The Ringer NBA Show - Ep. 21: NBA Summer League Special With Tate Frazier and Jonathan Tjarks

Episode Date: July 11, 2016

The Ringer's Tate Frazier and Jonathan Tjarks recap the opening weekend of NBA summer league in Las Vegas, and discuss Brandon Ingram–Ben Simmons, Thon Maker's debut, the rise of Guerschon Yabusele,... and major takeaways moving forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:07 Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. I'm Tate Frazier. And on the line, I have Ringer Rider, Jonathan Charks. Charks, what's up, man? Nothing much, man. Trying to survive out here in Vegas. Yeah, well, it is summer league season. We have passed Orlando. We've gotten through Utah.
Starting point is 00:00:25 And now we're in Las Vegas, Sin City. It's been a good time. We were both there Saturday. We were both staying in Excalibur, which is quite the high-quality hotel. I don't think Merlin would approve. if he were still around. Oh, yes.
Starting point is 00:00:40 Top of the line out here for sure. Yeah, it's a real hustle to get on this grind. But first, Charks, I just got to talk to you about my man. Thon, the Thon, Thon, Thon, Thon, Thon Maker and the Milwaukee Bucks. What did you see from him yesterday? Obviously, they played the D-League Select team, Quinn Cook's franchise. K-academy, man. Out here living.
Starting point is 00:01:03 K-academy lifestyle. But what did you see from Thon? Is he legitimate? Is he worth the number 10 pick? Well, I like that he was signing autographs after. He has a lot. He has a lot of what he's all about. I think with Thon, I've watched him a lot the last few days. It's just like he has these ideas and his head of who he is that maybe aren't really.
Starting point is 00:01:24 He's a little delusional. He kind of thinks he can dribble at the floor and shoot threes off the dribble. But when he stays in his lane, he's pretty good. It's just when he kind of pushes himself beyond that, he gets in trouble. Yeah, I would say. So his post-game press conferences have been pretty incredible so far. I mean, he's a well-spoken kid. He seems to be pretty media savvy already, like as if he's been coached up pretty well.
Starting point is 00:01:47 But they were asking him about his game after Friday night's game. And he basically said he compared himself to Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan, all in separate factions of their game, whether it was heart or skill. And I was just like, man, I just love it. Thon's out here just letting people know how he feels about himself. He comes from the Ben-Bentill School of Self-Evaluation. A.K. Just put up the buckets, you know. Bentel's just putting up shots.
Starting point is 00:02:14 I don't think he's made a pass all weekend. He's played eight. Okay, let's like it too side-shop. I love Ben-Bentil talk later. But yeah, Thon, I think he's out there. He's getting shots up left and right. But he gets a lot of rebounds. He kind of, like, contest shots.
Starting point is 00:02:28 It's just like being 7-foot-1 and being active. He has some value, just in and of itself. even though the skill isn't quite where he wants it to be. Just the mere fact of his presence, Gist generates points at the rim for the bucks. Yeah, and I mean, he's, so he's leading, I mean, he's averaging 15 rebounds per game in Summer League so far. He had 17 yesterday against the D-Leaks select team. I mean, just his ability to get boards as a value, but like will that translate? Because to me, watching him, you know, he obviously has a good idea of how to, like, read shots and get to where the ball is going to bounce out the basket
Starting point is 00:03:01 and has sort of like a natural knack for all that sort of stuff. But at the same time, he looks pretty feeble. He looks like a weak guy. Like, I think he's going to have to put on some pounds to be able to actually play. Yeah, I think a lot of it, too, like, he has a really small head. It kind of throws off your evaluation of him a little bit. I think just by being like, just the activity alone. Most 7 foot one guys don't move as well as he does.
Starting point is 00:03:22 That's what jumped out to me, too. Him and Dragan Bender both move really, really well for 7.4 one. That's a perfect segue to our guy. Dragan Bender, who was the number four pick for the Phoenix Suns, is now playing on the Phoenix Suns Summer League team, along with Devin Booker, who is unbelievable, we can get to that later. But Bender had an interesting Saturday. He basically went one-on-one head-to-head on multiple occasions with Maryland's own Jake Lehman, and Jake Lehman dogged him, dogged him hard three or four times.
