July 18, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard Jimmer Fredette (7) directs as he is guarded by Toronto Raptors guard Bobby Brown (0) during the game at the Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE
The NBA Summer League wrapped up on Sunday in lovely Las Vegas. There were plenty of players who impressed, but not everyone was lucky enough to be left off of our All-Disappointment team.
LAS VEGAS -- The NBA Summer League offered up plenty of quality players, and for the most part, we've already ran through them with features on the top NBA veterans, rookies that shined and even the free agents that may have earned themselves a roster spot.
Not everyone was outstanding in Sin City, though, and that's understandable -- players that have never played in the NBA shouldn't be counted on to tear up the exhibition schedule, especially considering they're playing against older, more experienced players who are fighting for a roster spot whereas the players listed below are guaranteed to make money playing in the NBA next season regardless of what happened in Vegas.
Vegas Summer League's All-Disappointing Team
Point Guard: Jimmer Fredette, Sacramento Kings -- Oh man, Jimmer. It's unfortunate that, in this day and age, Fredette wasn't even the best second-year player with Jim in his name (that honor went to Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls). Last year's lottery pick started Summer League with an 0-for-8 effort from beyond the arc against the Charlotte Bobcats and then just started chucking throughout the remainder of his week in Vegas en route to an 18 point average despite shooting just 36 percent from the field and nailing a disappointing seven of his 32 three-point attempts (Honorable Mention: Austin Rivers).
Shooting Guard: Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers -- Waiters showed up in Vegas looking a bit more stocky than expected (and with higher expectations, to boot, when teammate Kyrie Irving was ruled out with a broken hand). Unfortunately he wasn't able to live up to those expectations, though, as he struggled to 12.3 points on 30 percent shooting from the field as his defensive principles stayed in Syracuse mode.
Small Forward: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats -- MKG averaged an outstanding 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals while playing just 22 minutes per contest in Vegas. The reason he was disappointing, however, was because he only played in one contest, then proceeded to sit out the Bobcats' remaining four games with a leg injury. Great call for the team, of course, but it sure would have been fun to see more of the second overall pick looking like a man among boys (when it was actually the opposite) in Vegas.
Power Forward: Thomas Robinson, Sacramento Kings -- Robinson showed a lot of promise in Vegas as the former Kansas Jayhawks standout averaged a solid 13 points and 9.8 rebounds over the course of five games in Vegas. Unfortunately those 13 points came extremely inefficiently, as Robinson seemed determined to show he was something of a perimeter point-forward before going back to his bread and butter for the Kings during their final game of the showcase (15 points, 16 rebounds).
Center: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Hornets -- The top overall pick was supposed to play in Vegas, but a call-up to Team USA negated any chance of seeing The 'Brow play for the Hornets until the preseason schedule rolls around. In a Summer League that was lacking serious star-power, it'd have been great to see what Davis was able to do.
The players that ended up on this team did so due to high expectations, so it's tough to read too much into how they performed in Vegas -- let's just hope it doesn't carry over when the games start to count.


There are 2 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.