Sacramento Kings Summer League Preview

Sacramento Kings Summer League Preview

The Sacramento Kings have finally come out with their Las Vegas Summer League roster. I am very hyped for this. It took a little longer than we’re used to for this roster to come out because the Kings were not participating in the California Classic. And so that was a little bit annoying because I’ve been itching to to talk about Summer League, but had to wait for this roster to come out even though it is the usual suspects. It’s the guys that we thought would be on the team. I mean, we are we already knew the rookies were going to be on this team along with Devin Carter, but now we have the full summer league team led by Depeesh Mestri, who last season was a video coordinator for the Kings and a player development coach. So, he’s getting his chance to be a head coach in summer league. And I’m very excited about this summer league team because I think the Kings have a pretty good team this season. So, let’s take a look at the roster real quick. as you can see it right here led by guys like Devin Carter, Nick Clifford, Isaac Jones, Maxi Renault, Isaiah Crawford, Mason Jones, John Elmore, but then you have other guys like Jabri Abdul Raheem, Daniel Boso, Dylan Cardwell, Tavon Kinsey, Patrick McAffrey, Isak Nogz, and Isaiah Stevens. And as we’ve seen in the past few years, the the the Sacramento Kings main team is very offensively driven. And so what that means is the Kings often try to pick up guys, pick up prospects that are going to add defense to the team. And so that means the Kings summer league team has a lot of great defenders on it. This summer league team has potential to be great defensively. And I think because of that, they are going to be very fun to watch. And so on this roster, you obviously have your your Nate Clifford, your Maxi Renault, Devin Carter is getting his first crack at summer league. And I will go through all of these players, but I want to start with one guy that I’m going to be watching very closely because I think it’s kind of a makeorb breakak time for him, and that is Isaiah Crawford. Because Isaiah Crawford last season on a two-way deal with the Kings, spent most of his time with the Stockton Kings in the G-League, has a lot of potential. A 66 long wing who is great defensively, can knock down the three ball. But I do think this is kind of a makeorb breakak time for him. And maybe that is being a little dramatic because it is just summer league, but it’s his second summer league. And summer league is a time of overreactions and it’s a it’s a time where you don’t really want to overreact one way or another, especially for the first year players, but you do expect guys who are in their second or third summer leagues to be a little more comfortable, to be a little more dominant if they truly want to get NBA minutes. And I think this is just such a good opportunity for Isaiah Crawford to prove himself or else he’s just going to have another summer or another season stuck in Stockton, which it’s not like that would necessarily be the end of his career or anything or the end of his chances to make the NBA, but this is just a a very big opportunity for him to show himself so he can go into training camp and and try to earn himself some minutes with the actual Sacramento Kings because the Kings very much still need defensive three and D wings and so he can provide that. And so let’s talk about what I want to see from Isaiah Crawford. Last summer league, most of the time he was coming off the bench and he he didn’t really make himself known. He didn’t put his stamp on the game most of the time. And now I don’t expect him to come out and be the main guy offensively and be scoring 20 plus points because we have other guys that can do that. and we have a Devin Carter or a Mason Jones or an Isaac Jones or I I feel like there’s a lot of guys on this team that are going to be taking a lot more offensive responsibility, but I don’t want to see him just fade out of games. I want to see his ability to really make an impact on the game when he isn’t the focal point offensively because his role in the NBA isn’t going to be one where he’s the focal point offensively. So, of course, we want to see consistent three-point shooting, catchoot shooting, but we kind of know he can already do that. But I just want to see good decision-making. Can he make an impact through his cutting? Can he be an offensive rebounder and create extra possessions? Can he be a connector? Right? A good decision maker with the ball when he’s attacking closeouts. And when he’s attacking those closeouts, how is he able to score? Because I think one thing that we saw a lot with Stockton last season is he likes to use his body. He likes to get into the middle of the paint, use his body, and take a a little turnaround jumper. And that’s great. That’s a that’s a solid thing to do. take a little mid-ranger using your body to create that separation. But can he get to the rim? Because he doesn’t really have that explosiveness that allows him to get to the rim, but can he get to and finish around the rim? That’s something I would love to see from him. And so I just want to see if he can make an impact on the game offensively and not fade out of the game on that