Enjoy Basketball: Why the Summer League can be misleading

Welcome back to another edition of Enjoy Basketball! 

Summer League is in the swing of things, and overreactions are running rampant. At Enjoy Basketball, we try to not overreact and instead appreciate! Today, we're going to review why Summer League can have us all hilariously wrong about one prospect or another. Get ready to laugh at ourselves!

Also, we want to get to know y'all a bit better, and we hope you can resolve a debate we were having at the office today:

Now that that's settled... what cereal is the most scrumptious once in the bowl?

Okay, so the order and variety of cereal is settled. Back to hoops.

In the Summer League, some players perform like future superstars but become bench warmers; others perform like bums and become absolute studs. While the regular season MVP generally reflects a top 5 talent in the NBA, the same is not true for the Summer League. Of the last 10 seasons, the only Summer League MVP to wind up definitively top 5 in their draft class has been Damian Lillard. The rest are an array of role-players spanning from Lonzo Ball to Kyle Anderson to Josh Selby (I know right). Today, we'd like to lay out a few of the best examples of why Summer League can be misleading.

Jahlil Okafor

I still remember when #TankForJahlil was trending. To be fair, Jahlil Okafor had a good rookie season, so I guess his amazing Summer League  projected well for his first year. But, if you were to use his performances as a framework for the trajectory of his career, you'd be terribly mistaken. The Duke center put up a beautiful 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in his two games. While this sounds like an alarmingly short stint, it's common for top prospects to only play in a couple SL games before getting put on ice for the regular season (i.e. Paolo Banchero now). All in all, Okafor looked like that man in the 2015 Summer League, but is now playing in China. But here's some retro Okafor highlights to make you happy (or feel old).

David West

The New Orleans Hornets drafted David West 18th overall in the 2003 NBA Draft only to have him average 6.5 points on 47% shooting. Not promising, right? But within 3 years the Xavier University forward would average 17+ points per game, and within 5 years he was an all star. Just shows to show that things can be deceiving, and take time!

Chris Paul

While West took a few years to become great, CP3 won Rookie of the Year, became a perennial all star, and is a lock for the Hall of Fame. And yet, his Summer League stats are surprisingly unremarkable. In 35 minutes per game over 4 games, the Point God only averages 11 points and 5 assists per game on just 37% shooting from the field. Who would've thought the 6-foot guard would become one of the PG Goats. Greatness.

Kevin Knox

As a Knicks fan, this one hurts. The man is now infamous for wearing a Fortnite suit to the NBA Draft, but before he faded into the periphery of NBA rosters amid several underwhelming seasons, Knox tore up the Summer League. In 8 games, a large sample size for Summer League, Knox averaged 19 points per game, albeit on just 35% shooting. This big wing was scoring in volumes, but it proved to be a horrible gauge for his future NBA performance. In the league, Knox has averaged just 7.7 points per game on subpar efficiency and remains a liability on defense. He showed flashes recently in the Hawks' playoff matchup against the Miami Heat, so hopefully he can rediscover whatever made him lethal in the Summer League.

Danny Green

Danny Green is one of the better three point shooters of the 21st century, but he didn't display it in Summer League. Over 9 games, Green averaged 10 points per game while shooting a gross 28% from three. What can we learn? Three-point shooters can be terrible in the Summer League, especially in such a small sample size. Still, they can develop into incredible long-distance shooters over the course of their careers!

Kelsey Plum's record performance wins All Star Game MVP

Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces guard and all-time leading women's NCAA scorer, won the 2022 WNBA All Star Game MVP. Plum dropped 30 points, tying a WNBA All Star Game record, while leading Team A'ja Wilson to a win over Team Breanna Stewart 134-112.

In the second half, both squads changed uniforms to honor Phoenix Mercury star center Brittney Griner, who is still detained in Russia. Griner was named an honorary All-Star this season, and both teams wore jerseys with her name and number 42 on the back. 

Pacers draw closer to acquiring Deandre Ayton

There is mutual interest between Suns center Deandre Ayton and the Indiana Pacers, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. The Suns would never let a prime asset like Ayton walk for nothing, which makes a sign-and-trade the next logical option. It would likely center around Myles Turner, and maybe a draft pick or two.

It would be a shame for the Suns to lose the former #1 pick in such underwhelming fashion, but Turner's perimeter shooting and rim protection is a good fit in Phoenix. Conversely, the Pacers' rebuild rapidly reaps young talent, adding Ayton to the collection of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Chris Duarte.

NBA to enforce harsher penalties for transition take foul

Isn't it so frustrating when the offense gets out on a fast break and is set to get a highlight reel dunk, but then the defense takes a ticky-tack intentional foul to prevent the advantage? It slows the game down and decreases the amount of entertaining fast breaks. Well, the NBA is putting an end to this phenomenon. Now if this occurs, the offense will receive one free throw from a player of their own choosing AND keep possession of the ball. An all around win for NBA fans! Watch ESPN's Zach Lowe agree with us here:

E.J. Liddell tears ACL

Pelicans rookie forward E.J. Liddell, the 41st pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has torn his right ACL and is out indefinitely. Liddell was a third-team All American for Ohio State this year and was originally a projected first rounder before falling in the draft. Prayers up to E.J. on a smooth and fast recovery!

Do the Clippers Have Too Much of a Good Thing? - Rob Mahoney (The Ringer)

HBCU players at NBA summer league seeking opportunities - Tim Reynolds (Associated Press)

Fans Love W.N.B.A. All-Stars, but Cast a Critical Eye on the League - Remy Tumin (New York Times)

In conclusion, don't watch Summer League. Just kidding! While the league shouldn't be used as a crystal ball for players' careers, the league still a blank canvas for young, budding talent to succeed, fail, and get better while adjusting to a higher level of play. Let's enjoy it!

- Conor Geelan

Last Trivia Answer: A 30 year old Bryton Hobbs is the oldest player in the Summer League. The 6-foot guard attended Northeastern State University until 2014 and reached the Lithuanian basketball league in 2017. Respectfully, this doesn't sound much like a Summer League player. A simple explanation might explain it though: he is Jayson Tatum's cousin and was signed to the Celtics' SL team. 

Trivia Question: To get traded is a tough pill to swallow, having to involuntarily uproot your life and family. Though inconvenient any time it happens, there is one NBA player who has been traded NINE times in his career, the most all time. Who is this active NBA wing player?