Starting point is 00:03:56 Didn't they get teed up? Yeah. Dragan Binder got a technical on Saturday because Jake Laman, got in his head so bad that he was basically like trying to talk back and get in his face and like trying to assert himself and the rest were like not having it they're like sorry man you're getting punked by jake laman right now welcome to the NBA it was the ghost of christmas future for dragon this could be me if my life goes horribly wrong in four years not only running on with a hipster beer playing for portland not only did jake laman body drag and bender the number four overall
Starting point is 00:04:25 pick in croatia's chosen son he literally took marquis chris he stole the ball for marquis at midcourt and then went down and just yammed on him. I mean, on the breakaway. Like one of the highlight dunks and highlight plays on Saturday. He just dunks all over Chris. And then he lands on his face in true Drake Lehman fashion. And it was awesome. Great day for Jake Lehman and Maryland basketball for sure.
Starting point is 00:04:49 I will say this. I'm not here for any drag and slander. Like, this was my first time watching him live. And he was really impressive, just the way he moves. Also, he was bigger than I thought he would be. He's listed at 225. But my guess is he's more like, 23, 2.35.
Starting point is 00:05:02 He carries the weight really well. I think he'll be a pretty easy five in the NBA eventually. He's only 18. So if you have a 5 with his skill set, I had an NBA guy to call him a 7 foot 1 Mike Dunleavy. Oh. And you think about, I think that's a good thing, though,
Starting point is 00:05:17 because like imagine if Mike Dunleave was 7 foot 1 and could play center. Be pretty valuable. Absolutely. Not to say that anyone has Dunlevy's ability to make their right play at all times. I would say, so Noah Vonle, Drogan and Noah Vonle went like sort of head to head a little bit too
Starting point is 00:05:34 And same with Marquis Chris and Noah Vonley And I think Vonley still looks like he has a lot to figure out But Bender did a great job defending Vonley Like multiple times And that was like the best thing I saw from Bender Was his ability to play defense and move his feet Yeah he could really like It seemed like in the Boston game
Starting point is 00:05:52 The Celtics are going at him a lot Because they were like oh this is this big white guy Let's go at him And they scored some on him But he could kind of hold his own moving his feet laterally side to side. I mean, that's just really, that to me was the big,
Starting point is 00:06:04 maybe the biggest standout of Summer League to me was watching Bender move. Like this is a big seven-foot one guy who can move and also play the game. I think that, it's looking like a good pick already.
Starting point is 00:06:13 So that's Sons team. When you look, from the best teams and the best basketball I saw, I mean, there was no team. I mean, maybe the Nuggets, but the Sons were the best team that I watched while I was in Vegas this weekend.
Starting point is 00:06:26 I mean, you got Chris, you got Booker, who is on another level. I mean, Devin Booker was just talking all this trash to everybody. He was taking heat check threes in people's faces. I mean, they were playing, I mean, on a different level. Tyler, Tyler U.S. literally looks like little mugsy bogs out there. He just bounces off people.
Starting point is 00:06:46 He has a ball on the string. I mean, he can make any pass he needs to make. He makes a smart play. I thought he was going to be too little. Like, you know, he's just like one of those guys where, you know, Tray Burke syndrome where they're just too little. Shane Lark and Trey Burke, those kind of guys where they have all the skills, but they're just too small.
Starting point is 00:07:01 But Ulys is just, it's like a different kind of athlete, man. He's like a little like bug out there. And he's like a bunny hopping around. He prances around. He, I mean, he's so quick. He was one of the guys that stood out to me the most, honestly, other than Booker in those games was Ulyss and how well he played. Yeah, he was really impressive.
Starting point is 00:07:18 I remember he, like, just ate up Russ Smith. Like, he gave Russ Smith taste of his own medicine of, like, being a super small aggressive guard. And like, yeah, he really got rebounds. He had great feel for the game. He really controlled the action. for the Summer Suns. And yeah, Booker was hilarious.
Starting point is 00:07:33 I remember maybe the funniest thing I saw all weekend. It was Booker versus RJ Hunter. Yeah, last night. They were going at it for like 15 minutes, just going at each other. It's like, who could hit more fadeaway threes and like pump faking the air and cry to the refs? And Booker Adam won pretty thoroughly, but it was fun to watch. Yeah, I honestly, I, you know, I'm an RJ Hunter apologist.
