Instead of the typical 'Notebook' style layout of this post, I've done something different today to close out the Utah and Orlando Summer Leagues, both of which have finished in the past 24 hours. I've listed five winners from the event who had to come away feeling pretty good about what they showed (plus seven others that I was impressed with), and five losers who probably could have done more to improve their standings, either with their organizations or with prospective employers.
Here are the winners and losers of the first portion of Summer League.
WINNERS
Aaron Gordon, Magic: The clear top player at the Orlando Summer League, Gordon took the step forward that you expect to see from highly drafted second-year players. As I wrote on Monday, Gordon has made significant strides with his jump shot and looks to have a totally different offensive ceiling. He's always been a good ball-handler, but now he looks shiftier in traffic and in isolation as well. The energy, defense and athleticism will always be there for him, as will his strong feel for the game. The actual skills were always the main question as to what his eventual peak could be, and he's broken through in a big way this week in showing us what he's capable of in the future.
Stanley Johnson, Pistons: Johnson was likely the second-most effective player this week at Summer League behind Gordon. His game off the dribble looked shiftier, and his jump shot was falling all week outside of a hiccup in his final game on Friday. More than that though, nobody could stay in front of him and keep him out of the lane, a skill that we only got glimpses of in Arizona due to their lack of floor spacing. If that's something that continues happening through training camp, preseason and the start of the NBA season, Johnson has a great shot to legitimately contribute as a freshman this season. The shot still is a little bit flat and has a low release point, but that's fixable over the next couple of years. Right now, Johnson looks like a legitimate find for Detroit.
Myles Turner, Pacers: Another rookie to show off skills that he didn't get a chance to do in college, Turner was the most effective big man at the event. Not only did his defense translate here, but he showed off some moves on offense that he never really got the chance to at Texas due to how he was used. His acumen as a roller already seems pretty strong, and his jumper as a popper already has range out to the NBA line comfortably. When you put that into conjunction with the impressive mid-post game that he got a chance to show off as well as the increased fluidity of his athletic movement, this was a banner event for Turner that couldn't have gone any better. If these skills show up in the regular season for a team that could really use a player like him right now, the Pacers will have a veritable steal at No. 11 overall.
Russ Smith, Grizzlies: Smith has always had the ability to defend and score, but this week he added to it with an increased understanding of how to run an offense. He got everyone involved, largely kept the turnovers to a minimum and portrayed better vision than he ever did at Louisville. He also showed a bit of a penchant for "the moment" in making two game-winners in sudden-death overtime periods to give the Grizzlies the championship of the event. He does end up having the ball in his hands a lot, but he's not necessarily a "ball-stopper" either, as he's looking to make plays both for himself and others the entire time on this level. At the very least, Smith likely earned a contract guarantee this week, which was the most important part of his Summer League.
Willie Reed, Heat: Another guy who earned a contract this week, Reed now owns a "mostly guaranteed" contract from the Brooklyn Nets. This has been the product of a long process for Reed, including three years in the D-League, where he has twice been named to the D-League All-Defense team and once to the All-D-League First Team. Reed was terrific in Orlando to earn that spot as well, finishing in the top six of all players in rebounding and blocks, as well as 14th in scoring. He's the ultimate "keep it simple" big man, which makes him a strong backup possibility in the NBA. Congrats to him on his deal.
Some others worth noting: Rodney Hood and Marcus Smart could have easily fit into this section. But because they didn't really show anything new in their games and simply just looked to be a level above the competition, I decided not to include them. Dante Exum looked great prior to his injury. Bryce Cotton did everything he could to lock up a roster spot for the Jazz. Joe Young scored the basketball. Keith Appling did the same. Branden Dawson was really strong with his motor and high-energy play.
LOSERS
James Young, Celtics: Simply put, Young didn't even come close to taking that next step that you hope for from second-year first-round picks (and like we saw from guys like Hood, Smart, Gordon and even Exum before he got hurt). He shot poorly -- 6-for-26 from the field, to be exact -- showed little in the way of an off-the-bounce game, and was thoroughly inattentive and disinterested defensively. He's still only 19 and he performed really well in the D-League last season, so it's not like this is the end of the world. But it's absolutely a step back for him, and they'll look for better growth from the former Kentucky wing in the preseason and in training camp.
Solomon Hill, Pacers : Hill was one of the worst players in Orlando this week, which is typically terrifying news for a third-year player at an event like this. This is the kind of competition that a multi-year pro and former first-round pick should eat alive. Especially one that started 78 games for the organization last year. However, his poor shooting from the season -- when, according to one metric, he was fourth-worst in the entire league -- continued, as he knocked down 18 percent of his shots, including none of his five 3-point attempts. He ended up going back to Indiana after the third game. The Pacers should be a bit worried at this point that he may never turn into a fully competent rotation player, even despite his heavy minutes last year.
Glen Rice Jr., Orlando White Team: Last season's Summer League MVP had a rough go of it this week despite his team's success. Rice averaged 6.7 points per game despite seemingly jacking up a shot every time he touched the ball. He somehow got up 14 shots and four free throws in 16 minutes on Wednesday, which I honestly wasn't sure was possible. The problem: He only made three of those shots to end up with 10 points. Not a banner week for him, and not the kind of performance that will get him picked up by another team after being cut by the Wizards last season. He'll go to Las Vegas now, and play for the Houston Rockets and hope to impress there.
Tyler Johnson, Heat and Nate Wolters, Clippers: Neither of these guys are here because of their play. Both of them ended up having to cut their event short due to injury, and neither has a guaranteed contract for next season. Wolters, particularly, was well on his way to earning one somewhere before a fractured finger put him out of action. Johnson was solid for the Heat as well, and is under a non-guaranteed deal with Miami next season, but ended up fracturing his jaw after running into a hard screen from Eric Griffin. He'll now miss six weeks of action, and it might end up putting him in a bit of a precarious position for the Heat. Johnson was one of the more fun players to watch in the NBA at the end of last season, so here's hoping this minor setback doesn't end up hurting him too much.
Jahlil Okafor, 76ers: So here's the thing with Okafor. He didn't really play that poorly overall, scoring 14 points and grabbing 7.8 rebounds per game. He even showed a better 12-to-15-foot jumper, and was good in pick-and-roll situations offensively -- something he didn't get to show often at Duke. Why is he in the losers' section then? Well, he also showed up and flashed pretty much every red flag that people had for him pre-draft as a top-three pick. Struggles to finish around the rim due to a lack of explosiveness? Check. A rough time defending around the rim and grabbing defensive boards? Check. Generally lethargic play, either due to conditioning issues or just a lack of caring about the event? It's very likely the former given that he was playing in altitude, but they popped up too. Simply put, when you're the third overall pick, you have a different set of expectations. And Okafor just didn't meet those this week. It doesn't mean anything definitive long-term, and it doesn't mean he has bust potential or anything like that at all. Plenty of top picks have had average Summer League showings and end up becoming all-stars. He just didn't answer any of the questions or concerns that detractors had for him, and that's certainly not how he wanted his first pro event to go.
