| Summer League Impressions Authored by Payam Jahromi - July 26, 2005 - 12:05 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Final Thoughts On The 2008 NBA Draft This year's draft was decidedly more calm and casual than the Oden/Durant showdown, which made for a more candid and personal experience.
Grading The Deal: Knicks Sign DuhonThe Knicks overpaid for a below average starting point guard, but the move should still pay dividends.
 |
The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men
The recent change in the free agent landscape, including the move of Baron Davis from the Warriors to Clippers, could prove costly for the 76ers.
|
 |
Oh Danny Boy
Danny Granger, who has just three years of NBA experience under his belt, will undoubtedly be the man in Indiana beginning this summer.
|
 |
$10 Million For Five Players?
The Orlando Magic will be limited by the NBA's Luxury Tax in terms of filling the remaining spots on their roster. It is also possible it could cost them Keyon Dooling or Maurice Evans.
|
|
More from RealGM's Columnists
|
| |
Ike Diogu:
Up and down, but that’s to be expected. His 37 points and 12 boards in the last game was nice to see. What surprised me was how quickly he released his jumper. I knew he had a good mid-range shot (80% from the line doesn’t lie), but I didn’t think he could shoot it that well in a real game against defenders.
Now if you’ve never seen Diogu play and you just read the last paragraph, don’t worry, this is not the second coming of Troy Murphy – he’s not a guy who would rather shoot from the outside. He likes to post and bang, but he can make the jumper if that’s what’s given to him. It’s pretty apparent that he can score at any level.
Defensively it was tough to gauge, and I’m still not sure what kind of an athlete he is. The 10 fouls in one game was strange, but the summer league referees called everything. During one of the games, I turned to give my fiancé a hug and heard a whistle.
Although Ike doesn’t have superstar potential, he doesn’t have bust potential either. In other words, he’ll be at least a solid contributor in the league for a long time.
Monta Ellis:
The star of the summer league for the Warriors. My first impression of this guy is rather high. He’s one of those guys who makes everything look easy, always a good sign.
His outside shot is smooth and deadly. Also, at 19 he looks like he’s making a rapid transition to point guard. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on the Warriors roster come opening day. I’d also be disappointed.
Andris Biedrins:
He got zero breaks from the refs but it didn’t seem to faze him much. If that carries over with the real NBA refs, coach Montgomery will have to get ejected to make a point.
Although he didn’t score a ton of points, you can see that he’s improved that short lefty hook shot. He also seemed to get that shot off anytime he wanted – an excellent sign. On defense, he was just whistled for another foul.
Chris Taft:
Didn’t play much because of the back injury. In the little action I did see, he looked motivated and he had a presence. It should be interesting to see how this story ends up.
Zarko Caparkapa:
I wasn’t too concerned with how he’d play as long as he looked confident, which he did. The fact that a guy going into his third year played in the summer league should tell you a little something about how important he views the upcoming season for himself.
Other notes:
I’m still not convinced the Warriors are done this off-season. The moratorium to sign and trade players will end at some point, and it should be interesting what the Warriors do and don’t do. I’ve seen rumors that they may cut Adonal Foyle or Derek Fisher as part of the “Allan Houston” rule, a new rule that allows every team an opportunity to cut a player and avoid paying the luxury tax on his salary.
I would be shocked if Foyle is released. He could be a big factor in what the Warriors do this season, just as he was during the stretch run last season. Fisher could be the guy Mullin is shopping as we speak, but I don’t see him getting released either. Yes they have bad salaries, but they are veterans who will help the Warriors win.
I can be reached at pjahromi@sbcglobal.net |