Starting point is 00:07:53 I love that he wouldn't play for his dad. And I was really proud of RJ for trying to go at Booker, but Booker was still like, hey man. Don't even, don't even think about it. Yeah, I think in his heart he thinks he's Devin Booker, which like good for him, right? That's all that matters. Another guy who thinks he's probably Devin Booker light or in the class of superstar is the number one overall pick. The man that wears the white sleeve and sits by himself, Mr. Ben Simmons, who took on
Starting point is 00:08:23 Brandon Ingram Saturday night in the number one pick versus number two pick showcase. Showcase was probably a strong word for that. That was bad. It was a bad game. So both those guys, first let's talk about Simmons. So Simmons, obviously, number one overall pick, 16,000 fans there. So many Lakers fans that are just coming out to show Brandon Ingram support. And both those guys, I won't say they know show, but they didn't play too well in the big stage.
Starting point is 00:08:51 Yeah, it was like too much for them. The whole game, I think it was like 4125 in the third quarter at someone. Yeah, it was. It was bad. Because, like, the entire arena was just full. People were acting like it was, like, game seven of the finals, and it was not. I don't know. I would say this.
Starting point is 00:09:07 So Simmons, luckily for Simmons, he had T.J. McConnell next to him. The great T.J. McConnell, with a new, like, we, like, swoop haircut. Looking very professional. I'm all in on T.J. McConnell NBA player, because, I mean, he handled that moment better than both those guys. I mean, obviously, he's played an NBA game surreal, but, you know, that adds to it. Poor man's Deladova, dude. Yeah, he was great, and it was so fun to watch. But Simmons refused to take jump shots.
Starting point is 00:09:35 I mean, there was a couple times where I think McConnell was, like, setting him up. He was like, let's show the world that this guy can't actually shoot, and now should be the starting point guard. He would, like, dribble down and then, like, throw it back to, like, the top of the key of the free throw line. It happened twice. And Simmons, like, held the ball like a kid that didn't know what to do with it, you know, rather than just taking the shot because he didn't want to shoot it,
Starting point is 00:09:52 and then he kicked it out to the corner to Nick Stouskis for three, which is, like, the worst play you could ever make him back. basketball, and it was just like, this guy definitely doesn't want to take the shot. So what do you think about that? I mean, do you think he's eventually going to start taking the jumper? I saw him take a jumper the next night. I guess they played. I forget that they played on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:10:09 Are they on Sunday? But he did take a jump shot, and he made it. It was like, oh, my gosh, he made a jump shot. It was funny, though, because he was like, after the game, he goes, well, I just take what defense gives me. It's like, no, you definitely do not what the defense gives you. You had Zubosh guarding you, five feet off you, and he still wouldn't shoot jumpers. That was pretty funny.
Starting point is 00:10:28 The defense was literally like, please shoot Ben Simmons, please. And he refused to. On the other side, number two pick Brandon Ingram for the Lakers. I don't even, I don't know if I would say Ben Simmons looked like he couldn't handle the moment. But Brandon Ingram looked like the moment was really, really big for him. He was real timid. He wouldn't take anybody off the dribble. He lost two back-to-back times he was coming, basically trying to drive to the basket and got his pocket picked.
Starting point is 00:10:55 And then from there, he just kind of sat on the perimeter and did. did do much. I mean, what do you think about him when you watched him play? I mean, with guys, Ingram Simmons, I've seen them so much in college. I don't take too much away from, you know, games like this. I think with Ingram, it's just the idea, like, he has to be able to shoot really well for him to be the player we all think he can be. Because if he's not hitting his jumper, he's not super fast, he's obviously really frail,
Starting point is 00:11:17 so you can play off him and bump him in the lane and just take the ball from him. So if he's missing his jumper, he's not a great player. That's just the bottom line with him. I think the thing that really makes Ingrams, stand out, especially in college when he had some of his biggest games, it was he was willing to move around off the ball and to mix it up on the offensive board. Like he would crash the glass. And in that game, it was weird how he just sort of, he seemed like he was just trying not to
Starting point is 00:11:44 mess up or make a mistake, which I mean, that comes to being a 19-year-old kid with 16,000 people. I think he's 18, isn't he? Oh, yeah, 18 going on 19. Yeah, that's the thing with Ingram. Like, he's so underdeveloped physically. I think there's going to have to be kind of some patience with him. Like even compared to the great dragon vendor, who's carrying weight pretty well, Ingram's like 190 probably at 611.
