Summer League 2023
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I have to think neither Bergarin or Madar are part of any realistic long-term plans, at this point.
Celtics Blog suggests exactly that.
"Nevertheless, the European brand of basketball is vastly different from the product the NBA has on offer, which could have helped both Madar and Begarin improve their stock with the Celtics and around the NBA. However, with a path to a roster spot seemingly non-existent at present, it does make sense for both players to continue focusing on their development with their current teams"
https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/6/19/23766227/boston-celtics-stash-prospects-not-expected-to-play-in-summer-league-yam-madar-juhann-begarin
So without the Euroleague players the Summer Celtics roster appears to be wide open. Boston should have their pick of undrafted free agents and other projects/prospects.
Like right now, who do they send? Beyond whomever they pick at 35, I can only think of 3 names: Davison, Champagnie, and (maybe?) Kabangele. There are a lot of minutes available to guys trying to catch on with an NBA team or earn a 2-way contract.
Like right now, who do they send? Beyond whomever they pick at 35, I can only think of 3 names: Davison, Champagnie, and (maybe?) Kabangele. There are a lot of minutes available to guys trying to catch on with an NBA team or earn a 2-way contract.
Generally speaking the lottery teams send full staffs, have workouts even on game days, and evaluate to fill out there roster. The contenders with full rotations and rosters tend to kinda half-ass it and sign the leftovers for other teams to take a look at for the most part. Kabengele is the one guy who will get the most attention as athletic bigs are capable of making leaps if they learn how to play the game....or he can continue to not have a clue.
It's possible, but I think doubtful. Players seem to not go to Summer League once they hit Hauser level.
Yea, Hauser played 80 NBA games last season & has a contract, he's not playing Vegas Summer league hoops
Perhaps not, but some guys do chose to play. Jaylen Williams has said he is planning to play summer league this year, and while younger he is certainly at least a couple levels above Hauser
It's not so much the playing time or the contract, it kind of depends on how much more growth Hauser has. On paper, Jaylen Brown was in a similar situation after his rookie year - he had a contract, and his minutes played (1341) were very close to Hauser this year (1290). On the other hand, he was 5 years younger and obviously had a ceiling several floors higher, and could benefit from being the man on a summer league team (because that was the role he eventually hoped to have). Hauser would be the #1 scorer on the Celtics' summer league team, for what purpose? He needs to learn how to be the best role player he can be, I don't know that at this point he has anything left to learn playing in a glorified pickup game.
Hauser would gain pretty much nothing from playing in SL. Skillsets like his in Boston don't play that way in Vegas. Waste of time for him to be there imo.
I look forward to opposing Summer League teams zeroing in on Hauser in the halfcourt...& failing again
Not sure what OKCs game plan is for Summer League, but Boston doesn't play highly efficient NBA players in Vegas after playing an extra ~2 months of playoff basketball (don't care what 3Sam's playoff minutes were either)
Did anyone mention this? Reported that Cs sign Vincent Valerio-Bodon to a summer league deal. Played for Sopron KC. 6-foot-10.
View: https://twitter.com/jakeweingarten/status/1672344363802787841?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/jakeweingarten/status/1672344363802787841?s=20
Even Brown hardly played that second summer, I think he only played one or two games and they shut him down because they didn't think it was worth it for him to keep playing
He played 3 games, 68 minutes (Tatum also played just 3 games). Didn't exactly cover himself in glory either, shooting 30% from the floor with 9 turnovers in 68 minutes.
Will you or anyone else be out there? I'm there for 10 days early in July and will surely get over to The Mack.
I'm going next year with my kid (camp conflict this summer).
BUT what a great event the NBA puts on for the fans. All kinds of NBA greats, coaches, current players & TV personalities mingling with the crowd in the hallways between The Mack & Cox Pavillion. My kid loves NBA-2K, he knows all the past & present greats, so he is jazzed.
Correct me if I'm wrong but that time of year (SUMMER- HOT!), there are good deals at nice hotels, right? So anybody on a budget, that wants to take their kid(s) for a fun few days should look into it. General Admission passes give you access to games ALL day on both courts (they crank the AC indoors). Mandalay Bay has some nice kid-friendly pools.
You must have NBA-SL & Vegas nailed down? Any advice
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I'll be around for part of the time. Think we're out of town from like the 5th to the 9th.
Unless it's someone special to see I don't go inside the Thomas & Mack court. Cox Pavillion is like sitting in your high school bleachers filled with NBA players and personnel. You are correct that the hallway is epic as you literally can't turn around without running into someone of stature in the game. Yes I'm there for the WSOP Main Event and schedule one of my early days off to with a day of hoops. This year is pretty nuts as it is also International Fight Week so lots of stuff happening. Exciting!
Hotels during the week are fine you'll want to avoid weekends and espeically Sat nights if you're not there to make it rain.
