[ad_1]
LAS VEGAS – It was the most anticipated Summer League of all time.
For the first time in its history, the first two days of the July NBA convention were completely exhausted – over 17,500 spectators gathered in an arena in the middle of the desert, in the hottest part of the city. 39, year, to attend a show. rookie play basketball. More than 1,000 media references have been issued. The hype of Sion was palpable. In an NBA that was more interested in out-of-season chess movements than at the matches themselves, fans were buying scalped tickets in a sold-out arena to witness the birth of a young star.
Or not.
Zion Williamson has spent most of his Summer League in street clothes and he's not alone: only one of the top six players in the last draft has played regularly in Las Vegas (RJ Barrett's The Knicks), and other stars have never touched the court. A brief overview:
• Choice # 1, Williamson, played nine minutes in half a day before New Orleans burst the bubble, invoking knee-to-knee contact and an "abundance of caution" .
• The second choice, Ja Morant, underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean the knee at the beginning of June. He has not been rushed to any game in Vegas.
• Choice # 4, Andre Hunter, played his first game on Sunday night after missing out on the Atlanta Summer League.
• Choice # 5, Darius Garland, did not play and should not play for Cleveland (nor was Cavs # 30 Kevin Porter Jr.).
• No. 6. Jarrett Culver officially signed with Minnesota on Monday but should not play for the team in Las Vegas.
• Choice # 10, Cam Reddish, is not suitable for Atlanta in the Summer League.
• Denver's Michael Porter Jr. – a man suspected of being a steal in the 2018 draft and who had to stay healthy last season – was going to make his Summer League debut but injured his knee a day before the beginning of the matches.
Las Vegas was stripped of its star power, but most of that power was Zion.
The Summer League was feeling deflated after Williamson was dressed in street clothes.
"It was a crazy experience, the gym was packed, I did not expect a lot of people to be here," Williamson said of his one game, adding that his The gap for the Summer League "was more of a precaution."
The impact of his output could be seen immediately.
By the time the rumor started circulating in the arena, he would not play in the second half of the July 5 party, fans had started to walk out of the building. There were plenty of empty seats in the Thomas & Mack Arena when an earthquake closed at night. Beyond that, a couple of Las Vegas residents I spoke to talked about people they knew who planned to come to the Summer League games and decide to stay home.
The observers of the Summer League are worried about the beginning of a trend of seated stars.
Call it "summer league load management" – or risk management can be more precise – but what happened to these best players could become more of a norm.
With the larger contracts for recruits in the new CBA, which means teams are investing heavily in these players, will teams start to reduce or eliminate the time spent by their young players on the field in Las Vegas? If this happens, it will begin to erode what has become an event – and for some fans, a pilgrimage – in the middle of the off season. With the Summer League – a bit like the NBA itself – fans come to see the stars.
This year, the teams had reasons not to adapt their recruits. Ask the coaches or team officials to tell us if the guys are out and you will get a variation of the pelicans' "abundance of caution" statement.
"The guys are a bit beaten. We do not want them to be injured, so we will never be able to develop them, "said Antonio Lang, Riders Summer League coach, about Garland and Porter who do not play.
From the point of view of the teams, it makes sense: why do they risk these players? Summer League does not matter. In fact, many teams will quietly tell you that there are too many games – compete in the finals of the Summer League tournaments for the title and the team will have played eight games. After four or five games, the teams often stop their best players. Or while some veteran players receive offers from teams abroad, they close themselves to avoid the risk of injury (as Jimmer Fredette did this year).
There is no financial incentive for teams to play against the best players. The teams do not make a lot of money in the Summer League (the teams want the balance, which happens when they win the tournament) and many leaders do not want to stay in Las Vegas longer than they do. should.
That said, teams have an interest in seeing their best players in different contexts. For example, the Wizards are number 9, Rui Hachimura, who plays in Las Vegas for development reasons.
"Just to make him see different situations, to be exposed to the NBA game," said Robert Pack, coach of the Wizards Summer League. "He's going to see different blankets, projects that he may not have seen at the university, and you want him to have a taste of it before he gets into the veterinarian's camp and starts the regular season. By playing here, he will be much more affected than in the regular season. "
Coaches have long considered the Summer League as an opportunity to obtain a baseline for players. In what are they good and what should be worked the rest of the summer? It is a starting point on which to build. Rider coach John Beilein told NBC Sports in the Salt Lake City Summer League that Garland and Porter were eliminated, allowing him to place the ball in 26th place between Dylan Windler's hands and see what the Belmont star could do. as a playmaker.
"That's why you put [Hachimura] in different situations, you see where he can go strong right, go hard left, is he good in the medium, is he ready for the NBA three, "said Pack. "These are things you see, that you film, that you can teach him and study the film with him. This report is so valuable for us, as staff, to continue to develop it. "
Is it valuable enough to keep star players on the field during the Summer League?
Or, as in the regular NBA season, will the load management trend of keeping players away for health and risk management reasons begin to have an impact on the Summer League? If this is the case, will the NBA league begin to get involved in order to maintain an event where the games are broadcast on ESPN and NBA TV?
The NBA likes the buzz, the sold out games of the Summer League. He likes the way the event has grown. That's why the reduced star version of this summer has been a little deflated for everyone.
[ad_2]
Source link