Yeah, that’s not really how I expected the Top-4’s Summer League debuts to go down. The debuts of the 2023 Top-4 draft picks at the NBA Summer League really didn’t go as planned as injury, poor performances, and general inexperience to American basketball dimmed these four players’ enormous talents.
Well, at least they have a lot of time to grow and develop.
Despite being the Top-4 draft picks of the 2023 draft and having the weight of losing fanbases’ hopeful expectations on their shoulders, the Top-4 draft picks really didn’t have the best of nights in their Summer League debuts as injury and lack of experience against NBA-caliber players hampered their performances. And, even though I’m sure a lot of these depressed fanbases came away disappointed, these results were to be expected.
Aside from Victor Wembanyama, did anyone really think a trio of college players and/or G-Leaguers would be able to contend with 2nd-year NBA players and young veterans playing for spots on a roster? And, to be honest, I’m not sure how many people really believed the French Phenom would be able to show out in his debut game on North American soil.
So, as most probably know now, in the Battle of the Top-2 Picks, both Victor Wembanyama (drafted 1st by the San Antonio Spurs) and Brandon Miller (drafted 2nd by the Charlotte Hornets) had very average displays (to put it gently) as Wembanyama went 2-13 shooting from the field and 1-6 shooting from beyond the arc to finish with a measly 9 points, 8 REB, 3 AST, and 5 BLKS (which isn’t measly at all) for the Spurs, while Brandon Miller was not much better with 5-15 FG shooting, 3-10 3-point FG shooting, and a stat line of 16 PTS, 11 REB, and 1 AST for the Hornets.
Now, Miller did have the edge on Wembanyama as this wasn’t his first game in an NBA uniform as it was for Wemby, but it’s clear both players are going to need at the very least 6 months to adjust to the fast pace, high-tempo basketball played in the NBA.
I know college and the French Pro League have good players in them, but the style and tempo of basketball played just simply is too slow and unprecise for a player to come straight out of either one and thrive at the NBA level. They simply need time to adjust and hone their skills…which both Wemby and Miller have in abundance.
I’ve got no doubt both will be superstars so long as they continue their path of progress and stay on the straight and narrow.
As for the other game, the Portland Trail Blazers vs. the Houston Rockets, that saw the 3rd overall pick Scoot Henderson faceoff against the 4th overall pick Amen Thompson, the latter two picks of the Top-4 actually played far better than I thought they were going to. And I mean a lot better.
In under 30 minutes of basketball for both players (and over 21 minutes for Henderson), both guys posted impressive stat lines you’d not expect from a rookie in their debut as Scoot Henderson posted 15 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, and 5-13 FG shooting for the Blazers in less than a half, while Amen Thompson had 16 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST, 3 STLs, 4 BLKs, and 6-13 shooting for the Rockets.
It’s interesting how both the G-League, the official minor league for the NBA, players played far better and were more acclimated to the professional game and veteran NBA players than the two that played overseas/college in their, respective, debuts. I guess that shows the G-League is actually working in terms of developing the youth of basketball for the NBA game, though the tradeoff is always not being able to go to college or play in one’s home country if they join the league.
Nevertheless, the sour note for these two debuts is that both Scoot Henderson and Amen Thompson left the game early with injuries. I don’t think they’re major knocks, but I really hope this isn’t a sign as to how their professional careers will play out as that would be a terrible shame.
Anyways, the top end of the 2023 draft seems like it is panned to shape out into a solid class with the potential of all of them being NBA superstars, which is a huge win for the NBA and the fanbases of these, respective, players’ teams.
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