NBA Orlando Summer League and Some Early Fantasy Draft Rankings
Jul 14, 2012 Blog
I’m getting things rolling a little early this year with the draft rankings. I’ve posted early center fantasy draft rankings on the homepage, top right column. I’ll be keeping these on the homepage throughout training camp and will be updating them weekly. I’l be posting the Power Forward rankings in the next couple of days, so keep an eye out for those.
NBA Summer League has tipped off and many of the hottest rookies, as well as a few veterans, are out showing their skills. The Orlando Summer League ended on Friday, but the Las Vegas Summer League is just getting started.
E’Twaun Moore has added some muscle and has been impressive for the Celtics. He’s buried on the Celtic bench right now, but he’s making his case to move up. He’s starting to take it to the basket rather than remaining just a spot up shooter.
Jared Sullinger has been putting up good numbers with 13.8 points and and 8.3 rebounds per game. He led all Summer League rookies with 8.3 rebounds per game. I still can’t believe the Celtics snagged him so late in the draft.
Kris Joseph has also had some success for Boston, posting 11.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Fab Melo has some pretty good passing skills.
Tyshaun Taylor (Brooklyn) was the leading rookie scorer in Orlando Summer League with 15.5 points a game.
Marshon Brooks (Brooklyn) tied a Summer League record with 34 points.
Toko Shengelia is a small forward for Brooklyn and I’ve read a lot of positive reports about his performance in Orlando Summer League. He’s fighting for a spot of this season’s roster.
Al Thornton is on the Brooklyn team and is trying to impress this summer in hopes of a spot during training camp. His performance has been pretty good, so keep an eye on him this fall.
Philadelphia’s team was destroyed by injuries. Moe Harkless (strained hip flexor), Arnett Moultrie (sprained ankle), Jacob Pullen (foot), Xavier Silas (skull fracture) and Nikola Vucevic (strained achilles) were all lost. The most scary injury was that of Silas, but it doesn’t appear that any of the injuries are long term serious.
Lavoy Allen got in a little summertime workout by participating in Orlando. He signed a two year deal and could be looking at decent minutes with Elton Brand out of the picture.
Adam ‘The ‘Stache’ Morrison is playing for Brooklyn.
Terrence Ross, Toronto’s surprise first round draft pick, put up 21 points in his first game.
Jonas Valanciunas (Toronto) is skipping Summer League to play in the Olympics.
Andre Drummond (Detroit) averaged 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.0 blocks. He’s got a great chance at logging some big minutes in his first NBA season.
Alec Burks (Utah) is a scoring machine and had a great Summer League averaging nearly 17 points a game. He was rewarded with a first team Summer League honor. He could really make a jump this season to fantasy relevance.
Jan Vesely (Washington) somehow managed to pick up 10 fouls in 30 minutes. Not good.
Bradley Beal (Washington) put up 22 points in his first game. He’s not just an outside shooter, he can take it to the basket. He ended up with 10 free throw attempts, making 9 of them. He’s going to be really good.
Derrick Williams (Minnesota) showed up to Summer League 15 pounds lighter. He’s looking to make the transition to small forward this season.
Harrison Barnes (Golden State) scored 23 points in his first game for the Warriors. I think they got a steal in the draft.
Thomas Robinson (Sacramento) is more that just a big man, he can really handle the ball and makes some great passes.
Donatas Motiejunas (Houston) had a big first game for the Rockets with 25 points. Luis Scola has been amnestied, so Motiejunas has a real shot at some minutes.
Tags: fantasy basketball