NBA Summer League takeaways: Flagg, hope for the hopeless Hornets and a chilled Chinese giant | NBA

1) Portland can be geniuses

The Blazers of Portland Trail were the end of each night joke in the draft when they took the 7 feet 1 in Yang Hansen, which had been largely projected as a second round choice, at No. 16 in total. But it seems that the joke may be on the rest of the NBA, at least if the summer league of Vegas is an indication. Hansen was unequivocal the history of the week, impressive by his high -level offensive skills, and, in particular, his ability to pass and facilitate, an unusual feature for someone of his size which made him comparisons with a Nikola Jokić. Despite a ton of attention from the world’s media (Hansen already receives massive quantities of press at home in China), the 20 -year -old jovial player also seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He said to Ben Golliver from the Washington Post this week: “There is a saying in my heart, don’t worry about everything that is more than eight hours on the road. And even if it’s eight hours, don’t worry too much.”

2) Cooper Flagg is as good as announced

Before a hot hot week in the desert, the city’s speech was a teenager in Maine, and he proved his courage during his two appearances in terms of the summer league. There was an astronomical quantity of media threshing around the overall choice n ° 1 leading to its beginnings at Dallas Mavericks, and although the shots do not start to fall before his second match, all the signs of someone who will almost certainly be a very impactful NBA player was there from a tip. Flagg is incredibly well balanced: he can create, mark, pass and defend at a high level, and he presented a little of everything in Vegas. Displaying 31 points and four rebounds in his second (and last) appearance in the summer championship against the San Antonio Spurs, Flagg showed why many scouts called him the most promising university perspective from Zion Williamson. And with the manic work ethics reported from Flagg, his career is ready to easily erase his colleague from Duke.

3) Bonny James is an NBA player

It was a start to the roller coaster for her NBA career for Bronny James, who saw his brief university basketball mandate at the University of Southern California interrupted by a cardiac arrest and then faced more criticism than perhaps any choice of second round draft at the end of the game in the history of the League. It even caused a quarrel between LeBron James and Stephen a Smith, when ESPN Blowhard reprimanded Bronny’s father on television, he claimed, forcing his son to a projector for whom he was terribly worried (“I suppose with you, as a father,” said Smith). Bonny did not have a particularly impressive first season of the League, of course. But between his time in Ligue G of last year and his visit to Lakers in Vegas this year, one thing becomes clear: he has rises as a role player of the NBA. For a large part of the week, James JR was the player out of competition of the Lakers, a flashing in the creation of impressive games and athletics who recalled his days as a very popular recruit in high school before his myocardial infarction. Maybe Mr. Smith spoke too early.

4) San Antonio has an embarrassment of wealth at the guard

Flagg is obviously the favorite to win the recruit of the year this season, but there is a no zero chance that a San Antonio Spur can win the prize for the third consecutive year, which is quite remarkable. Dylan Harper, the keeper of the Rutgers whom the Spurs repeated second in the general classification, showed why San Antonio has a chance to rotit three peat. Harper missed the start of the summer league with an injury to the groin, but during his marquee match against Flagg, he presented the defensive intensity and the chops of the point of attack which make guard such an intriguing perspective. At 6 feet 5 inches, it is large for its position, and its finish around the basket is already impressive.

5) Denver is sitting pretty

Barely a year ago, I predicted that the Denver Nuggets – NBA champions ago a few seasons and who at home of Jokić, widely considered as the best player in the world – were on the verge of a disastrous season. After all, not only had they left another key element of their league nucleus (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) go out for nothing, but the floor spacing, Daron Holmes II, that they had written a few weeks earlier to be playing Jokić. What a difference one year can do: Denver was able to make clever free agency movements and convince Jonas Valancunas not to abandon the ship for Europe. And a year after his devastating injury to his lower leg, Holmes did not only resume where he stopped, he may have gone over expectations, entering 17 narcotic rebounds and adding 19 points in his last match in Vegas.

6) Keep an eye on the hornets

No team can be the laughter of the League forever, but the Charlotte Hornets have kept the distinction as long as possible. But their status seems ready to change, and not only because the franchise won its very first summer league championship last weekend (or the championship of all kinds, by the way). Under the ownership of again, the Hornets, the Hornets finally seem to have a direction: hiring the super intelligent and beloved head coach Charles Lee, seeming to nail the draft choice of striker Brandon Miller a few years ago, and also have a fairly stellar project this year. They picked up Liam McNeley in Uconn, which was one of the largest vegas stands, alongside Kon Knuppel de Duke, who obtained his own shine when his clutch game allowed the honors of the MVP of the Championship of the Summer League. Kueppel was in the shadow of Flagg for most of his unique season in Duke, but he is cerebral, qualified and a top scorer, and should immediately have an impact for the Hornets. Suddenly, things are not so dark in North Carolina.