Starting point is 00:12:03 He just needs to get stronger. Yeah, and that's like a, that's a courteous 190, really. Yeah, yeah, that's soaking wet, you know, at the escalded pool 190. Before we go on, wanted to tell you about today's sponsors. Stop compromising on your shave and get started with Harry's. For far too long, you've either paid too much for a comfortable shave, or you've settled for a low price but low quality razor. Harry's offers something you never had before, a great,
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Starting point is 00:14:51 Chris Dunn was number five pick for the T-Waves. He pretty much seems to have it together. and he's ready to go. Anything outside of that? I mean, obviously we know he's a lot older than these guys and he should have it together. I mean, just the jumper is a question. To me, I think long-term, like, Dunn and Wiggins,
Starting point is 00:15:07 can one of those guys be a consistent three-point shooter? Because he was taking a lot of, like, off-fid dribble jumpers on that, like, yesterday it was like, that's not really your game. But if you've got him, Wiggins out there, he can kind of shrink the floor on him. And I think that's a big question with him in Minnesota. Yeah. Another guy who's a top-five pick,
Starting point is 00:15:23 Jalen Brown. We both watched the, Bulls Celtics game together on Saturday. And Jalen Brown did not look like he quite had it together yet, and that's probably being nice. I think he was coming off an injury, though, right, or something? Yeah, his knees. Yeah, so it was a hyper extension of his knee, I think, and that was like sort of the talk. That was holding him up.
Starting point is 00:15:44 But I saw a Rondo jersey. So I saw a Celtics Rondo jersey, and they had taped the name Jalen Brown on the back, and they were waiting in line to get an autograph from Jalen Brown. and I proceeded to see another Celtics fan berate the other guy and basically want to kick his ass for taping Jalen Brown over Rondo. Is Rondo still loved in Boston?
Starting point is 00:16:04 I mean, he did well there, I guess. Or they turned on him too. Based on this Celtics fan, I mean, it was honestly one of the most entertaining things I saw a weekend, just seeing a Celtics fan, body another Celtics fan, and say, don't ever disrespect Rondo
Starting point is 00:16:16 in the number nine like that. Oh, they're disrespecting Rondo by having. Yeah, yeah. He was like, he was like, Jalen Brown does not deserve to be on this jersey. That's awesome. That's so awesome.
Starting point is 00:16:28 I was like that was one of my favorite stories. But Jalen, so Jalen's jump shot obviously isn't quite there yet. But outside of that. The one thing I'll say about Jalen, like in that Chicago game, he was going up against Des Wells. And Des Wells, whatever his strengths and weaknesses,
Starting point is 00:16:44 he's a very strong physical dude. So like, if you can put a defender on Jalen who he can't bully, I'm not sure Jalen's game is ready yet to just not bully people to death. I think that's his plan A, B, C, D, and E. And then plan F, it just faded away jump shots. He needs to work on his plan B when he can't just bully people,
Starting point is 00:17:01 which just comes with time, I suppose. Yeah, one guy he did bully a couple of times was Denzel Valentine that got switched on him. And I would say in person, I've never seen Valentine in person. I was a big fan of Valentine in Michigan State. I watched, you know, a lot of his games, and I've kind of seen him grow up. He looked a little small. I mean, I know he's listed at 6'7, but he looks about 6' about 6'4 probably. Yeah, he's about 6' 4.
Starting point is 00:17:23 and Jeremy Grant was taller than him. Well, and Jaron Grant. We were both surprised by that. We were like, wow, Jaron Grant is definitely taller in Denzel. Yeah. That was like the shocking realization I saw. And like that was the times when I felt good about Jalen Brown
Starting point is 00:17:37 when I saw him go against Denzel. The real star of the Celtics, though, outside of R.J. Hunter trying to go at Devette Booker is the man French Dremont, Gershon, he looks like Boris D.L. Light. You know, he looks like Young Boer's Dio. I wouldn't even say like light. He's probably as big as Boris is now.
