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NBA Summer League Wild Overreaction Thread

Thee Jazz Fan said:
Not only that but the Pels will probably be one of the worst teams if injury persists and even if there isn’t much injury issue, they could still be a bottom team and they gave up an unprotected for Sean Peck in a very strong draft. I just don’t get the logic.
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That's why you don't go hire an old school guy who were out of the NBA decision making circle for years. Draft picks/young rooks who can produce for you on cheap contracts are literally the most coveted assets under this current CBA. Dumars must still thought he was in the 90s/early 00s when teams were still giving away draft picks for pennies.
 
Thee Jazz Fan said:
That was some beautiful footwork on that post up.

Not only that but the Pels will probably be one of the worst teams if injury persists and even if there isn’t much injury issue, they could still be a bottom team and they gave up an unprotected for Sean Peck in a very strong draft. I just don’t get the logic.

Queen doesn’t fit the modern era as well as Yang, plus Queen is as bad as it gets in his defense. Queen is the type of player I’d expect to play well in SL. For those reasons it’s not an overreaction take.

Dude. Load management has been a staple for years. No one should be surprised that it’s happening. ESPN knows this and still broadcasting because there’s still more generated interest in SL than whatever the other options were. Lol
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I find it incredibly interesting that people here assume that ESPN is, or should be, unconcerned about the quality of the product it pays for and broadcasts. What successful business operates like this?
 
Schrödinger's Gerbil said:
I find it incredibly interesting that people here assume that ESPN is, or should be, unconcerned about the quality of the product it pays for and broadcasts. What successful business operates like this?
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They chose to while knowing key guys would sit out. That’s just part of SL culture. And if ESPN didn’t know this about SL then they are dumber than we thought. SL has always been this way and ESPN still decided to pick it up.
 
Schrödinger's Gerbil said:
If I'm ESPN, I'm refusing to broadcast summer league games in the future without some kind of guarantee that the high profile draftees actually play, barring legit injuries. Fans don't tune in to watch no names playing for two-way, G-league spots, or European contracts. They tune in to see the big names who are the future NBA stars. It's in the league's best interest that they play as well. It's the launching point to create fan interest, market potential marquee players, and create buzz for the upcoming season.

It's like the teams are some nerdy kid and the high profile picks are new Star Wars action figures that the nerd is too afraid to unwrap because it might scratch them. Holy hell, we're now load managing summer league. What a frig'n joke.

Perhaps some of these players are legit injured, but as Andy Larsen pointed out in a recent column, injury reports are routinely manipulated, unreliable, untrustworthy, and all too often can't be taken seriously.

What may be rational for the team or individual player is not rational for the league as a whole. I'm not sure that the league office can do, but it can't not do anything, or summer league is going to end up like the All Star game: an exercise in pointlessness that will turn fans off rather than draw them in.

There's so much about the modern NBA that is almost begging fans to disengage.
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1000% on all of this.
 
Schrödinger's Gerbil said:
If I'm ESPN, I'm refusing to broadcast summer league games in the future without some kind of guarantee that the high profile draftees actually play, barring legit injuries. Fans don't tune in to watch no names playing for two-way, G-league spots, or European contracts. They tune in to see the big names who are the future NBA stars. It's in the league's best interest that they play as well. It's the launching point to create fan interest, market potential marquee players, and create buzz for the upcoming season.

It's like the teams are some nerdy kid and the high profile picks are new Star Wars action figures that the nerd is too afraid to unwrap because it might scratch them. Holy hell, we're now load managing summer league. What a frig'n joke.

Perhaps some of these players are legit injured, but as Andy Larsen pointed out in a recent column, injury reports are routinely manipulated, unreliable, untrustworthy, and all too often can't be taken seriously.

What may be rational for the team or individual player is not rational for the league as a whole. I'm not sure that the league office can do, but it can't not do anything, or summer league is going to end up like the All Star game: an exercise in pointlessness that will turn fans off rather than draw them in.

