Summer League Observation.
I Love Basketball As Much as The Next Guy. From Youth, As A Player, The Lessons Of Valuing Every Opportunity, Every Rep, To Put Your Talent Display Has More Value Than Gold In The 2008 Economy. Treat Your Next Try Like It's Your Last Because, Well, Any Rep Might Potentially End Up As Your Last. In Vegas Dozens Of Media Officials, Athletes, and Figureheads Flocked To The NBA Summer League To Watch The Annual Festivities Of Rookies, Sophomores, and Roster Hopefuls Showcase Their Skills And Place Name On The Ballot For One Of Those Coveted NBA Roster Spot.
Summer League Matters More Than Ever. The Days In Which Summer League In Command The Intrigue Of Basketball Nerds Like Myself Perch Politely In Front Of NBAtv Watching Highlight Dunks And Star Striping Shooting Displays, Now The Exhibition Matters More Than The "Participation" Trophy and The Cash Prize For Players.
In Recent Months The NBA released A New CBA. The Changes To The NBA And The NBA Player Association Agreement, an Alot Of Leaglise The Average fan Avoids, But The Consequences Portrude In To The Product. the League Revisits The Agreement Every Decade Or So To Ensure That Rule Fit The Changing Environment And Landscapes Of Sports And The Association As A Whole. Mostly Lawyers And Businessman Have The Knowledge And Insight To Breakdown down The Esoteric Document; one Of The Crucial Imminent Points Of League Play The Document Stands Above All, How The Rules "tweak virtually every element of roster-building."
The NBA Allows Teams To Exceed The Cap Threshold For Any One Or Two Reasons, Which Earned The Cap The Status Of "Soft." The New CBA Open The Floor Plans For The Soft At Two Levels, Thresholds, Or "Aprons." These Aprons Morph The Soft Into A Hard Cap Design To Keep Cash Permissive Teams From Getting Greedy Or Indulgent With The Basketball Talent Available. Under The New A Kevin Durant To The Warriors Doesn't Happen, And Keeping The Same Roster Signing Demarcus Cousins and Falls In The Realm Of Inconceivable. The New Salary Structure Would've Restricted The Mavs From Trading For Kyrie. Still, it May Have Save Them The Frustration Of Losing Jalen Brunson.
The NBA Tax Threshold Will Rise Almost Hand In Hand With The Salary Cap—The Cap Usually Roses about 10% Each Year— As The Taxes Become More Stringent, So Will Teams. The New CBA Also NBA Find Themselves Stranded Above The Second Apron Of Non-taxpayer Exemption And Strips Them Of Any Players In The Buyout Market, Which Basically Relegates These High Spending(Phoenix) To Minimum Contract. Players Vying For Two-Way Contracts And Veteran Minimums Can Crease Through The Cracks In This New Armor The NBA Has Enforced. The New CBA Gifts Teams With An updated Three Player Who Can Split Time Between The G-League And The Pros(Two-Way).
The New CBA Gives And Takeaway Other perks Introduced, An Increase In Mid Level Exception And The Non-Tax Payer Mid Level Exception, Could Bring A Little Spark To Fizzling Trail Of July Free Agency. Mid-Level Exemption Only Secure "Glue" Pieces, And Team Will Most Likely Still Find Themselves At The Fortunes Of The Draft To Compose Their Championship Core. On One end, The Strategy Puts An Emphasis On Scouting, Drafting, and Evaluating; On The Other, The Competition Level Of The Game Gets Zapped Because If One Team Or A Cluster Of Teams Drafts Well, Say For Multiple Years, They'll Compete For The Championship Reasonable Frequency Which Explains The Bucks, Celtics, Warriors, and The Nuggets Dominating League Play. If They're Left To Retain Their Developed Players, The Lack Of Moment Could Scar The Competitive Balance Of The Association. Talented Player Could Also Find Their Growth Stunted as Teams Backup Or Overload On Too Much Talent At One Position Like The Future. I See The Hornets Headed With A Log Jam At Guard Outside Of Lamelo Ball Their Star. Teams, Say The Pistons, Who Fail At The Draft, Which Draft Choices, Rest Mostly On Chance And Not So Much As Diligence, get Straddled With Those Mis-Reasoned Decisions Without An Advantageous Way To Just Pick Another "Star-Type" Player Up Off The Market. The Competitive Balance Won't Even Off Instead Of Teams In Large Markets Winning Over Teams By "Chance"— Scouting And Human Perception Have A Hand In The Matter— Really You Strike Oil And Walk A Road Of Health.
Once Again, No Solution, Only Trade-Off.