Starting point is 00:17:56 I mean, he's a big guy. He's like $2.70, right? Yeah. He looks like a freaking left tackle or something. Yeah. And he had one or, he had a couple times where he hit threes that were just like kick out, like, you know, knock down threes where he just wet them. I mean, I was really impressed with him. All the French Dremont talk I thought was pretty stupid and pointless before.
Starting point is 00:18:15 But after seeing him in person, I'm like, that guy's going to play next season on the Celtics. And then he had the one thing. He hits the threes. Then he pumped face. gets to land and scores, and then he runs down the floor looking at his hand. Yeah. He pulled, yeah, that was big time. That was big time.
Starting point is 00:18:30 I will say the Boston guys, there's a lot of self-confidence on the Boston team. A lot of guys with a very high opinion of themselves. Yeah. Let's get the Ben-Benzel talk. So that was hilarious to watch him. So the first game, he plays three minutes. Doesn't box out Jack Cooley, boom, on the bench the rest of the game. Second game he comes in, just starts throwing up shots as fast so he can take him.
Starting point is 00:18:50 I think I texted you get like four shots. five minutes. Yeah, you take... I love Ben Bensel, man. I think he's one of my favorite players from the weekend, just because when he got drafted, I was like, oh, man, Benzel's like a humble guy. Like, this is such a great opportunity for Bensel. Like, I think he'll be fine.
Starting point is 00:19:07 He's going to work hard. What a steal for the Celtics. And then I talked to someone that knew him, and they were like, he's got a pretty big ego, has a lot of self-belief, he's going to put up shots, doesn't really care about anything else. And after watching him, you know, I definitely believe that take. And it is awesome to see. The dude will just take a jumper.
Starting point is 00:19:22 any time. He doesn't want to play defense. He's not going to play defense. And he's just out there for strictly buckets. I'm all the big guys who hoist jumpers and don't play defense. It was my heart to watch that. Yeah. And I mean, he plays like, he put like four minutes in that Bulls game. And like he still made enough of an impact while he was out there. Like, you know, just by messing. Like he was, you can tell when he's on the floor because it's about him. Something's going to happen one way or the other. Good or bad. It's going to happen. Another guy, James Young for the Celtics, what do you think about James Jug? I feel like his career is coming to an end. Slowly but surely.
Starting point is 00:19:55 I mean, he got pulled off the team basically after that first game. They were like if he's gonna be out of his jacking up shots, we have to watch these young guys actually do something. Like me not gonna have you have his hoisting shots recklessly. He was, he played 20 minutes and he took seven shots. He was one for seven. But
Starting point is 00:20:11 every time he caught the ball, he like, I think he got passed two seven times by his teammates, and that's why he took seven shots. That sounds about right. Yeah, he's in a tough spot, though. I've never seen a team with that many NBA contracts in the Summer League. They had like seven guys who needed to get fed. It was just tough.
Starting point is 00:20:26 Yeah. Just some other random news and notes around the weekend. I don't know how much you've seen the Nuggets play, but Axel Tupain of France is a stud. Great name, obviously. Yeah, I mean, he is a stud. I am all, I want that guy. I mean, he can't shoot the ball from three or anything,
Starting point is 00:20:46 but he makes smart decisions. In that, in the Nuggets Grizzlies game, I mean, he made some great plays on Wayne Baldwin, or Wade Baldwin, who's like a long, lengthy guy. I know you love Baldwin. But, like, Tupane really impressed me. That was what guy, and I was like, you know, he's going to get minutes next year on the Nuggets. Yes, a funny Nugget story. I think it was the first game, and they started Moody A. Harris and Jamal Murray.
Starting point is 00:21:09 You could tell Moody and Harris are like, all right, bro, here's the situation. We're the starting back court. You're just a guy. And they were just started jacking shots left and right. So Murray was like, if I'm getting the ball, I'm throwing it up. He took like four fadeaway threes. It was pretty great. And the game two, they're like, all right, Moody and Harris.
