The game everyone wanted to see in Las Vegas Summer League didn't disappoint. The 76ers and the Lakers overcame a sloppy first half and gave everyone a show, playing a thriller that went down to the wire and featured two would-be game-winners before D'Angelo Russell gave Los Angeles a 70-69 win.
Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram played like the rookies they are
The top rookies struggled in the first of many head-to-head matchups to come.
For die-hards looking their fix of basketball, Saturday night's game was fun. For those who tuned in just to watch the Ben Simmons vs. Brandon Ingram duel, however, it was probably a downer, as the two top picks in the draft played like the rookies they are instead of the superstars they might be one day.
Considering he went 4-for-17 in the Utah Summer League, it’s not surprising that Simmons couldn’t score efficiently. The 3-for-8 night, however, is not as concerning as his apprehension to shoot from the perimeter. Everyone knows Simmons is not confident in his shot yet and the Lakers made sure to make that as noticeable as possible by playing off of him and daring him to pull up. Once and again he refused to do it, deciding to attack the rim instead.
Some of his decisions on those drives paid off while others showed how much better he needs to get at finishing through contact if he’s never going to those open jumpers. The 76ers’ rookie did show off his playmaking ability en route to eight assists but also turned the ball over seven times, as some of those passes he fired were a little off or had too much power on them for his teammates to catch them.
While Simmons couldn't get anything going despite being left open, Ingram found out just how close NBA defenses are going to play him. The 76ers threw a lot of length at him, with Jerami Grant in particular giving him all sorts of trouble when he tried to get space to shoot or drive. He simply didn't look as comfortable on Saturday as he was on Friday when he put together an efficient 12-point outing.
Ingram also failed to impact the game in other areas. A 3-for-12 night is bad but only pitching in four rebounds and dishing out one assist in 28 minutes makes it even worse. Except for a stretch in the middle of the Lakers’s comeback in which he hit a couple of shots, the second overall pick in the draft didn’t really make a difference on a game that didn’t feature the type of talent he will have to face on a nightly basis during the season.
Novice Summer League watchers will surely look at the poor performances and underwhelming stat lines of the two top rookies and worry. More experienced viewers will recognize those struggles for what they are: typical nights in which young players who are still learning to be pros don’t have it. It’s almost a tradition at this point for high-profile rookies to have some bad games in Las Vegas, which mean close to nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns shot 39 percent in Vegas when he played. Kristaps Porzingis got manhandled by Jahlil Okafor and struggled on the boards. Okafor himself didn't make that great of an impression, as he averaged more than four turnovers a game. D'Angelo Russell went 2-for-17 on three-point shots and looked shook by the speed of the game. A year later he did this:
Buzzer beater! D'Angelo Russell still has ice in his veins. #Loading #GoLakershttps://t.co/W0ZTF1EtYY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 10, 2016
Simmons and Ingram played like rookies on Saturday because that’s what they are. They are incredibly talented and could one day be the superstars many think they can be but they are still teenagers playing pro ball for the first time in their lives. With all the hype that comes with the draft it’s easy to forget that sometimes. Luckily Summer League is around to remind us of that fact.
2 other things we learned from the first two days of action
Trey Lyles looks ready to break out
As mentioned, putting too much stock to Summer League performances is dangerous. When they come from second-year players, however, it's hard not to get carried away and think of them as the harbinger of great things to come. The way Trey Lyles has been playing, for example, suggests he's ready for a bigger role with a Jazz team that will look to make the playoffs next season after upgrading its roster.
Lyles averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game in the Utah Summer League while shooting a decent 36 percent from the floor. In his debut in Las Vegas he had 28 points in 16 shots. It seems like he's much stronger than he was last season while managing to improve his outside stroke enough to be a threat. Lyles seems to have the potential to become a quality playamking power forward and will have Boris Diaw to mentor him next year.
Thon Maker might not be as raw as everyone thought he was
Maker looked like a huge reach for the Bucks with the 10th overall pick. To many he was simply too raw in terms of skills and too fragile physically to be able to compete with NBA players. In his first game of Summer League on Friday, he had 15 points, 13 rebounds and a couple of blocks. Not bad for someone who was playing high school basketball months ago.
Obviously it’s just Summer League and it’s just one game. Maker missed all four of his three-point attempts and didn’t look comfortable with the ball in his hands. It’s too early to make any judgement yet. On Sunday he will face a D-League select team full of hungry players who would love nothing more than make a name for themselves against a lottery pick. If he performs well then, however, it might be time to forget about the mixtape-driven hype and start thinking about him as a potentially good NBA prospect on his own right.
Play of the night
Jerami Grant welcomed Lakers' rookie Ivica Zubac to the NBA.
Must-watch game for Sunday: Boston vs. Phoenix (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The Celtics have five first round picks in their roster: Terry Rozier, James Young, R.J. Hunter, Guerschon Yabusele and third overall pick Jaylen Brown. The Suns have sophomore sharpshooter Devin Booker and two lottery picks from this past draft, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss.
You can’t do better than that when it comes to talent in Summer League.
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