The Media Also Watched a Boost In Promised From Summer League. As stated, If You Want To See The Future Of The League, Watch The Summer League? While That's Not Entirely True—Some Of The League's May Skip Or Just Get Passed On From Summer League— The Summer Spectacle Gives At Least A First Glimpse Of Some Guys.
According To Numbers From SportsMediaWatch.com, Summer League Viewership Also Rose From Last For The ESPN Networks, And We All Know How Sports Drives Cable View-ship Above Anything Else.
Ausur Thompson Could Rise The Pistoins Out Of The Ground.
The Pistons Have Suffered The Most from Puzzling And Interesting Under The New Lottery System. Detroit, The Piston Haven't Stumble Upon Basketball Relevance Since The 2000s And Though A Beautiful Time For All Who Witness The Sun Died On Those Days Some Time Ago. The Piston Tried Swinging For The Star Superstar Splash With Balme Griffin But Only Got Blake Griffin At His Best Couldn't Make The Piston Relevant. The Time Blake Spent In Piston White Or Blue, Winning Games, Actually Held The Piston Back From Falling In The Draft And Potentially Selecting Some High Players Like, Say, 2019 When A Lottery Pick Could Have A Zion, Ja Morant, RJ Barrett, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro Instead A Guy Whose Not In The League Anymore. NBA Teams Don't Force A Competitive Roster Trade Your Forlorn Superstars And Get You A Top Pick.
The Piston Continue To Play The Lottery, The Grabbed French Point Guard Kylian Hayes In 2020 And His Off Again On Again, Off-On Again— What You Think Of Him Changes Daily—Relationship With Evaluators As he Play Continues To Confound And The 21 Still Needs Time. Cade Cunningham, The Number 1 Pick In 2021, Enter The League With A Strong Basketball Pedigree. He Produced A Compelling Rookie Before But Failed To reinforce His Position Thanks To A truncated Sophomore Year Short Due To Injury. Jaden Ivey And Jalen Duran, Last Year's Lottery Picks, both Had Strong Showing But Talent Alone won't Convince A Team To Move Either Of Them Into the Focal Point For the Franchise. That's Cade's Position As The Team Spare Head. In This Year's Draft, I Think Detroit Choose Their Star Of The Future In Ausur Thompson. We're Talking About Summer League, Not Practice, Not the Game We Love, And Lay Our Lives On The Line For Daily. We're Talking Summer League So Stand -Out Performance, Cant Hold Up In Court As Evidence To Superstardom, But Ausur Thompson Has Put Up Some impressive Performances Lately In Summer League, His Name As Dominated(A Little) My YouTube Timeline Over The Pass Week. The Debate About Thompson's Ceiling Has Already Aroused The Talking Heads Basketball Media Into A Frenzy. For Most Of The Draft Process, Ausur Lived In The Shadow Of His More Adept Playmaking And Brother Amen. Amen Won The Hearts Of Draft Plaudits By One, Possessing The Easier Name To Grasp And Two Possessing A Game Easier To Operate and Understand. Ausur, Now On His Own, Away From His Brother Ausur For the First Has The Opportunity To Play His Game. Both Twins Display High Emd Athletic Abilities, With Amen Missing Summer League Due To Injury, Ausur Has The Highlight Reel Splash To Himself. When Ausur Rises Off The Ground(Too Early) And Finishing An Alley Oop Reserve Still And We Expected This Pre-draft. His Knifing Through Defenders Before The Defense Sets Up In The Mid-Transition And Finishing High Above Defenders, All Moves We'll Expect Of Him. His Advance Skills As Slashers Already Looks Prepackaged. When He's Around The Rim(Trust Me, He's There A lot), Good Things Usually Happen. His Three Point Shooting Against The Spurs, Whether Feet Or On The Move and his, Shown Consistent Mechanics. I Believe He Registered Nine Of His Eighteen Points On Three; Pointer is Impressive Because He Marked Shooting as A Point Of Growth. There Very Well Could Remain A Point Of Growth As He Moves Into The More Demanding Game Of The Pros. Of course, We're Still Discussing Summer League, His Handles Still Need Work, His Creation Off The Bounce Gives Off A Sense Of Tentativeness, Like You're Watching Someone Perform A High Wire Act. You're Not Concern About The Outcome. His Ceiling And His Floor Match A Lot Of The High Profile Wings Built Just Like Him, Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown, And On The Shallow End, Stanley Johnson. Ausur Needs To Work His Finishing Around The With Defensive Interference and Hunting Contact In The Process, He Tends To Float Away From Defenders And The Rim Over, Relying On His Athleticism To Space For Adjustments That Never Arrive.