Starting point is 00:21:26 I need to be out here just jacking shots. Let's see what he can do. They had Murray running point. He wasn't great at it. The story of that game was Jimmer Fredette. Yeah, Jimmer for Debt. There's a guy who was out there getting his buckets. Dog, Jimmer for Debt in that game was 50% from three, four for eight, and he was plus 38.
Starting point is 00:21:43 That's crazy. Yeah, I really love these, like, older players who are out here just to score. Like, they know the deal. Because they know, like, the more shots you put up, the more that are going to go in. Like, that's the basic logic of Summer League. Yeah, and it's like, I mean, why not go out there if you're an old guy, you know? Like, go out there, prove yourself, like Michael Beasley. Like, why not go out there and put up some shots, make yourself feel better, you know, get your confidence up,
Starting point is 00:22:05 squirrels of some 19-year-olds? He definitely proved himself with his 3-15 performance. I want Michael Beasley to at least get 15 shots a game. It's a disappointment if he's not getting 15 shots a game. He should be in Summer Lake, like, 305. Come out here and just getting buckets. That's my life. I get buckets.
Starting point is 00:22:24 The other guy was like that with Stoukis. Stoukis was funny. I've never seen an old guy like complained to the refs that much. Like he was out there, I guess last night. And every single time he got the ball, he was crying at the refs about something. Yeah. So I wanted to talk about that. So first of all, the Sixers in general, all those guys are wearing white sleeves,
Starting point is 00:22:41 like one white sleeve. It's like Ben Simmons uniform, which is a little strange to me. I want to figure out what's behind all that. But then Nick Stouskis is playing like, he should be getting the respect of calls, you know? Like, he's like, he's playing as if he's a superstar and should be getting superstar calls and, like, complaining about it.
Starting point is 00:22:57 And it just, it blows my mind, like, the, the self-awareness that's lacking in that guy at this point. Well, I think you have to have, if nothing else, you have to have confidence. If you lose that confidence, then it's over. As long as you have got self-belief, you can build on that, maybe. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:23:12 Yeah. Keep shooting, Stauskis. We got you. I mean, what else is you going to do out there, but shoot, right? Yeah. One other guy, uh, I like, from this weekend is Malcolm Brogden, rookie out of Virginia.
Starting point is 00:23:23 The game, against the select team, I mean, he had a great game. I mean, he was seven for 14. He was dishing the ball around. He was getting Rashad Vaughn involved, getting Thonmaker involved. I just think he's going to play on the Bucks next season behind Chris
Starting point is 00:23:39 Middleton. He's a great two guard to have off the bench. Yeah, like his feel for the game is really high. The game is never too fast for Malcolm Brogden. He always slows down to his tempo. And it's funny watching that, like, a guy like Rashad Vaughn who's theoretically a second-year player, but he's still, like, three years younger than Brogden. So, like, Brogden's this rookie, but he's actually the coached on the floor anyways.
Starting point is 00:24:00 Yeah, he was like, I saw, like, at one point Thon and Rashad were like, it was the three of them, was Thon, Rashad, and Brogden. They were all, like, talking to each other. And they were, like, sitting there, like, listening to Brogden. He was, like, clapping his hands, like, telling him what to do. And it was like, there's Malcolm Brogden being 23-year-old Malcolm Brogden, a.k.a. coach on the floor, aka exactly what you want
Starting point is 00:24:21 if you want a surefire guy to play next season in the draft. Yeah. One guy I was impressed by from Denver was Hernan Gomez. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's really nice. He's fair than what I thought he was,
Starting point is 00:24:34 but even though he's thin, he really competes for boards and fights out there. He moves his feet pretty well. He's at a pretty high basketball IQ. I'm not sure if he's going to come over next season. I think that's still in the air, but he's a good player. The Nuggets really do a good job of drafting
Starting point is 00:24:48 overseas. They're really ahead of the game in that department. He'll be good overseas fine for them. Yeah, just like Tupin. All right, man, let's wrap up with some sort of big picture thoughts from this weekend, like what we saw, like whether it be a franchise that looks like they kind of have sort of figured it out with like this farm system that they have of players or Kua players or just, you know, some player from this weekend that you're like, he's a surefire guy to like get minutes next season and have an impact. I think in terms of surefire. guys to get minutes, she's looking at Drake and Bender. There's a big hole at the 4 spot in Phoenix.