I fly in Sun the 2nd until the following Tues I believe.
Much less exciting than Valerio-Bodon but...
View: https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1672284754077536256
View: https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1672284754077536256
I went last year and am going again this year with my now 19 year old son. We are going Monday to Thursday again because the flights and hotels are very cheap midweek. He is a basketball junkie so it is pool in the morning, lunch, 8 hours at the gym, and then a late dinner for 3 straight days. It is basketball heaven.
I've lived here 12 years & still haven't made it out to Summer League (or played in the Main Event). Slacking.
The 1st time I read this I thought "that's a long work out, when are they going to have time to go see the games?"
I may or may not go to summer league (I live in Vegas), but for anyone coming out, there's also an nba convention at the same time for I believe the first time that looks like it could be fun, especially for kids
https://www.nbacon.com/
https://www.nbacon.com/
C's first game is vs the Heat on 7/8 at 3pm ET. I too love Summer League but I really miss actual Celtics basketball so this will have to do.
You can never count on guys playing even if they are there. Paulo was there last year but dominated for a couple games and didn’t play again. That said, I hope Wemby plays when we are there.
Good luck to us getting tickets. The year Lonzo was drafted the games were sold out in one day. I couldn't even get in that year.
View: https://twitter.com/JackSimoneNBA/status/1673107628828835845
Updated roster, so beyond Walsh, the guys we already discussed and guys on the team last year we added:
Jay Scrubb... 6'5" SG, seems like filler, maybe want to get him to Maine
Justin Bean- Like Hauser if he sucked, 26 had 1 good year in college as a 25 year old, mediocre G-League player last year
Kamar Baldwin- 6'1" combo guard, was in Maine last year, probably headed there again (or back to Europe)
Aleksander Balcerowski- only guy who seems like he's potentially a real prospect to get a roster spot (still unlikely), 7'1" 22 years old, won Euro-cup rising star twice
Updated roster, so beyond Walsh, the guys we already discussed and guys on the team last year we added:
Jay Scrubb... 6'5" SG, seems like filler, maybe want to get him to Maine
Justin Bean- Like Hauser if he sucked, 26 had 1 good year in college as a 25 year old, mediocre G-League player last year
Kamar Baldwin- 6'1" combo guard, was in Maine last year, probably headed there again (or back to Europe)
Aleksander Balcerowski- only guy who seems like he's potentially a real prospect to get a roster spot (still unlikely), 7'1" 22 years old, won Euro-cup rising star twice
I know nothing whatsoever about this guy, but if he is filler, then he has the exact right name for that.
A Scrubb by any other name...
He's got decent size and great athleticism. My recollection is that he had significant character concerns, which is why a guy with his tools slid to the late second round. He was kicked off his JuCo squad after dominating for two years, had committed to Louisville with much hype but later instead decided to declare, becoming the rare straight-from-JuCo prospect. I believe Nighthob had him as a flyer target for the Cs in the second round of the 2020 draft. He's still only 22, so there's an off-chance he can get his head on right and start to live up to his potential.
I watched waaaay too much of his JuCo tape and remember admitting at the time that I had no idea what to make of him. He was dominant athletically, but it was JuCo ball and it was tough to tell how much of that he'd get away with in the NBA. If I remember correctly he refused the athletic testing at the combine. But from memory he was 6'6" in shoes with a +4 wingspan and an 8'9" standing reach. So he looked the part. I do recall saying that I hoped Boston would draft him because it would be fun to have a literal Scrubb at the end of the bench.
If you watch videos of Aleksander Balcerowski you can see why they liked him. He is a very good passing big man. He has a nice touch around the basket too. But the highlight videos chose not to show his weaknesses.
I noticed that he doesn’t have a ton of lift, and might not have enough athleticism to be more than a 14th man type in the NBA, at best. It will be interesting to see if he can play any defense in SL.
>90% chance I will be at the July 8th opener on my WSOP off day.....and what a day!
Noon PST - Thomas & Mack for Celtics
3pm PST - TMobile Arena for UFC290
Holy hell!!!!
Noon PST - Thomas & Mack for Celtics
3pm PST - TMobile Arena for UFC290
Holy hell!!!!
I will be there with some buddies from 7th to 9th if anyone wants to meet up. I've never met or introduced internet acquaintances before so I might get scared.
It's quite the experience. Life changing some would say. Hit me up morning of the 8th espeically if you attend the game.
Big question is...do your buddies know about SoSH? Explaining it will be much worse than meeting any of us based on my experiences. ("Wait, so you're meeting a friend of 15 years than you've never met before?")
Many years ago I'm walking down Boylson(?) with my Dad before a Sox game and @CaptainLaddie is walking the other way and yells out "HRB!".....explaining that one was something.