There is an understanding that a turnaround will not be instant when the real games begin. As Rockets general manager Rafael Stone put it, “We know it’s not instant gratification. It’s not even a quick journey. But I think that everybody’s embracing every single step along the way.” 1. Jalen Green had been refreshing in many ways, from his sensational play to his frank comments. But more than that, he was right. After he limped off midway through his third summer league game and the decision was made to shut him down, Green said, “I don’t have anything to prove anything here. I got to prove it in the NBA and that’s what I’m going to try to do.” His play in Las Vegas offered a glimpse of his potential, but that was already clear when the Rockets selected him with the second pick of the draft. His talent was obvious in his season with the G League Ignite. Others might have seen it when he led the Rockets to wins to open summer league, averaging 20.3 points on 51.4 percent shooting and 52.6 percent 3-point shooting even with his playing time limited when he was hurt and with the Pistons keeping him in double teams. The Rockets were not at all surprised by the talent. They were more encouraged, excited even, by what they saw that went beyond an explosive first step or soft shooting touch. Green’s game against the Pistons and Cade Cunningham, the one player chosen before him in the draft, was billed as a showcase event of summer league. Green has elevated it not intending to hype it like wresting as much as to answer the question that was asked. “I feel I should have been No. 1,” Green had said after practice in Las Vegas the day before facing Cunningham and the Pistons. “It’s going to be a good game. No. 1 vs. No. 2. That’s what people are going to be looking for.” Green performed well. He had 25 points, knocking down 6 of 11 shots including 3 of 5 3-pointers as the Rockets surged to a 20-point win. More telling for the Rockets, however, was that when the Pistons threw double teams at Green, blitzing on high screens, Green did not get drawn into a showdown with Cunningham. (He did twice beat Cunningham off the dribble, forcing Cunningham to take a foul before a Green slam, two of his seven fouls that night.) Green made the reads and made the right plays. He still got his points in an efficient performance. That comes with that sort of talent. But his willingness to play within the offense, rather than to react to the spotlight and the hype, was more important for the Rockets to see than a reminder of the abilities they already knew. “It’s exciting to see him up and close and personal in a Rockets uniform,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “Jalen out there making exciting plays but doing it within the context of how we do things.” More than that, they saw the determination that will be essential to Green achieving his outsized goals. The weeks in summer league training camp and in Las Vegas showed his drive. He works. He behaves not as if he has arrived but as if he is just starting on his way to where he wants to go. That leads to an unusual combination of great confidence and humility. Green believes strongly in his ability. But his long-held determination to be great forces him to measure himself not with rookies and summer leaguers but with those that have already achieved all that he wants, a comparison that is humbling. Other than the reassurance that his hamstring soreness was minor, that was the best thing the Rockets could hope to see in Las Vegas. There is star quality to Green, from the looks and athleticism in his slender build to the ability to put the ball in the basket with style. But a view of the grounded determination had to be the best news for the Rockets at summer league. It will be the key to living up to that potential that was on display. As Green put it confidently but matter-of-factly, “You’re going to see a lot more.” 2. Alperen Sengun departed Las Vegas early, having accomplished all he could with four games. He averaged 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds in 25 minutes per game, making 43.2 percent of his shots and 37.5 percent of his 3-pointers. There seemed little left to gain with one more summer league game. He also demonstrated a great deal about his play and his readiness for what comes next. Sengun showed skills and drive, playing with a “high motor” as advertised. He is far from the fastest player on the court but he runs the floor hard. He is not too quick off his feet but he chases every rebound, coming away with his share of rebounds taken in a crowd. That was all part of the scouting report when the Rockets dealt the first-round picks of the Wizards and Pistons to get Sengun with the 16th pick of the draft. More than his numbers or abilities, Sengun had a look about him that stood out. As with each of the Rockets’ first-round picks, he is just 19 years old. He looks it, too. He, as with Josh Christopher, Usman Garuba and Jalen Green, would be carded for sure if they ordered a beer at dinner. But in games and practices, Sengun looked like an NBA player dropped into summer league. The NBA veterans are always conspicuous in summer league. Training camp, practices, shootarounds and games tend to accelerate learning and lead to a poise in games. They show a greater understanding of what they want to do and can do, even in a summer setting. Sengun had that. When the ball found him, he had a plan for what he wanted to do with it. He did not often stand with his back to the basket and call for the ball, as he had as the MVP of the Turkish league and likely will not very often with the Rockets. But he still executed in his role, looking like a player much more experienced in the ways of the NBA than he is. There will be adjustments to come when he plays against more players with size and athleticism than his. That is always part of the process. But the way Sengun executed made him look like the sort of rookie that can get on the court quickly and belong. He looked like his combination of energy, varied skills and passing ability will allow him to contribute quickly. He is not likely to put up the sort of numbers in an NBA season that he did last week. He will not have to. But he looked like an NBA player already, leaving little reason to play one more game of summer league. 