Starting point is 00:25:23 I wouldn't be surprised if you're starting from day one. I think, I really like their young core they have now with Booker, Bender, and then maybe Marquis, Chris. I think Booker and Bender two really nice bookends for this team going forward. Yeah, I think, so yeah, I'm going to piggy back off that a little bit. I think that the Sons were the most impressive team I saw. I think that they have a great foundational guy in Booker. and I think it also sets up for them to have trade assets.
Starting point is 00:25:51 I think if you're a team and you're looking for a guard that's competent, why not go and try to trade for Brandon Knight? Why not try to go and trade for Archie Goodwin? Why not try to get someone? Like they have T.J. Warren, like they have so many guys on that team that are valuable at other places than the NBA. And I think that, you know, they're pretty much stock piling a bunch of guys. Basically, they're teaching us just draft Kentucky players, which is smart.
Starting point is 00:26:13 Yeah, they have like four Kentucky guards now. They also have those two picks from the heat that are understensual. unprotected that look nicer and nicer every year. Yeah, so the Sons are a team that I was really impressed with. Another guy and another team I liked, I liked the Hawks, and I like DeAndre Bimbray. He played really well this tournament out here. He has a good feel for the game. I would love to have Bimri on the bench behind Baysmore and Atlanta and have those two guys,
Starting point is 00:26:37 you know, kind of like feeding off each other. They have a lot of energy. They both love basketball. They're both smart basketball players. I haven't saw Bembert hit a three. If he had those threes, he's going to be really good. Yeah, he's a lot of fun to watch And he's the only person I've ever seen
Starting point is 00:26:51 During the draft combine He was like setting up Bento to get easy buckets And that's hard to do Yeah, I think in general Maybe a takeaway just like Everyone's out of your jacking three Especially the big guys So it's like I mean good for them
Starting point is 00:27:05 Like why not It's the perfect time to do it And there were a few guys where I was like Man if he keeps making these shots Like Jordan Mickey for the Celtics He had a three last night And that's the guy if he could make threes He's going to be a player in the league
Starting point is 00:27:16 for a long time. Yeah. I like the Thon Maker theory of I'm taking four to five threes every night. Yeah, I mean, why not out here, right? I mean, a lot of them weren't making it, but I saw Joel Ballin Boy just jacking threes. Like, I mean, whatever, you know? Yeah. This is a time in the place to jack threes.
Starting point is 00:27:34 Yeah. And the thing that irritates me about that is Jamal Murray took like three threes against the Grizzlies in the game that I watched, and he missed all three of them. And that's the thing, too, I guess, with Vegas Summer League. It's like the sample size is so small. If a guy from hitting his threes, it makes him look worse or better than he is. That's so much the game of the minor NBA is making your threes or not. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:55 Another guy, Dinsaw Valentine, 0 for 9 in the game against the Celtics. I wrote down to all these guys that missed all these threes because that's not a good sign for you, but at the same time it is Summer League and just keep shooting. That's the rule that we have here. Just keep shooting. Yeah, the more you shoot, the more that go in. That's the rule of Summer League. That's the MVP of our podcast, Ben Bintel's Final Thought.
Starting point is 00:28:15 just keep shooting. Yeah, I mean, I guess the Celtics in general, I wonder about them. They have so many guys who have contracts, so many guys who have contracts, so many guys who need touches. And like while the sons are making guys into assets, Boston's, all their draft picks are kind of fighting them. They're kind of like cannibalizing themselves. They don't get a lot of minutes. They don't get a lot of shots. Don't get a lot of touches.
Starting point is 00:28:37 So who's going to want to trade for them? I don't know. I don't know. But they need to start making some deals ASAP. And I know a guy who will take some shots for any team. That's been mental. All right, Charks. All right, good talking to you, man.
Starting point is 00:28:50 All right, man. Peace. Enjoy Vegas. Watch out for Excalibur. Merlin's around. He's always watching. Always. Peace.

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