Early Observations from the Summer League

The Kings have played two Summer League games and it is a perfect time to evaluate the young talent that they are showcasing for the upcoming year. The Kings have dropped both contests, which is especially disappointing as they were expected to be one of the better squads. That is not the point, however, as the goal is to get better and improve on all aspects of the game.  So, from having watched the first two games, here are my early observations:

Let’s start with Tyreke Evans as the debate rages on over at Sactown Royalty over whether he is a future point guard or shooting guard. It is far too early to say one way or the other as the young man needs time to develop, as would any 19-year-old point guard. What I have seen is amazing quickness and an ability to blow by defenders. He still needs to work on the jump shot, but Kevin Martin and him may lead the league in trips to the free-throw line if they are in the backcourt together. Nobody in the Summer League has shown the ability to be able to stay in front of Evans so far. He scored 25 points against the Golden State Warriors squad on 8-of-19 shooting after scoring 15 in his debut against Detroit. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in the Golden State game highlighting an area that should be one of his strengths for a guard. Beno Udrih has never grabbed more than nine rebounds in a game in his entire career. Now the downside, and the starting point for the anti-point guard crowd, Evans only has seven assists to nine turnovers in the two contests and is looking more like a scorer than a distributor in the early going. In his defense, he has dropped off a number of nice passes to teammates that they have failed to convert, so his assist totals could be higher. He definitely has the skills to be a point guard, but will need some more time and refinement, which is something we all knew coming in.

Jon Brockman is a man. He has been as advertised and has a motor that won’t quit. He is averaging 7.5 rebounds in just 15 minutes of play and has a knack for positioning and getting to the ball. He has also made a number of hustle plays; the kind that can spark a team from a role player off of the bench. He should make the squad and will be the type of player that the Arco crowd will love when he enters the game.

Omri Casspi looked much better in his second game than his first after being posterized in the first game on a nasty dunk. Sorry that I can’t recall who put it down on Casspi and there is no visual evidence as Israel called and confiscated the tape LeBron style. Casspi’s play in game two was much smoother as he hit a couple of three pointers and finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. He looks very athletic, but he may not see a lot of time early in his career as he learns the Kings system and the NBA style of play. He looked like a European player out there playing in an unstructured offense and just like when Hedo Turkoglu began his Kings career, it may take some time. I saw enough from the first two games to see why the 6-foot-9 Casspi has been compared to Hedo.

Jason Thompson and Donte Greene both look like they have been hitting the gym in the off-season and have added quite a bit of bulk. Donte’s has been well documented as he has jumped from 225 to 240, but Thompson looks bigger as well. Greene still loves the outside shot a little too much and isn’t shy about hoisting them up there, even if they take down low flying planes or are a threat to people behind the backboard. He is shooting 30.8 percent (8-for-26) in the two games and is averaging 11.5 points and seven rebounds. Thompson has looked decent in the two games, but I really expected him to dominate to be honest. He is averaging 16 points on 47.4 percent shooting, but has only grabbed four rebounds per contest.  Part of that has been Jon Brockman taking them away from him. Thompson will need to show a little bit more muscle though and start grabbing a few more boards as we get closer to the season.

That’s all I have for now. The Kings play the Bucks tonight at 7:30 pm pst and will be looking for their first win in the Summer League and the box score and live feed can be found here. Unfortunately it costs $14.99 for the feed this season for those that want to stream the game on their computer.