3. The numbers are obvious and undeniable. The Rockets drafted four players, signed two free agents, and have 15 players under contract, not including any two-ways. Not every signed player in Las Vegas will be playing to start next season. Rookies Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba showed their potential and why the Rockets grabbed them in the first round. Both also will need playing time. They could find that with the Rockets, for different reasons. Christopher’s offensive skills, particularly with the ball in his hands, are obvious, despite misfiring from deep through his five games in Las Vegas. Defensively, he looked very good applying pressure on the ball. Garuba showcased his elevated defensive potential, talent that would tend to get a rookie on the floor more quickly. But if they are not playing with the Rockets, both could find themselves with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. This would not be a demotion. If anything, the Rockets’ history would indicate that is a sign that they value prospects. That could benefit both should they spend time in the G League. They also would not have to check long-ago Rockets’ history (Clint Capela) to know they would be in a large club of Rockets players to have been Vipers. Kevin Porter Jr. and K.J. Martin spent much of last season in the G League bubble. Armoni Brooks, who lit up the summer league finale with 30 points (the most for a Rockets player in Las Vegas) was with the Vipers through much of last season. The Rockets’ rookies need to play. Jalen Green will play with the Rockets. Alperen Sengun might. It could be difficult for Christopher and Garuba to initially get extended minutes with the Rockets. They will play somewhere. They looked like players that will grow rapidly with the playing time.
I want to see Garuba hold all players, even the the louder ones, accountable for slips. Usman needs to find his inner PJ, he did not let the superstars slack, he let them hear it.
No surprise, Thriller leading offensive efficiency by huge margin. Small sample size but 70% TS is ridick.
Summer league rookie scouting reports: From Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Davion Mitchell to standouts and surprises https://theathletic.com/2776044/202...d-davion-mitchell-to-standouts-and-surprises/ While I find NBA Summer League more informative for second-year players than I do rookies — as I wrote earlier this week — that’s obviously not what the vast majority of people care about, and are excited about seeing when they tune into the event. They want to see their favorite team’s players suit up for the first time in uniform. When evaluating rookies at the event, I don’t think it’s worth overreacting to bad performances, which is why you won’t see me comment on any below. The adjustment to playing professional basketball can be real, and it takes time in many cases. It’s just not worth getting particularly up in arms about. Having said that, I do think it can be informative on the positive side of the equation. Guys — such as Jalen Johnson, in my case — can really change your prior thoughts on them as they enter NBA spacing and environment for the first time. And indeed, I thought that, overall, this was one of the better rookie classes I can remember in terms of summer league performance. I wrote about 15 players that stood out in some respect below, but honestly could have written about five or six more that I genuinely thought were terrific. Here’s a bit of a deep dive into the rookie performances we saw at summer league, with thoughts on the top-five picks, the co-MVPs of the event, and some other players who really flashed some long-term potential for various reasons. The Top Five Picks Cade Cunningham, Pistons Cunningham was every bit of what was expected given the constraints of what this event and what his team environment was. This is not the type of situation where he’s going to stand out as the best player, as it’s largely a transition show with a whole bunch of guys around who don’t quite have the processing speed of typical NBA players. The guys who stand out to the general viewer at summer league aren’t the ones who play the right way and do the functional things. They’re the dunkers, the crazy ballhandlers, the exciting players. Cunningham is a metronome of consistency, regularly making the right play at the expense of his own numbers. Having said that, I thought he got the better of Jalen Green in their head-to-head matchup early in the event. I know Houston won the game, and I know Green scored more points. But most of Green’s positive moments came driving into the lane and getting fouled by poor defenders like Luka Garza or leaking out in transition, or losing dudes like Saben Lee and Killian Hayes off the ball. Cunningham’s moments in that game were a lot more translatable to critical NBA moments. He made a couple of self-created step-back 3s, played some killer defense on Green and generally did extremely well when he was allowed to make plays on the ball. Consistently, he made the correct basketball decision. His teammates didn’t always take advantage of his passes. The Pistons