His Defense And Quick Hands Looked Good. Of Course, we Were Talking Summer League, So Take That With A Grain Of Salt. He's Averaged At Least Or Near Two Steals And Two Blocks Per Contest. His Explosive Dunks, Well Time Three, Fast Break Punch, Dribble Pull-up Game Looked Fierce, and Baseline Quickness Made(HE Used That Same Quickness To Jump Passing Lanes) Whitmore A Irresistible Choice For MVP. H
Ultimately, The Pistons Have One, The Right One, The Right Skill. Hyper Production And Versatile Wings Drive The League's Best Offenses Of Today, A Fully Defensive Ausur Could Help The Piston Regain Relevance.
Rumors Prevail That Detroit Will Looked To Move On From Point Guard Kylian Hayes This Offseason, Firmly Cementing Cade Cunningham's Place In Command Of The Offense.
Shaedom Sharpe Has Next?
With The Dame Lillard Trade Request Still Stuck At The Train Station But The Anticipation That A South Beach Destination Awaits The "Discontented" Star, The Portland Trailblazer Franchise Remains Locked At An Impasse As They Prepare For The Franchise's Most Recent Transition Between Stars, The Last Of Which Lillard Announced With Fury Of Playoff Performances. The Derailment Of The Damian Lillard's Relationship With The City Shouldn't Sour Anyone; Few Teams Can Compare To The Guard Talent That Portland Posses, Easing The Burden Of Ushering Into A New Era Smoothly, Chief Amongst Those Talent, Shaedon Sharpe. I Think Shaedon Up Next. Not Only As The Next Great Blazers Guard, The League's Next Best.
Sharon Sharpe Has Next In The Greats Conversation. Yes, The Greats, The Kobe, And The High Acrobatic Run On The League. Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady Put On The League For A Stretch.
Can You Believe That Once Upon A Time, Analyst Question What The Blazers Were Getting When They Draft Shaedon Sharpe In The Top Ten? The Blazers just Finished Their Worse Season In Recent Memory Dating Back To Before They Drafted Dame Lillard. The League Expected A Bounce Back, A Day One Contributor In The First Round For The Blazers Instead They "Mystery Box" Player In Shaedon Sharpe. Coming Out Of Kentucky(Kinda) Sharpe Had All The Prototypical Box Checks For A Pro Prospects. They have a Strong 6'6 Frame, Fluid Mechanics, And Next Level Athleticism, But That's Stanley Johnson Or Jaylen Brown, Jared Culver, Or RJ Barrett. Due To A Eligibility Quirk Or Of Sharpe's Own Decision("It was my decision to not play"), Sharpe Didn't Play A Minute For Calapari At Kentucky. He Didn't Space The Floor With TyTy Washington Or Make Plays With Shiver Wheeler. The Canadian Just Sat And Waited To Hear His Call And Coup Some Cool School Gear. That Name Called Would Come With The Seventh Pick. Once The Blazers Inked Lillard To A Two Year Extension, They Couldn't Shroud Intent To Compete Immediately Under The Guise Of A Young With A Few Veteran Signings And Hold Overs.
"I think I'm a high-level scorer," Sharpe Said Before The Draft. As Far As Scout We're Concerned, Nobody Seen Him as If The Guy Who Ranked Number One In His Class Just Fell From The Heavens and Unto Draft Boards And Into NBA Workout Rooms. What Could Anyone Glean From Year Old High School Film, Hair Growth Maybe?
Nobody Knew Initial How To Project Sharpe. First Year G-Leaguer? First Guy Off The Bench? Last Guy At The End? The Projections Were Indefinite, Infinite. Unless Anyone In Portland Wanted To Search For The "The Mirror Of Galadriel," The Sands Of Time Will Reveal.
Last, Years Summer League, Sharpe Looked Squared To Answer Some Question To Demystify The Narrative Of Mystery Man, He'd Come To Embrace. Except He Didn't. A Foot Injury or A Shoulder Injury Shoulder Injury, Clipped The Kid With 49 Inch Vertical Right Out Of The Air. The Blazers Have A Long, Storied History With Guards Dating Away Back to The Eighties Through To The Nineties And Into The Day.
