Early Takeaways From Nets First Two Summer League Games
The Nets’ NBA Summer League games aren’t the same without Cam Thomas.
The third-year guard, who juiced the previous two events with his innate ability to get buckets in bunches, especially in fourth quarters, had nothing left to prove to the organization in this setting, so his participation wasn’t deemed valuable to his development.
With his absence, the Nets sent over a G League-level squad to Las Vegas, if that. Brooklyn split its first two contests, defeating the Knicks, 98-80, on Sunday after falling to the Cavs, 101-97, in Friday’s opener.
I know it’s early, but the first glimpses weren’t all that inspiring in terms of whether this Nets club possessed anyone who made you sit up and think, ‘Hmm, this guy could help them this season” the way Thomas ruled the court by showcasing an elite NBA scoring skill even as a 19-year old. Sure, the flaws in his game were as visible then as they are now, but you could foresee him earning some role even on a team with the highest aspirations.
At best, the 2023 Summer League Nets featured a few players who might warrant regular season minutes in the off chance of certain adverse situations, such as an injury glut or a complete teardown of the core due to underachievement. There’s a lot of “ifs” involved.
In that regard, here are a few notes on what I liked and didn’t like over the admittedly limited two-game sample size:
1) Jalen Wilson’s aggressiveness
Whether the 22-year old second round pick (No. 51 overall) can play at the faster NBA speed will be determined, but you had to respect his decision-making with the ball in his hands. Wilson was quick to attack off the catch and generally made good reads on his drives, with just one turnover over the two games. Like Thomas, he displayed a knack for getting shots up in one-on-one situations and earning trips to the free throw line. I don’t want to go overboard (in either direction) on anyone after seeing them play two games, so I’ll just mention that he really had two excellent quarters, where he notched 22 of his combined 31 points, while the other six frames were far less impactful. Defensively, he was one of a host of Nets who overhelped on the perimeter ballhandler’s first bounce while their primary responsibility one pass away moved into a wide open three-point shooting position. Wilson just didn’t seem to be quick enough to get back into applying a quality contest. So annoying when anyone did it, not just Wilson. At 6-foot 8, Wilson, who already signed a two-way deal with Brooklyn for this season, plays a position where the Nets are fairly deep, so I would think he would need a couple of guys in front of him to go down before he can see regular minutes. The key will be if he can improve his three-point shooting consistency—he drained only 33.7% of them as a senior at Kansas. Will he be a higher basketball IQ version of Kessler Edwards? Too early to tell.
2) Armoni Brooks’ shooting
The Nets lost a lot of three-point shooting in their salary cap retrenchment last week. I mean, a LOT of three-point shooting. As I noted in my last post, Joe Harris, Seth Curry, and Patty Mills rank fourth, sixth, and 86th, respectively, among the league’s all-time leaders in three-point field goal percentage while Yuta Watanabe would have placed fifth in the category last season if he qualified. In their stead, Brooklyn signed Dennis Smith Jr., a sub-30% career shooter from behind the arc, in free agency. Enter Brooks, 25, who has 74 career NBA games under his belt and has so far displayed a knack for knocking down three balls. He followed up a 5-for-9 performance from deep versus Cleveland with 5-for-10 long-range marksmanship on Sunday. I also thought his all-around game—from driving closeouts to defensive activity, was a lot better against the Knicks than in the opener. At 6-foot 3, he’s a bit undersized, but so were Curry and Mills. He’s definitely worth a training camp invite, and if his three-point efficiency isn’t a fluke, maybe he can earn a two-way deal.
3) Kennedy Chandler’s hops
Sometimes, a player can play bigger than his listed height. Such is the case with Chandler, a 6-footer who dazzled the crowd with an emphatic block and dunk during the two games. He plays with a physicality on both ends that belies his stature. Only 20, I admired more how he focused on getting the Nets set up to run a halfcourt offense, as opposed to the many Summer Leaguers who are out there to impress NBA executives with their individual skills. Oh, there were more than a few examples of lousy shot selection, but Chandler didn’t abuse his ballhandling privileges and kept the turnovers down (three in 54 minutes). An early second-round pick in the 2022 Draft, Chandler was cut at the end of last season by Memphis, who already have an undersized guard who plays above the rim in Ja Morant. I think his size and poor three-point shooting will hold him back in Brooklyn, but he too could be headed to training camp.
And on the other end of the scale….
4) David Duke Jr. plateauing
I think we’re near the “change of scenery” portion of Duke Jr.’s professional narrative. This is his third Summer League as a Net and he appears no closer to earning that elusive standard NBA contract than when he was as an electric rookie out of Providence (the Nets converted his two-way deal for last season’s final two games as a temporary reward, but then did not tender him a qualifying offer this offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent). His game, though high energy, isn’t suited to what Brooklyn needs at the moment. His shot remains a work in progress—even the ones that go in look wayward off the release—and he gets tunnel vision taking the ball to the rim. Maybe if he were on, say, Denver, with center Nikola Jokic running things and creating easy buckets for good cutters, Duke’s assets could be more value-added. Hey, it worked for Bruce Brown.
5) Noah Clowney with the ball in his hands
I know, I should cut Brooklyn’s first of two first-round picks (No. 21 overall) some slack. Clowney turns 19 on Friday and he is far from a finished product, both physically and with his understanding of how the NBA game is played, especially on the offensive end. But boy does he have a long way to go. I foresee an extended presence on Long Island this season. For now, this is Summer League, so no one cares that he’s taken nine three-pointers (making just two) over the two games after shooting a ghastly 28.3% on 3.3 attempts per game from the shorter college distance at Alabama last season. Still, from my vantage, Clowney has less skill than Day’Ron Sharpe had at the same stage two years ago. And with a lower-revving motor on the offensive glass to boot. Clowney’s hands and handle were concerning. The hope is that Clowney will be able to develop his body and game over time, of which the Nets now have plenty.
6) Get well soon, Dariq Whitehead
Brooklyn’s other first-round pick is absent due to his rehabbing from a second foot surgery. Would have loved to have seen what he could bring to the table.