hit 3 for 26 from 3 in that game if you remove Cunningham’s attempts. Overall, Detroit made just 19 of 74 from 3 in the three games Cunningham played if you remove his attempts, which is about 25 percent. There were a lot of assists left on the table just with poor shot-making, but that doesn’t stop him from making the right reads. Be it to hit the hit-ahead pass in transition, or to swing the ball quickly to the next man on the perimeter to try to get a minor advantage, or little clear-outs in the lane to make sure his man has an easy runway for a layup, Cunningham proved what we knew: he impacts the game both with the ball and without it. That skill to impact the game when he doesn’t have the ball likely led to the Pistons trying to play him more often off the ball. That is a mistake, and we’ve already got some warning signs here about how the Pistons are planning to utilize him. He played more as a wing than a lead guard at summer league, with the team getting Killian Hayes some reps at the lead guard spot. There were so many possessions where Cunningham just started in the corner. Honestly, it was pretty brutal to watch Cunningham sit in the corner for possessions at a time while Hayes dribbled around and tried to separate from his man at the top of the set. Given Hayes’ completely ineffective performance during the event, my bet is that the Pistons quickly figure out during the actual season that letting Hayes have the ball while giving Cunningham fewer opportunities to make reads and decisions doesn’t actually make the team better just because Hayes is more of an on-ball player and Cunningham has the capability of shifting off-ball. It’s better to let your best guys have the ball more often, even if Cunningham is unselfish enough to do whatever the team tells him. Jalen Green, Rockets Just because I thought Cunningham was a bit better than Green in their head-to-head doesn’t mean I thought Green had a poor outing in Vegas. Honestly, I thought he was great and did exactly what was expected of him. Unsurprisingly, his athleticism popped in a big way. He got where he wanted, and flashed the kind of pull-up game that made everyone extremely excited about him pre-draft. He averaged over 20 points per game and shot over 50 percent both from the field and from 3. He’s so much more patient now than he was as a young player. Out of ball screens, he knows how to use his body to keep defenders on his hip in jail and unable to do anything to contest him already. But beyond that, if you give him any semblance of open space, he’s so fluid in the way he can get in and out of his inside-out dribbles and step-backs. He creates so much separation going backward, while also being able to explode very quickly moving forward. It’s an incredibly difficult combination of skills to stop in a spaced-out NBA court. Given the Rockets’ situation, I would bet on him averaging 20 points as a rookie if I could. And that’s saying something, given that the only players to do that in the last decade as a rookie are Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell. Still, he is going to take some time in a few places that lead to wins. Teams had a relatively good amount of success blitzing him in ball-screens. While he’s a creative ballhandler, he can get a bit loose with it when flustered, which leads to some turnovers or him just purely needing to toss an escape pass. His defensive intensity will need to keep evolving, as will his ability to read the way defenses are playing him as a passer. But he absolutely passed the first test of summer league with flying colors, and should be on the verge of a terrific rookie season. Evan Mobley, Cavaliers In terms of what performance at summer league says about long-term potential, I think it means less for Mobley than it does for any of the top five prospects. He’s just so clearly not quite there yet physically, or strong enough to deal with this level of professional competition. Mobley is incredibly skilled, but his frame makes him more of a long-term project than any of the others. He got bullied inside at an unsurprising level and struggled a bit. On drives to the rim, players smaller than him had very few issues displacing him. It’s going to be tough for at least the first part of Mobley’s rookie season. The most important thing Mobley can do long-term is put on weight and get stronger. In some vein, this year will just be about getting him acclimated to that level of physicality. But I don’t really think that matters, because once he gets stronger, we saw some of the flashes that make him one of the most intriguing big men on planet earth. There were multiple moments where Mobley, as a legitimate seven-footer with all sorts of length and dexterity, attacked closeouts from the corner with two dribbles, took off and dunked from, like, 10 feet away from the rim. He threw some impressive passes on the move, in addition to the passes we know he can make at the elbows and in dribble-hand-off actions. He made a few jumpers with a more fluid-looking shot from midrange than he had in college. Defensively, at least as much as one can at an all-offense event like summer league, he showed some of the mobility on the perimeter and instinctual awareness as a shot-blocker that the Cavaliers hoped they were drafting. In terms of past performances from skinny bigs who were high draft picks at their first summer league, Mobley’s 11.3 points, eight rebounds and two blocks aren’t really all that different from guys like Jaren Jackson (11.2 points, eight rebounds, four blocks per game), Jonathan Isaac (10.3/8/1.7) and Kristaps Porzingis (10.5/3.3/1.7). All of those guys have turned out just fine for different reasons, and I’d anticipate the same with Mobley.
