As the Mavericks wrap up summer league, it’s time to look at what we saw and what we learned during the NBA’s biggest offseason event for players.
Remember, while rookies and other hopefuls to make an NBA, G League or foreign team in the coming season were playing in the Summer League, a lot of the league’s proven veterans were attending those games. And while they were in Las Vegas, they were holding some veteran workouts on their own.
It’s an NBA convention. Maybe not on par with All-Star Weekend, but a huge gathering of NBA executives, players, league representatives and agents.
So here’s our key takeaways from the extravaganza:
Change your Rez-ervations: If anybody had concerns about the Mavericks drafting Morez Johnson Jr., you can ditch any of those apprehensions.
The guy they simply call “Rez” had two impactful games to start the summer league, then shut it down the rest of the way. What’s interesting is that the Mavericks surprised a lot of people by drafting Johnson with the No. 9 pick last month.
Many thought they would take whoever was left from the five guards that were expected to go from picks five through nine. But rather than take the fifth of those players, they went with a strong big man who also has a feathery touch.
The 6-11 Johnson can step out to the perimeter if he gets the chance, but his biggest asset is around the rim, especially at the defensive end. He gets offended if people score on him. He tries to block every shot. Succeeds a lot of the time.
The early verdict is that Johnson is going to be a mainstay for the Mavericks, even as a rookie.
Who are the point guards? The play of Sergio De Larrea and Vsevolod Ishchenko should give Mavericks’ fans some level of comfort about who will play behind Kyrie Irving (and perhaps alongside him, at times).
De Larrea proved he can dish the ball with anybody. He has all the passes. If he has enough of the shots to go with those passes, he will be a steal with the 25th pick in June’s draft that they acquired from the LA Lakers.
Ishchenko probably is a bit more of a project, but he showed enough toughness (belying his boyish looks) to show that he can handle NBA physicality.
At the very least, coach Dusty May has options going into training camp at point guard.
What to do with the athleticism? The Mavericks already have Moussa Cisse on a two-way contract. But it’s hard to ignore what former Mesquite Poteet standout Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu brings to the table.
Kao, as he is called for obvious reasons, has been on the radar of general manager Mike Schmitz for years and he did enough in Las Vegas to earn a trip to training camp, unless he gets a better offer from another team.
He was the recipient of a handful of lob passes that he converted into rim-jarring dunks. His vertical leap is legendary, with the ability to touch the top of the backboard on a good day.
And then there’s Tobi Lawal, who was the 48th pick of the draft last month. Like Kao, he can leap with the best of them. He had several notable moments during the summer league.
Flagg looking the part: Cooper Flagg is the Mavericks’ superstar, and he looked fit on top of keeping a low profile. It’s almost like he’s sitting on a secret for the coming season.
We know all about the talent Flagg possesses. He was a worthy rookie of the year. Now, it’s a matter of what he brings in his second season.
The guess here is that he’ll be better at everything – especially with a stronger supporting group around him.
Looking ahead: The biggest unknown as the Mavericks set their sights on training camp in less than two months is Dereck Lively II.
The surgery to fix his foot was a success. But it was complicated enough that he still hasn’t done a lot of heavy work on the foot. The Mavericks are a different team when they have a healthy Lively. It’s going to be an important storyline for them heading into camp.
X: @ESefko