, and his son’s transition to the NBA hasn’t changed that. We are so used to seeing LaVar say outlandish things that it almost fails to register when he actually makes sense. LaVar’s comments are often torn apart by the media, but this time, I actually agree with him. He was ridiculed for getting upset with his son after his triple-double because his team didn’t win. But LaVar was right. When it comes down to it, winning is all that matters. After Lonzo wore Nikes, I felt that LaVar had the best response possible and actually sounded like a reasonable guy.

Here’s to a brand new LaVar Ball, and to the most interesting summer league in years.

Creger: The easy answer here would be Lonzo Ball. But since a lot of us expected him to go out and live up to the hype, I’ll go with a guy that slipped under the radar in the draft: Dennis Smith Jr. He dropped all the way to pick №9 after being projected by most to go in the top five, and I have a feeling many of the teams that passed on him already regret their decisions. Smith turned heads early by flashing Westbrook-like explosiveness at the rim, and he went on to show a very complete skill set throughout. He averaged 17.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, and 2.2 SPG, numbers that are definitely good enough to earn my MVP award.