Scottie Barnes, Raptors Barnes did what was largely anticipated of him in summer league, as well. He’s such a fun, energetic presence on the court. He brings it on both ends, and plays with great intent. Even at an event like this, he played so hard. He played every bit at the level that a top-10 pick should. The problem is — unfair as it may be — he’s going to be compared for the rest of his career with the people taken around him in the top five. That’s the burden the Raptors put on him by selecting him over Jalen Suggs. Barnes has innate creativity that shines through, but he’s just much more of a project as a ballhandler and playmaker than the other players taken around him. He made some high-level reads as a passer on the move in the halfcourt. There were some positive moments getting to his spots as a scorer. He’s a freight train in transition because of his size. But they were much fewer and farther between than Cunningham, Green, and Suggs. He was much more comfortable out in transition as opposed to a halfcourt creator on the ball. He used his length at times to get to the rim, but just doesn’t quite have the handle yet to be able to consistently create when the game is more condensed. On top of that, we continued to see many of the same concerns that Barnes displayed at Florida State in terms of scoring efficiency. He can’t shoot from distance yet, and he isn’t a natural finisher in the halfcourt. He made a couple of nice midrange shots that were self-created, but he also made only four of his 15 halfcourt jumper attempts overall. Barnes is going to be a good NBA player, and on some level you have to remove the context from which he was selected by the Raptors in order to evaluate him on his own merits. His performance was positive for a 20-year-old playing his first professional action. But the team used a top-five pick on him over the next guy we’re about to talk about, and every executive I talked to who attended summer league was absolutely effusive about praise for… Jalen Suggs, Magic Suggs was awesome. He was everything evaluators who loved him thought he was. The numbers may not look that different than Barnes’ (Suggs averaged 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists) but remember that he went out after just 11 minutes in his third game due to a minor thumb injury that forced Orlando into shutting him down for the event. It went beyond the numbers, though. The main thing worth noting with Suggs, though, is that a majority of his offense came perfectly within the run of halfcourt play, in translatable situations to NBA settings. He broke guys down off the bounce to get to the rim with skill and explosion. He hit catch-and-shoot jumpers and took advantage of mismatches both big and small. He made multiple pull-up 3s out of ball-screen actions that he’ll be asked to hit when defenders go under on him. And he was every bit the defender that Orlando thought it was getting when they drafted him, playing terrific on-ball and anticipatory off-ball defense. That included this play, where Suggs completely shut down a 2-on-1 transition opportunity by himself with a block and gathered his miss. Suggs looked every bit the guy I thought he was pre-draft when I ranked him No. 2 overall. The Magic should hand over the keys to their offense to Suggs to start the year and let him grow through some of the eventual pains that’ll happen as a first-year player in the NBA. His upside is higher than anyone else’s on the roster, a legitimate potential All-Star who plays on both ends of the floor and can take over the game both as a scorer and as a passer.
