The Kings took the 2014 Las Vegas Summer League title, but not all of their key players performed consistently well.
Given who was playing for the Kings in summer league, it’s not terribly surprising that they ultimately hoisted the trophy as their owner, Vivek Ranadive, beamed with pride. Throughout the seven games, particularly the final four, how did each of the key players look? Find out below. (If you missed the first Kings update from Las Vegas, you can find it here.)
Derrick Williams didn’t get much, if anything, out of this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, as he was sent home after the team’s first three games. According to coach Michael Malone, the early exit was prearranged. Therefore, his entire summer league performance was already summarized in our first Kings update. Placed primarily at power forward, he played inconsistently, not shooting particularly well but especially struggling in the rebounding department. At times, he aggressively attacked the basket, but he also settled for jump shots far too often.
After beginning summer league with mixed results (13.3 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting, but 5.3 turnovers per game and not a single assist over three games), Ben McLemore continued his inconsistency. In the fourth contest against the Timberwolves, his shot was on. He shot 7-of-11 from the field against Minnesota, but finished the tournaments with games of 2-of-8 and 4-of-13.
Despite struggling with his shot in the Kings’ championship win over the Rockets, McLemore dug deep in the fourth quarter to finish a key drive to the basket and nail a critical 3-pointer, making his final three shots after beginning 1-of-10. The second-year player’s ability to cut down on turnovers was also promising, as he committed no more than three in any one game between Games 4 and 7. In Games 5-7, however, he only earned a total of four free throws, and that’s a problem. Like his teammate Derrick Williams, Malone says he is at his best when he’s routinely attacking the basket.
It may sound peculiar, but Nik Stauskas appeared to hit some version of the “rookie wall” between Games 3 and 4 after going through training camp, practices and all the games on short rest. After beginning summer league 13-of-27, the rookie shooting guard took fewer shots and made a lower percentage of those attempts in his team’s final four games (10-26). With the exception of the fourth game, where he recorded an impressive five assists, he never topped one assist in any of the remaining three contests.
Although Stauskas shot just 38.5 percent over the final four games, part of that can be attributed to some of his off-balanced drives. The less-than-stellar shot selection in spots is clearly not a positive, but then again, the aggressiveness was nice to see. It’s also important to point out that he struggled with his 2-point shots, converting 4-of-12, but the 3-point shot stayed sharp, as the University of Michigan product nailed 6-of-14 long-range attempts in the team’s last four games or a total of 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) in Las Vegas. If that’s not impressive, then what is?
After never scoring more than 13 points in any of the Kings’ first six summer league games, Ray McCallum erupted for 29 points in the final game. While the 23-year-old guard only registered one assist, he grabbed nine rebounds and took control of the game with the Las Vegas Summer League championship on the line. The Detroit Mercy alumnus stepped up when his team needed his scoring punch most, scoring 19 points in the second half, alone.
During the rest of summer league, McCallum operated more as a facilitator. He scored in various ways in the title game, nailing 3-of-7 from deep, living at the free-throw line for 8-of-9, going to the basket and hitting midrange jumpers. During the final four games, he averaged 14.5 points on 61.1 percent shooting and 50 percent from 3, along with 6.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists. The ample experience he received as a result of Isaiah Thomas’ injury last season appears to have benefited McCallum immensely.
Quincy Acy may have been the Kings’ most consistent player through all seven games of summer league. He rebounded well, showcased an expanded shooting range, made smart decisions and even amassed four steals and four blocks over the final four contests. While Acy did foul too much, he improved in that area as the tournament progressed. He’s a guy who deserves to play on an NBA team this upcoming season, although the Kings are expected to let him go, given their overabundance of power forwards.
Given the Kings’ desperate need of a shot blocker, Eric Moreland should at least be considered for the regular-season roster. He blocked at least three shots in four of the six games he played despite logging just around 20 minutes per game. My favorite stat: The Kings went 6-0 when he was in the lineup, including four games without Derrick Williams. Moreland is raw offensively, but he was all over the boards and deflections. Per 30 minutes, he averaged 13.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks. Yeah, seriously. Check this one out:
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Ra’shad James, MarShon Brooks, and Jared Cunningham played 15.7, 15.4, and 12.2 minutes per game, respectively. Brooks looked the best of the three, living up to his “instant offense” reputation. Although he didn’t shoot particularly well from 3-point range (2-of-9), he shot 53.1 percent from the field and averaged 10.6 points per game without ever taking more than 10 shots in a single game. Brooks showed some defensive intensity, but his all-around game may need additional work if he is to find a niche for himself in the NBA moving forward.
Fellow former first-round pick Jared Cunningham made half of his eight 3-point attempts, but converted a miserable 36.8 percent of his shots inside the arc. On a positive note, the 23-year-old guard did manage to come up with seven steals over the team’s last four games. Like Cunningham, Ra’shad James made half of his 3’s, but wasn’t the best at converting 2-point shots. For a 6-foot-1 guard, James plays an awful lot like a shooting guard and only recorded a total of four assists in six summer league games.
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