Without the injured Frank Ntilikina, the Knicks fell to the Mavericks by a score of 80-75 in their 2017 Orlando Summer League opener.
It’s important to understand that the summer competition is not about wins and losses. It’s about development. Scouting talent over the next couple of weeks in Orlando, Utah, and Las Vegas will come down to which individuals show enough promise to potentially contribute at the NBA level. For others, even showing that they may be a year or so away may be enough for a franchise to sign them to camp deals and then explore potential by allowing such prospects in play for a respective G League affiliate.
As New York will continue to see this week, there are potential diamonds in the rough with this group. Here are three key observations from the defeat:
With current NBA players and undrafted sleepers getting a lot of love this week, Louis Labeyrie is surely the most underrated player on the roster. Newsflash: he could be much closer to playing in this league than people think. Originally drafted by the Knicks back in 2014, Labeyrie has great passing skills for a big man and looked fluent when sinking all four of his shots. Amid adding 10 points and 6 rebounds, Labeyrie proved to be especially mobile and looked the part of a big league athlete. NBA teams have had a growing interest in plucking athletes out of the minor league following a couple campaigns of more seasoning. The same mindset could be applied when considering Labeyrie, who at 25 years old won Sixth Man of the Year this past season in The French League.
Another player who turned heads on Saturday afternoon was Luke Kornet, an undrafted signee by New York. Kornet will be in training camp with the Knicks, but if he keeps up the quality of play he logged in the opener, he won’t be headed to Westchester anytime soon. Shooting 4 of 7 from deep, Kornet boasted a team-high +9. He was knocking down shots from the corners and seemed to run the floor really well. He knows his key strength and can quickly set himself up to cash in on transition passes when the floor general finds him. All he has to do is wait for the rock.
Speaking of floor generals, current Knick Chasson Randle struggled. Matching up against Dwight Buycks, a seasoned veteran of NBA, D-League, and international competition, was a really good measuring stick for the youngster. Unfortunately, he failed to meet the challenge. Buycks really limited Randle’s space to create and move with the ball. On the other end, Buycks attacked the basket, penetrated, and Randle couldn’t stay in front of him to slow things down.
Orlando Summer League action will continue through the first week of July.
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