Under-The-Radar Players To Pay Attention To At Summer League

There are those who enjoy NBA basketball, and then there are those who watch Summer League.  The latter group will be pleased to learn that this year’s Las Vegas Summer League will consist of its most teams ever, 24, meaning that NBATV will be televising 60 games over a ten-day period spanning from July 13th to July 22nd.  Thirty-nine of those games will be shown live, and they’ll feature 13 of the top 14 selections from this June’s draft. The complete schedule can be found here, and an unofficial/incomplete/tentative list of rosters can be found here.

Because me hyping Anthony Davis is completely unnecessary, here are eleven under-the-radar guys (in no particular order) I’d recommend paying attention to, mostly for the sake of potential entertainment value (it’s f@cking Summer League, NBA snobs—it’s not THAT serious).

Sean Williams—Boston Celtics: Despite being 6’10″ and ridiculously athletic, Sean Williams will never make it on the big stage because he’s too limited/too much of a knucklehead.  That’s what’s great about Summer League, though… pretty much everyone is either limited and/or a knucklehead, so a guy like Williams could impress.  This is assuming that he’s able to keep his lunch down, of course.

MarShon Brooks—Brooklyn Nets: I suppose Brooks isn’t really an “under-the-radar” guy (if not for Kyrie Irving he would’ve been a Rookie of the Year candidate), but I don’t think he’s a household name, either.  I mean, no player who spent his lone NBA season playing for the ’11/12 Nets could be a household name, right?  Right.  So, watch out for MarShon Brooks.  He’s got a certain fundamental soundness to the way he scores that may remind you of Kobe Bryant.  Last I knew he had the mini fro, too.

Al Thornton—Brooklyn Nets: Man, I used to be big on the Al Thornton bandwagon.  I guess I forgot to take into account the fact that he was already like 25 years old as a rookie, but still, I thought he looked pretty impressive.  Despite the fact that his offense could be described as a bit inefficient, I’m surprised he’s worn out his NBA welcome so quickly.  Maybe Zaza Pachulia got him blackballed or some sh!t.

Adam Morrison—Brooklyn Nets: Don’t even try to tell me you’re not at least a little bit curious to see 27-year-old Adam Morrison play pseudo-NBA basketball.

Jermaine Taylor—Chicago Bulls: This man is a freakazoidSeriously.  In the absence of Summer League legend Pops Mensah-Bonsu (don’t worry, he’s playing in the Olympics) I hope to see him dominate the highlight reel.

Leon Powe—Chicago Bulls: Leon Powe cemented his place in history with the Championship Celtics of 2008, but this is a talented basketball player who deserves more than just a moment in the sun.  There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that a healthy Leon Powe is worthy of an NBA roster spot, and it’s always been those questionable knees that have held him back.  Through injuries and other issues (he grew up homeless) Powe has continued to battle, and that makes him a man you ought to root for.

Zoran Dragic—Houston Rockets: Goran Dragic has a younger brother.  His name is Zoran, so try not to get them mixed up.  I know little to nothing about Zoran, but his big bro is pretty awesome.  For this reason I feel that he’s worthy of note.

Lance Stephenson—Indiana Pacers: Never have I been a fan of the arrogant New Yorker who is Lance Stephenson, but I’m not gonna lie, he can be quite a bit of fun to watch provided that he’s in a situation where he’s able to do his thing.  The NBA doesn’t appear to be this situation, but Summer League is probably more comparable to Lincoln High School.

Eric Bledsoe—LA Clippers: Like MarShon Brooks, I’m not sure I’d consider Eric Bledsoe “under the radar.”  He became a pretty damn reliable source of bench production for the Clippers last season, and his relentless energy proved to be a nice change of pace from Chris Paul’s micromanaging method.  Anyway, his athleticism makes him something of a six-foot LeBron James.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dominate Summer League.

Tarence Kinsey—Milwaukee Bucks: It’s been so long since I watched this guy score 7.7 PPG over 48 games with the ’06/07 Memphis Grizzlies that I can’t even remember what it was that I liked about him.  I definitely recall liking him, though, and not just because he once threw down a really cool dunk over Andrei Kirilenko.

Jeremy Tyler—Golden State Warriors: This is the 21-year-old big man who elected to skip his final season of high school basketball to play professionally overseas.  It was the first experiment of its kind, and I’m curious to see how it all plays out.  Tyler hasn’t received a lot of burn from the Dubs thus far, but he had some decent moments later on last season.

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