Last Season Shaedon Played Around 22 Minutes And Averaged Nine Points, Three Rebounds, and 1.2 Nothing Startling Or Eye Grabbing, But His Number as A Starter— He Started Around 15 Games— Were More Propitious. In Those Fifteen, Sharpe's Averages Jumped to 15.6 Points, He Took Nearly 4 More Three Point shots, From 2.9 To, 6.3 While Maintaining The Same Percentage of 36.2, And His Assist Jump To 3.1 and Rebounds Rose To 4.9, all Impressive. The Blazers Suffered In Net Rating With Sharps On The Floor Because He's Still A Work On Effort And Details On That End, But His Offensive Game Advanced As The Season Progressed In Leaps And Bounds. Hes Already Placed himself In Elite Company When He Scored 30 Grab Seven Rebound and Recorded seven Asssist Against The Grizllies Last Season, Becoming one Of Only Four Players 19 YEars Old To Put Forth Such Numbers.
Beyond The Stats, Shaedon's Above The Rim Level Athleticism Stands Out As The True Marker Of His Next Level League Took Over Ability. Throughout The Season, Shaedon Sharpe Set The Highlight Reels Ablaze(Pun intended—, You Know), Obnoxious Stretch Back Dunks; maybe The True Crime Documentary Would Feature For All The Bodies He Caught. The Alley Oops, When Teammates Carelessly Toss The Ball Out Of Place Or Too High Didn't Stretch Sharpe Far Enough To Reach, And Then Some Passes Came the Hands Too Low, But Sharpe Turned Those Into Lob Dunks. If the Pass Gets Arrives Late Or If He's Too Early, No Matter, Gravity Has To Wait. I Don't Want To Sound Like I'm Gushing Like A Gusher, But Sharpe Possesses A Superstar Game. He's Strong With The Ball In Hands, Very Low To Ground Dribbles Despite His 6'5, Crafty Finisher Around The Rim. According To NBA.com, On Shots Less Than 5 Ft(Or At The Rim), Shaedon Sharpe Shot 65.3 Field Goal Percentage. Expectedly For A Rookie, His Fadeaway Needs Work. Still, With The Excellency In Which Portland Drafts and Develops Guards, You'd Have To Expect Great Things. You Expect Things To Progress Has Portland Hands Over More Of The Team's Offensive Faculties Sharpe Skills To Flourish As A Facilitator And In The Mid Range.
Sharpe's First Season Saw Caught In The "Embraced" Of "the development process," The Blazers Still Caught In The Whirlwind Of Plicating Damian Lillard Not Willig to Sacrifice Wins For The Sake Of Sharpe's Growing PAins As Player On The Rise. With The Expectation, Lillard Walks Expects Sharpe To Explore The Reaches Of His Ability With More Freedom.
With Sharpe Henderson And Simons, Portland Already Has A Scary And Potential Special Guard Triumvirate. The Dame Lillard Trade Request Continues To Loom Large Over The Team's Offseason. However, On The Other End, Moving On From Dame Opens The Door For Guys Like Shaedon To Reach For A Greater Role. Sharpe Has A Ceiling Near The Greats. I've Seen This Same Skillset And Trajectory From The Great Like Kobe and Vince on His Floor, Thats Paved With Names Like Miles Bridges, J.R. Smith, And Gerald Green.
Oh, Yeah, Summer So Far Sharpe's Stayed True To Form, Gracefully Gliding Across The Air Of The Court While Defenders Look On Hopelessly. Sharpe Racked Up A Few 20 Point Outings 26 points On 8-17 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 8-11 FT, four rebounds, and two assists. Against The Hornets, The Two Assist Very Kobe-Ish. Another 21 points On 7-21 FG, 3-9 3PT, 4-5 FT, eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals Versus Houston. Sharpe Still Needs To Work On Go To Moves And Counters At TimeS In Summer League, He Drives into The Lane Without A Plan Hoping His Gifts Save, Only To Run Into Trouble. Watching A Young Kobe, You See The Same Issue, A Similar Growth Pattern.
Cam Whitmore Won Summer League MVP For Consistent Terror Expire(For The Opposition)Play In Vegas. A Poetic Piece Of Hardware And Acclaim He Picked Consider How Fell In The Draft Due To Unexplained But Highly Speculated Reason. In Youth Suffer A Gruesome, Don't Look If You're Squeamish Leg Injury That Threatened His Youth And His Career. Doctors Corrected The Broken Leg, But NBA Teams, According To Reports, May Or May Not Withheld Reservations About The Extent Of His Recovery, Enough That Despite His Highlight, Billeying The Reality Of Any Present Or Past Injury Teams Through A Flyer At Whitmore. Still, Cam Emerged From This Disappointing Drop From A Top Five Player Into Twenties, Then Averaging 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 Assists, and three steals In Torrid, Piranha Thrashing Fashion.