There's so much about the modern NBA that is almost begging fans to disengage.
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this is all fine and dandy. sounds great. the only thing missing is reality. you say it's "going to end up..." the vegas summer league has been going on for 20 years - either it has already ended up like an all-star game and the fans/espn doesn't care or it hasn't and never will.

fact is, ESPN has chosen to continue to show the games. obviously enough people are watching to satisfy them. if this were a new thing, you'd be making a great point. but alas, it is not.

to be very clear, it goes without saying that we'd all like it so much more if the star rookies would play every game - i'm mostly definitely not disagreeing with that. just saying ESPN has already made their decision and they are obviously fine with it.

as far as your last sentence - c'mon now - it's an exhibition. it's pre-season on steroids. in no sport do all the best players play every game in pre-season - let alone pre-season x10. guys not playing in meaningless exhibitions isn't unique to the nba. at least the nba has a summer league. i got to see our shiny new draft pick play in games a week after he was drafted. would i have liked to see him more than that? absolutely - but some is better than none.
 
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Schrödinger's Gerbil said:
I find it incredibly interesting that people here assume that ESPN is, or should be, unconcerned about the quality of the product it pays for and broadcasts. What successful business operates like this?
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I mean have you seen a non-marquee ESPN college football broadcast? They are apparently very unconcerned about the quality of the product. Those cameras have to be 30 years old.
 
It's fun to watch guys play in a different role. For the most part, I think the "once he gets in the NBA" takes are a little overblown. There's validity to the logic, but it applies more universally across prospects and not just to our favorite prospect. Also, NBA much harder. But one thing that is very team dependent in college is a player's actual role. There's a universe in which Ace plays for a college where he's used like he is with the Jazz SL and ditto for VJ with PHI. Think it's good to open our minds a bit and at least imagine what a player might look like had he played in a different situation. Important for understanding which guys could theoretically scale up or down at the next level.
 
Schrödinger's Gerbil said:
ESPN has made an investment. It wants to maximize the return to that investment. Imagine going before the ESPN decision-makers during contract negotiations to address concerns about the sitting of high profile draft picks and saying, "It's summer league man."
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I think it's probably at the bottom of the list of concerns ESPN has regarding the NBA as a product
 
I dont think dude is wrong in how this years Summer League has gone. Its anecdotal, but I, along with a lot of you, have watched summer league for a loooong time. I cant remember a draft class that played less games from the top guys than this one, honestly. It was called out in an Athletic news letter thing the other day even, talking about how the pre-LV leagues got to see the top dudes but by Vegas most were shut down or hardly played, and its seen as the show case of summer leagues.

I canceled a league pass 7 day sub that would have paid out the next months worth had Ace played, so NBA TV is out my $16 and I was told they called a share holders meeting to try and get my $16. One data point.
 
JazzFever said:
Are they only showing Fever games or something?
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You cannot overstate CC's impact. Many including myself would not have started following the league without her. But the league stands on it's own as a great product. There are other stars around the league and most of all the league is competitive. Every game seems to matter which reminds me of the way the NBA used to be. The Golden State Valkyries sell out every home game in the same arena as the Warriors and the crowd is infinitely more engaged despite being a mid team with no stars. It's because there are true fans in the building instead of only rich people and the game being played actually matters to the players and teams.

The only bad thing about the league is that worst you know are constantly inserting themselves into the conversation about the league. They are insufferable and couldn't care less about the basketball being played. Beyond that distraction, it's a really fun league to follow.
 
man, this nae'qwan tomlin is very impressive. tall, long (6'9" with a 7'3 WS, 9'1" standing reach), athletic, big time motor and can shoot it. he's been dominant so far in summer league, but more than that, he has nba length, athleticism and shooting. if he gets an opportunity he'll be a long time rotation guy in the league.

14 and 5 already in this first quarter.
 
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