This Summer League thing is new to me. I'm not sure I have a handle on what's going on, exactly. Are we trying to develop our players, or is this about expanding the NBA? Greg Smith.. why is he on the Orlando Summer League roster? Do we not know what we have there? Are we not happy with what he is? We've got Orlando Summer League, Las Vegas Summer League, then we've got the D-League. Is it too early to tell, or is there value in these leagues? Are they all necessary? I think there is a huge gap between NCAA basketball & NBA basketball. The percentage of players successfully making the transition is not very good. Is this going to help?
Summer Leagues are for the drafted rookies to get some minutes against NBA talent and for the coaches to see how these players can adapt. Gives players who werent drafted (picked up as free agents) a chance to make a roster. Also gives NBA players who don't get a lot of minutes time to play and develop as well. D-League = Development league, so you send down players who arent ready to play in the NBA or are slated behind good players and dont get enough minutes to play there so they can get time on the court and develop their game there.
It's about letting teams evaluate boatloads of players at low cost. D-League is great but then you have to deal with NBA roster limitations. The level of competition is low but if you really like someone you can bring them into preseason. It's also a chance for NBA youngsters to spend more time with their coaching staff. For the rookies, it's probably the time they will get the most attention from their coaches. As for why there are two, I guess Orlando is getting more popular because of the Disney World atmosphere vs. Las Vegas where players are getting in trouble for partying and stuff.
For your question about Greg Smith, coaches and even Smith himself worked on some parts of his game that weren't good. Playing in the Summer League allows players like Smith to see how his new skills stack against good competition. You might see him be more inclined to be involved in the offense here in comparison to the regular season team.
That's right. If you're a big and not allowed to really pound the ball in the regular season, this is your chance to demonstrate a post up game.
Some teams use summer league for evaluation. The Rockets use it for player development. IT is also nice to have some 'veterans' so the young guys can see what the organization wants from them. Canaan and Ware seeing Beverly's aggressive style of play is meaningful. As for 'too many leagues', Morey stated they tried to do both Vegas and Orlando, but they weren't allowed to. Morey has also stated that he wishes the NBA were more like the MLB in that baseball teams can carry hundreds of players in their organization. Morey wishes the development leagues were much larger and that NBA teams could sign and develop hundreds more players. I tend to agree with Morey on this.
Only Miami Heat were allow to play in Orlando and Vegas maybe because they are the NBA champs. I see Caanan as the only rookie this year to get some minutes because Rockets roster is now a champion contender.
This would make sense, I think, since so few players actually make the transition from NCAA to the NBA. It would stand to reason that more development is needed.
