NBA Summer League Jul 12-22: Hawks Druisic Breaks Foot

[SleepingHero]

snippet from Hollinger's latest article on struggling rookies.  Looks like Melvin wasn't the only french draft pick to struggle with shooting in summer league.


******************
That said, the so-called French invasion of the 2024 draft is off to a decidedly slow start. Top pick Risacher tapped out after two games with a quad contusion, shooting 11 of 28 from the floor in 59 minutes. Second overall pick Alex Sarr shot 0 of 15 from the field in his third game and only scored two points in his fourth for the Washington Wizards. The sixth pick, Tidjane Saluan, had some moments pushing the ball in transition but shot 1 of 10 from 3 in his three games for the Charlotte Hornets; hyped as an energy guy, he failed to record a single block or steal. Finally, 24th pick Pacôme Dadiet also struggled mightily in his minutes for the New York Knicks, shooting 12 of 39 from the field with a 4.09 PER in five games. His biggest highlight was slapping the board in midair after a dunk.

As a jumping off point, I'm not going to lie, the Summer League this year was hard to watch as a whole. Alex Sarr was a bricklayer. Risacher showed some flashes but overall disappeared on the court. 

The only entertaining guy was Reed Sheppard to be honest. No one in the top 15 really showed much. Kalel Ware had a great game against the Mavs but I'm not really expecting anything from him this year.

Ron Holland and Rob Dillingham looked terrible. Edey was injured the whole time (but had a great 1st game). Clingan looked slow. Buzelis was ok. 

Outside of the top 15, Tyler Kolek looked solid. And of course Scheierman for Boston looked lethal. 

I'm left with the feeling much like I had on draft night that once these guys actually play against real NBA players they are going to look like a dear in the headlights. Only Sheppard and Edey looked "ready" by my eyes. Kolek and Scheierman also seem to have something (but good luck getting Kolek to play for Thibs).