The Co-MVPs Davion Mitchell, Kings Mitchell earned MVP of the event, in my opinion. For me, it was between him and Boston’s Payton Pritchard — who I wrote about earlier this week — and Mitchell stole it from him in the summer league championship game. The craziest thing? Mitchell took over in a game where the former Baylor guard shot 3 for 12 from the field. That was how impactful Mitchell’s on-ball defense was against Pritchard. He made Pritchard’s life absolutely miserable, to the point that I’m sure Pritchard regretted hopping back on a flight from Portland after showing out in a pro-am league following his standout summer league performance. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more impactful on-ball defender at summer league, which shouldn’t come as an enormous surprise given the mentality Mitchell has. He’s a proven winner, a guy who has done it at every step of his career. He fights and claws for every inch on the court, and doesn’t stop working even on his days off. That plays itself out on the court. He doesn’t quit on any possession, and plays every single moment like it’s his last. That’s why he was a top-10 player on my board, and why I think he’s going to be a successful starting point guard in the NBA at some point. That mentality and desire is why the Kings won the summer league title. His energy influences those around him. I was stunned the Kings took him due to the presence of De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, but on some level, he’s exactly what the organization needs in order to transform its moribund, lifeless defense into something that could become respectable. Not only were the Kings maybe the worst defense I’ve ever seen on an NBA court last year, but the team as a whole hasn’t had a defense within even one point per 100 possessions of league average since 2006. It’s a 15-year stretch of defensive ineptitude that is almost unfathomable. My bet is that Mitchell is the catalyst behind that changing at some point in the next few years. Beyond that, Mitchell has also made some strides offensively. His pull-up jumper from 3, particularly on quick step-backs, looks even more lethal now than it was during his final season at Baylor. He has a faster release on it that will help make up for his lack of size. His live-dribble passing translated extremely well to the NBA level, posting six assists per game versus under 1.5 turnovers. He’s going to make an instant impact for the Kings, even if they also have two terrific guards next to him. Seeing how the Kings integrate him will be fascinating. I find it likely that he’ll be one of the team’s six best players next year along with Fox, Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield and Richaun Holmes. Finding the right lineup mix between the three point guards and Hield will be the toughest part of Luke Walton’s job next year. But Mitchell looks like an absolute keeper for the Kings, and a true culture changer for an organization that needs it. Cam Thomas, Nets Honestly, all I can do with Thomas is laugh to myself every time I watch him. It’s an experience unlike anything I’ve ever evaluated. He legitimately might be the most natural scorer in the 2021 NBA Draft. He just has such an incredible innate feel for how to get to his spots, and he showcased that on his way to winning co-MVP of summer league. Thomas isn’t the most athletic player on the court by any stretch, but his ability to read the way defenders play him is incredible. If a defender closes out with just 10 percent too much pressure on his front foot, Thomas attacks and knows exactly how to take advantage. Additionally, he’s one of the better players I’ve evaluated at such an early age of being able to re-align his body after planting and rising for a jumper in mid-air. Regardless of how he lands in the midrange in regard to footwork, from any angle or spot, he can get a reasonable look up toward the rim. He can pull up going toward the rim, or getting to his step-back game. His balance is superb, and he has great touch as a shooter. He has a floater package, in addition to a genuine three-level pull-up game. He moves well without the ball to find empty spaces. He led the Las Vegas Summer League in scoring, after finishing fourth in the country in college basketball in scoring as a freshman, after becoming Oak Hill Academy’s all-time leading scorer, after leading the Nike EYBL in scoring during the summer between in his junior and senior years of high school. Every single step of the way, Thomas has not just been a good scorer, he’s been an utterly elite scorer. But I’ve also never evaluated a prospect who is genuinely so good at scoring the ball and also just displays such a complete and utter lack of interest in any other aspect of the game. He doesn’t pass the ball unless he has to in an escape situation because he’s stuck. He’s trying to score first, second, third and fourth, then maybe he’ll pass if someone is wide open. To say he’s lackadaisical defensively would be an understatement. The level to which he’d have to be elite as a scorer to make up for being a 1-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio guard and a non-defender is so high. And the crazy thing is, he might be able to reach that threshold! Honestly, Thomas is probably one of those guys who evaluators either love, or they just don’t want on their team. Legitimately, he plays like he thinks he’s the best scoring option on the court regardless of who else is out there with him. I love it so much. As human beings, we all aspire to the confidence level Thomas has when the basketball is in his hands. Playing for a Brooklyn team that is contending and has more shot creation skill than any other team in the NBA could be either the absolute best or worst thing for Thomas to start his career. He could average 12 points playing 15 relatively critical minutes per game for the Nets and develop into someone who pops off for 25 points per game by the time he’s 25 years old by learning from the stars around him. Or, he could figure out what he needs to do in order to make an impact on this specific Nets team, hone in on his defense and passing skills and round out his game in a real, tangible way that changes who he is as a player going forward. Or, he could piss off Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving so much by gunning for his own shots while they’re out there on the court with him that they demand Sean Marks trades him by midseason. It’s glorious, and I can’t wait to find out how this goes. Anything is on the table for Thomas right now, and I’m so excited for his rookie year.
