We spend a lot time in the NBA world wondering whether or not draft picks are going to pan out. We won't know how the 2015 class measures up for a few years, but now that the summer league season has come and gone, we've finally gotten a glimpse into how these prospects look in pseudo-NBA game action. Bear in mind, every bit of summer league success or failure comes with a gigantic grain of salt, but there are indicators, and what better time to start picking apart what we like, and don't like, about these guys' games?
So here we go. A top 5, tier-by-tier ranking of the summer league rookies -- from the top 5 picks to the rest of the lottery, the remaining first rounders, second rounders and undrafted surprises. We expect you to come back in five years and tell us how smart we are!
Top 5 Picks
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (No. 1overall): The No. 1 pick in the draft is also the top rookie of this section. His 12 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks per game were good. His 39.6 shooting percentage wasn't. However, he was one of the few players facing constant double teams and it allowed him to show off his passing ability. Defensively, he was a little foul happy as he admittedly learned what he could and couldn’t get away with when it comes to officiating. He communicated well on defense and did a solid job of protecting the rim.
2. D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers (No. 2 overall): Russell had a nice debut, followed by some real struggles out there. However, he capped off the week with a strong finish when he scored 21 points on 10 of 20 from the field.
Overall, he made just 37.7 percent of his shots while having 10 more turnovers than assists in five games. You even started to hear people wonder if he was showing us similar issues we saw from Evan Turner -- another No. 2 pick out of Ohio State. Had one of them gone to a different college than Ohio State, I don't think that comparison would even be made. Russell will have to work to find his rhythm in both getting his points and creating points for others. I still think we saw enough good out of him this week to be excited about his career moving forward.
3. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks (No. 4 overall): Aside from missing a few open shots in his final summer league game, Porzingis was incredibly consistent with his play during the summer stint. That's tough to do for rookie big men trying to get their feet wet because guards hold so much control over the game. What we found out about him is he really does have some skill. He can shoot the ball, he's good at drawing fouls, he seemed to play within the construct of the offense nicely, and he was able to use his length and timing to block shots, even though he got pushed around. He wasn't a good rebounder and he needs to get stronger, but this was a nice showcase in limited minutes.
4. Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ers (No. 3 overall): I wouldn't freak out about me having Okafor behind Porzingis. The big man was good throughout moments of summer league (both Las Vegas and Salt Lake), but I just thought Porzingis had a better experience in his games. Part of that could be that defensive attention was much more concentrated on Okafor. He showed off some good rebounding and skill in the post. We saw a good touch on the jumpers. But other than that, the defense was bad, he turned the ball over a ton, he missed a lot of shots inside, free throw shooting was worse than advertised (which already wasn't good), and it just didn't feel like he left his mark. I still love how he projects long-term.
5. Mario Hezonja, Orlando Magic (No. 5 overall): We only got two games out of Mario Hezonja, but he had some really fun moments in both games. He hit a big shot to help his Magic split squad win their first game, and then he unleashed some impressive dunks in his next game. He didn't shoot the ball well and went just 4 of 14 from 3-point range, but he didn't get a lot of opportunity to find a rhythm. He's one of the rookies I'm most excited to watch develop as this first season goes along. Once he develops a little more comfort on the court, he'll have a big presence.
(Also: Rick Kamla should announce all games in which Hezonja unleashes a big dunk.)
Rest of the lottery
1. Stanley Johnson, Detroit Pistons (No. 8 overall): Stanley Johnson had one subpar outing in his five summer league games in Orlando, and he still ended up with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in 27 minutes. The rest of the time, he was shredding opposing defenses. He averaged 16.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and a block while shooting 57.7 percent from the field. He was an awful free throw shooter (59.3 percent), but I think we can look past that and enjoy everything else he did.
2. Justise Winslow, Miami Heat (No. 10 overall): The first three games in Orlando were a nice showing for Justise Winslow. He ran some point-forward, played all over the position charts, and showed good playmaking for himself and others. He shot the ball really poorly the entire time, but he's still feeling out what shots are available for him at the next level and how to get those shots cleanly. He hardly played in his final three games (two of them in Vegas), so you can't take much from those.
3. Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver Nuggets (No. 7 overall): I've been calling Emmanuel Mudiay a "middle management John Wall," and I hope people know that's a compliment. Mudiay showed a tremendous amount of poise, control, and skill on the court. He was an abysmal shooter, as we expected him to be, but he made up for that quite nicely with everything else he did on the floor. He scored really well in transition, but the shooting out of pick-and-roll sets and jump shot in general will have to improve. His jersey game is on point though.
4. Willie Cauley-Stein, Sacramento Kings (No. 6 overall): Cauley-Stein suffered the same big man problems that other young guys do in summer league: they can only control their offensive touches so much and that can make it hard to get into a rhythm. He struggled with his rebounding at times, and his hands weren't as trustworthy as expected. But he blocked 11 shots over his last three games in Vegas, and still ended up averaging 11.4 points in 22.1 minutes. He also avoided getting sucked into the fouling vortex for most of his time on the floor.
5. Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers (No. 11 overall): Turner was very impressive in Orlando. He was a bit of a scoring machine, showed a very nice jumper, rebounded well, never turned the ball over, and blocked 13 shots in three games. It's kind of amazing he didn't get a single assist in his 87 minutes, but they're also not looking to make him a creator right now. He'll have plenty of growing pains, but it puts you a little more at ease about trading away Roy Hibbert.
Late first round
1. Kelly Oubre, Washington Wizards (No. 15 overall): I'm not terribly worried about the sub-40 percent from the field or the 25 percent from downtown shooting. Oubre was a leader on the court, produced some good overall scoring, and I think he showed he can be a defender at the next level.
2. Jerian Grant, New York Knicks (No. 19 overall): Grant was one of the better and more controlled point guards in summer league. He ran the Knicks extremely well, made a lot of plays for his teammates, was great at in end-of-clock situations, played defense, and pushed the tempo when he needed to.
3. Delon Wright, Toronto Raptors (No. 20 overall): Speaking of real point guards, I also loved the poise Delon Wright showed in a chaotic offensive environment like summer league. He played in just two games, but he didn't really give the ball to the other team and he set up his teammates quite nicely. He handled full court pressure from good defenders with incredible ease.
4. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets (No. 23 overall): He was everything as advertised pre-draft. He's not much of a shooter, but he's a phenomenal athlete who defended very well, rebounded at an excellent clip, scored nicely, and was a thief to those foolish enough to leave the ball within swiping distance. He was also extremely busy considering he played 10 games (5 in Orlando, 5 in Vegas). And definitely check out the shimmy at the line:
5. Bobby Portis, Chicago Bulls (No. 22 overall): Loved Bobby Portis' activity. He rebounded like a mad man, did a nice job scoring the ball, and seemed to run the floor and hustle to the spots he needed to be in. The shot was terribly inconsistent though and he wasn't a playmaker at all for his teammates. All told, he's going to be a great role player for Chicago in the coming years.
Second-rounders
1. Norman Powell, Toronto Raptors (No. 46 overall): Norman Powell played just four of the five games for Toronto, but he was a monster, scoring 18.2 points per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field. He also tallied six steals and six blocked shots. He was 4 of 9 from 3-point range and didn't really take many bad shots. He's looking like a second-round steal already, even though the Raptors have a crowded wing corps.
2. Jordan Mickey, Boston Celtics (No. 33 overall): Though LSU power forward Jarell Martin went in the first round for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, Jordan Mickey was in fact the best LSU power forward in this draft class, somethign he proved again by shooting 52.7 percent from the field over eight games (Orlando and Vegas) while averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds. He had three double-doubles over his last five games.
3. Montrezl Harrell, Houston Rockets (No. 32 overall): Harrell needed 25 shots to score 24 points in his final summer league game, but you don't really mind that because he grabbed a lot of his own misses with 10 of his 12 rebounds coming on the offensive end. Over the entire Vegas showcase, he averaged 16.5 points and 8.0 rebounds. He's going to be a monster when he plays against second units.
4. Joseph Young, Indiana Pacers (No. 43 overall): Young can be a big-time scoring option off the bench for the Pacers if they want him to be. He'll need a bit of time to acclimate to the speed and size of the NBA, but he showed the scoring punch he can provide in Orlando, averaging 22.5 points on 50.8 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range over four games. He can flat out fill it up.
5. Branden Dawson, Los Angeles Clippers (No. 56 overall): Dawson played four games in Orlando for the Clippers and he really impressed in that time. He averaged over 12 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 52.2 percent from the field. He also had seven steals and five blocks in his final two games in Orlando. Maybe he works his way into the rotation for Doc Rivers at some point.
Undrafted
1. Alan Williams: In four games with the Houston Rockets in Vegas, Williams led all summer league rookies with 20.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. The big man out of UC Santa Barbara also showed a good touch from the free throw line (73.3 percent) and was also pretty good at moving the ball on offense. He definitely belongs in the NBA with what he showed.
2. Ryan Boatright: In nine games with the Brooklyn Nets (Orlando and Vegas), Boatright proved he can score the ball, averaging 14 points on 41.2 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from distance -- and that's including a seven-point effort in his last game in which he only played seven minutes. He just needs to become more of a floor general at this level.
3. Terran Petteway: Petteway hit his first eight shots in the semifinal game on Saturday, which put a stamp on his summer impact. He averaged 11.5 points on 43.1 percent from the field but just 31 percent from 3-point range. He started figuring out the perimeter shooting though by going 7-of-16 in his last two games, and he earned himself a chance to make a roster somewhere.
4. Jonathan Holmes: The biggest thing for Holmes during this summer stretch between Orlando and Vegas was showing he can shoot the ball from downtown. He made 46.8 percent of his triples on 28 attempts over eight games. The scoring and rebounding are nice, but he needs to show he can shoot.
5. Cliff Alexander: Alexander was all over the map in his 11 summer league games with the Brooklyn Nets, but he showed he at least deserves more of a shot than he got on draft night. He struggled to make shots, but still averaged 7.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 22.7 minutes.