Handing out awards for the Las Vegas Summer League
The Las Vegas Summer League is the climax of a crazy summer as front office brass and media members gather around to watch players compete for spots on NBA rosters. Just about every team competes in Las Vegas every year, giving people a plethora of basketball to watch over a ten day span.
After handing out awards for the Orlando Summer League, here are the awards for the players who stood out at Las Vegas.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Seth Curry, G, New Orleans Pelicans
Curry has had trouble over the first few seasons sticking on an NBA roster. He has been called up several times but never long enough to secure a long-term guarantee deal. Determined to finally make his mark, Curry was outstanding in Vegas, leading the league in scoring while shooting 45.9 percent from the field.
Known as a marksman from deep, Curry showed off a lot more of his offensive repertoire with some creative stuff off the bounce. He looked a lot like his brother Steph with the way he moved on the floor and with his mannerisms.
At Duke, Seth was mainly just a spot up shooter. That’s no longer the case. You can see he has worked on his game meticulously by the way he has transitioned to being a point guard and how he slaloms around defenders in pick and rolls.
Seth’s improved play not only showed out in Summer League, but also might have earned him a contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. His continued hard work over the last few years has finally paid off.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Kyle Anderson, F, San Antonio Spurs
Few players impressed me more during Summer League than Anderson. During his two seasons at UCLA, Anderson earned the nickname “Slow Mo” due to his uncanny ability to control the game at his pace. There was always a huge question as to whether his game would translate to the league, however, a big reason why he dropped to the last pick in the first round. He is essentially a point guard trapped in a power forward’s body.
After not seeing much of the floor in his rookie season, Anderson showed off a lot of his improvements during both the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues. He has gotten faster with the ball and with his feet, making him an even more deadly decision maker than before.
He was still killing dudes with his hesitation dribbles and euro steps, getting into the paint at will and using his strength and length to finish through contact.
The Spurs have had a huge offseason, but their depth came at a sacrifice in order to make room for LaMarcus Aldridge. They’ll need big contributions from Anderson off their bench this year. If Summer League was any indication, they could definitely use him as the backup offense initiator, creating for teammates and running the show.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jonathan Simmons, G, San Antonio Spurs
Simmons was arguably the best story in all of Summer League. I had never even heard of this guy until it was reported that the Spurs had offered him a contract for next season. After that, I tuned into their next game and the first play I saw was Simmons doing this:
He did that in just about every game I watched. Not only is he an athletic freak, he did exceptionally well at getting into the lane and making the right decision of whether to kick out to a shooter or go up strong and finish. He played 100 percent on both ends during every second. And, of course, the Spurs were the ones to snatch up this guy who few even had a clue existed.
Typical.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE LEAGUE
Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Sacramento Kings
Willie has some of the best defensive instincts and physical tools of any center that I’ve ever seen. He not only can stick guys on the perimeter, but is also great at helping just at the right time. It’s hard for shot blockers to know when to go and help — there is always the risk of leaving your man unattended and open for a dump pass or offensive rebound. Willie, however, knows just when to time it right and leave his man to go deter a shot from the offensive player.
The fit next to DeMarcus Cousins will be interesting and odd, but few bigs in the league can play defense like Cauley-Stein. He gives Sacramento something that they haven’t had in a long time: a legit rim protector they can build their defense around.
ROOKIE OF THE LEAGUE
Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves
It might be a cop out to select the No. 1 overall pick as the Rookie of the League, but Towns was an absolute beast in Las Vegas. All of the things that we thought he would be able to do were on full display. As usual, he was unstoppable going over his left shoulder, and his strength and quickness on the block is going to be tough for NBA defenders to stop.
We all knew that Towns’ best attribute was the way that he protects the rim. He did that well in Vegas, too, making sure that his presence was felt near the hoop.
One thing that Towns showed that was new was his patience and ability to pass out of the post. With him being the best player at Kentucky last year, he always just caught the ball and looked to score. As teams sent doubles his way during Summer League, Towns burned them time after time with incredible patience and awareness of where the open teammate was going to be.
Unfortunately, just like all of the awesome traits we’ve seen with Towns, his fouling problem also carried over into Summer League. Staying on the floor will be the biggest hurdle he needs to jump over — you don’t get ten fouls in a real NBA game. The potential to be an elite player in this league is there, and Towns showed us why over the past few weeks.