The Other Standouts Trey Murphy, Pelicans Murphy and the next guy on the list were the two who consistently got the most praise from scouts along the lines of “wow, he definitely should have gone higher on draft night.” The guys who scouts could see immediately were better at summer league than they were in college. Murphy was spectacular across the board. I talked to two separate scouts who thought he was the best rookie in attendance. Everything he did looks tailor-made to translate to the NBA, and to do so basically from the jump. He is 6-foot-9 and makes catch-and-shoot 3s at over a 40-percent clip, with pristine shot mechanics that will have absolutely no issues being replicated at a higher professional level. His feel for the spaces to sink into in order to get open is terrific. He knows how to find clean looks, and can run off of screens or catch and shoot off of relocation movement. This setting really showcased his transition threat due to his ability to run and jump. He’ll fill lanes as a leak-out option on the break, or he’ll run to the corner for Zion Williamson grabbing and going off of the glass in order to open that space for him. Everything here is going to work. On top of that, Murphy was awesome defensively. Overall, the Pelicans were a summer league juggernaut on that end of the court. Their 81.3 defensive rating is the best mark at the Las Vegas Summer League since the 2012 Warriors’ summer league team, per RealGM. He was consistently in the right spot, waiting to use his length and athleticism to shoot passing lanes or cut off driving angles with a strong closeout. His weak-side rim protection was pretty useful, as he blocked 1.3 shots per game. He paired exceedingly well with wings Naji Marshall and Herb Jones to act as a more cohesive unit in terms of rotational awareness than I’ve seen in a while at the summer league level. Honestly, I know the Kings won the summer league title, but I thought the Pelicans were the best team I saw at the event. Murphy, Marshall, Jones and Lewis all had terrific outings. Pelicans fans have reason to be worried about their offseason machinations, but they’ll probably be a better team next season if only due to the internal growth of some of their young players, as well as the presence of Murphy potentially being ready from Day One. Jalen Johnson, Hawks I have never really been as high as the consensus public opinion of Johnson at any level he’s played at, including this past season at Duke. I thought he was careless on defense and didn’t provide any value on that end for the Blue Devils, and really was much more ineffectual on offense than you’d expect due to his lack of burst and inability to get past anyone. His shooting also leaves major room for concern. I ranked Johnson outside of the lottery all year, and at No. 25 on my personal big board pre-draft. NBA teams seemed to be closer to my take than the public consensus, given that he fell to No. 20 on draft night. But Johnson looked really good at summer league, playing in a role that makes a lot more sense than what he was asked to do at Duke. Here, he was able to just get out in transition, finish plays, and make easy decisions while using his obvious gifts of size and athleticism. He’s uncannily coordinated for his size at 6-foot-9, with tremendous balance and body control. That balance filtered through his contact balance as well, as he regularly showcased the ability to finish through contact at the event. He made first-team All-Summer League, averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds. More importantly, he showcased more confidence stepping into open 3s than he’s ever showcased at any level of his play to this point. That jumper is the critical skill for him. If he shoots it from the corners and at the break, he’ll be an effective player for the Hawks. If he doesn’t shoot it, the fit gets a bit murkier. I do think the overall up-and-down nature of summer league helped him to a greater extent than it does most players. Few of his buckets came out of NBA-style halfcourt sets. A lot of them came with him leaking out early, as nearly 40 percent of his points came in transition. He also posted a 1-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio, having a bit of a messy handle in tight quarters while also making some questionable passing reads when given the freedom to expand his game. While fixing that part of his game, I would expect him to spend a lot of time in College Park with the Hawks’ G League team this season. Having said all of that, the fit with Atlanta makes it genuinely the perfect place for him to start his career. I love the fit for him within this Atlanta scheme. If he can shoot he’ll be able to play the 4 next to a big, while also occasionally coming up and setting screens for Trae Young, then acting as something of a release valve in short-roll settings due to his ability to pass and take advantage of 4 on 3 scenarios when teams decide to trap the all-star point guard. Insofar as fit informs how players’ careers end up, I think Johnson is much more likely to make it in Atlanta than he would have been just about anywhere else. And this summer league start certainly puts him on a pathway to doing it. This was a very positive start for Johnson, and I would rank him much higher in a post-draft big board knowing he’s with the Hawks and following this performance.
