After Orlando's Summer League last week, the eyes are now on the cosmopolitan Las Vegas where 23 teams are not very much involved in a very different way from the ones that will show us next season. Each of them is a matter of whether 3-4 players will belong to the team and after October, the races are mainly testing, but some conclusions have already been made in relation to this year's rookies. Besides, this year's newcomers are considered to be the best bets of players that have come out of the last decade coming from the drums, especially the many "tall" players as there is a general lack of good players in the center. Did anyone wait for Marc Gasol to become All Star last year? Especially for those who had "lived" him as a player since he played at ACB ...
The team that has left the best impressions showing that he made very targeted moves by choosing the right new players is that of the Rockets. In Houston they disbanded almost the entire team, expelling their main body to create space in the salary cap to move for Dwight Howard (better not to expand with him again, nothing new anyway) collecting quite a few peaks for the drafts from the following years, but it seems that they achieved success in this year's selections they made.
In general, the fans of "Ruketons" are excited to have Lin in their team (for the second time in essence since the first one did not keep him in their potential, being unknown to the general public then) but another Jeremy is the one who steals the show so far. So Lamb, the 12 number in the draw, has shown good scorers having 21 average points so far in the 4 matches played with 50% shot accuracy, 35% on triple and 18 / 19 shots. The official NBA site is currently ranked at the top of the rookies based on the evidence he has shown so far and for those who bet on surprises and chase long-term bets the performance to receive the Rookie of the Year is up to 34 in stan james!
In the same group, Terrence Jones, the 18 number of the trophy, has left very good impressions and, beyond the 18.5 points he achieves, he also helps in the field of rebounds by "downloading" 8.5 in every game. It is not so surprising that they used the term of amnesty to let Scola see that the Kentucky University graduate can well fill his gap while he has a very good future being just 20 years old. He is a bit more athletic as a player, and he is not afraid to attempt a shot from the middle and the long distance being quite apt (54 is his percentage) while he shoots and tripe with 2 / 5 efforts.
But there is also a third Rockets player who has stolen the show. The reason for Motiejunas, the former Polish Procom's center, decided this year to make the transatlantic journey last night a choice in the XTRUMX (number 20, a number that is also in its shirt but preferring to "bake" a bit more in Europe to The Lithuanian had not exactly impressed with his performance in last year's Euroleague, he had not done anything special either with the
"small national teams" in his country (as opposed to the Valanciunas who also play in the same position), with the exception of the European for 18 players, 2008 when he was declared MVP (with Greece winning gold that year Slouka and Pappa to stand out), so there were general doubts about whether he would be able to stand a worthy competitor against the top NBA players. In the first match, though friendly, he gave the best answer to his critics against Raptors. In 25 only minutes passed and put 25 points with 11 / 13 shots of which 2 / 2 three-point picking 9 rebounds while the only "black" point was 1 / 5 shots. In addition to the replies within the field, he was also impressed by his run after the end of the match in terms of how he was unsettled in his debut. He said a Lithuanian adage "if you are afraid of wolves better to avoid forests". In the next game against Wizards he was "disappeared" having just a 1 point with 0 / 5 attempts at 22 minutes of attendance. Yet yesterday and yesterday he returned to the same high levels by scoring 20 and 19 points respectively, bringing the smiles to the fans of the Houston team who were disappointed at the moment thinking they would be particularly weakened this year.
Finally, there is another player with good "letters of recommendation" who, without having made such a noticeable presence, leaves promises for the future. We are talking about Royce White, 16 number of the Draft, Iowa State graduate who finished the year being the first to score points, rebounds, assists, steals and cuts, showing that he offers all the areas of the game. White suffers from anxiety disorder as he is known from his teenage years, having many problems and often changing schools due to various disciplinary misconduct, and perhaps that was one of the reasons chosen relatively low in the twins. Although Kevin McHale did not have enough time to play, he did not contribute much to the score, being particularly inconvenient both in the field and in the shot. However, he shows other aspects of his talent by picking up several rebounds (10 and 12 in 2 last match) and he also dealt a lot of assists especially for a player who is in the "4" position (7 and 8 in the last two games).
This quadruple of new players flanked by a "bet" called Jeremy Lin, unstable Kevin Martin who may be able to "kill" any opponent in his day may well his own if he starts badly, and the promising Chandler Parsons showed good news last year, she can hope for something good, maybe her entry to the playoffs that she did not manage for the past season. Two other newcomers who can prove to be pleasant surprises in the new season are Marcus Morris (Suns Markief Morris twin brother, who is considered the best scorer) who lost the previous part of last season being injured and still trying to find his "footsteps" being somewhat reluctant and John Leuer (who has not yet played in summer league games), the few times he fought last year with Bucks, was particularly positive.
With the transfers still in progress, the "Rukketes" have a lot of space in the salary cap and it will not be surprising if they move for an exchange that will bring the team a big name. But their great desire is the well-known Howard, but there is a chance to come to the group, but letting go free in the summer to turn somewhere else into a more "commercial" city and a more competitive team in order to get a title. In this way the Houston team will have lost any rewards he has given before to bring him to the team for one single year in essence.