end. But then defensively, like that’s where he really makes his money because he’s a steals and blocks machine with his length. But I think at times we can see him get a little too passive on the defensive end because he he has such great tools defensively to really get up into guys and bother them. But I think a lot of times he doesn’t do that. In the G-League playoffs last season, he got played off the court at times. Like he was benched at the end of games quite a bit. And some of it was because he was tasked with guarding these smaller guards like a a Mac mcclung. And so these smaller guards are are quicker than him. and he was really struggling with that because he didn’t have the quickness to keep up with them. And so what he did is he would just back off of them. And so then these guards would just walk up and splash a three in his face. I saw that quite a lot with Stockton last season. And so I just don’t want him to be passive. I want to see him getting up into guys and making things happen. And I look at a guy like Jake Larabia who we saw last season towards the end of the season with the Kings. He’s a guy who’s not exactly the quickest. He doesn’t have that lateral movement to be able to keep up with these smaller guards, but he’s still able to be effective when guarding the quick guards by just getting up into them, bothering them, getting his hands on the ball, and if they get by him, then stay on their hip, use length to be able to disrupt the shot or disrupt the pass, and then just have your head up and be ready to make that next rotation if you do get beat. So, that’s what I want to see from Isaiah Crawford. Next up, we got Devin Carter. very excited to see Devin Carter in his first summer league because we just didn’t get to see him a lot last season because of that injury. Him coming in late to the team and he had some standout moments, but as you would expect, it was very up and down for a rookie that was coming into the season late that didn’t have a training camp that didn’t even have a summer league. And so I want to see what he can do as the lead guard. Although I I I’m a little worried that we won’t get to see what he can do as the league guard because we do have Mason Jones on this team. We do have uh John Elmore on this team. And those aren’t guys, I think at this point who the Kings are really looking at as prospects. You know, Mason Jones, he’s a great G-League player, was amazing last year in the G- League, especially in the playoffs. I’m not really sure if the Kings are looking at him as a prospect anymore cuz he is older. And so, I just hope that Devin Carter really gets looks as the lead guard and seeing how he can operate the offense because that’s something the Kings need. And so if he could provide that as a backup for the Kings next season, a little bit of ball handling, that would be great. And that would really elevate his game because right now it doesn’t look like he has the the highest ceiling. And so if he could show that he has some playmaking and that he’s able to handle defensive pressure, that would be huge. I think Devin Carter is a guy who we should be looking out for summer league MVP because I don’t think he’s a guy who’s going to be shut down for being too good. So that will take some of the other summer league MVP threats off the board. and he just kind of fits the mold like a DaVon Mitchell Mitchell or like a Keegan Murray guys who have won summer league MVP recently for the Kings. He should be a triple double threat if he is able to add that playmaking because we know he’s going to be able to score and we know he’s going to be able to rebound at this level of competition. Now, what does winning a Summer League MVP really mean? Not much. And that’s why you shouldn’t overreact to summer league one way or the other. We’ve seen just a a super wide variety of summer league MVPs from like a Keegan Murray who seems to just be a really solid NBA player. We’ve had like I think Blake Griffin won summer league MVP if I’m not wrong. So you have like that superstar level player and then you have other guys that just like didn’t even work out in the league that have won summer league MVP. So it doesn’t mean much but at the end of the day this is Kings basketball even if it isn’t regular season. So I want to see my guy win MVP. But another thing that I’m going to be watching offensively for Devin Carter is his shot release and how quick it is because that was something that we were looking at last season where at times he just wasn’t able to get his shot off. He was catching it in the corner with a bunch of space and then he still couldn’t get his shot off over the defender because it was so slow. And so a lot of times he has to start really far behind the three-point line which maybe is okay on above the break threes but from the corner if you stand too far behind the line you’re going to be out of bounds. So, I want to see if he’s able to get that shot off quickly. See if he’s made any adjustments there. On the defensive end, I’m not really looking for much because I think we already know what he’s going to give. He’s going to pick up guys fullourt. He’s going to harass ball handlers. He’s going to rebound the ball. I’m not too worried about that end. I think he’s he’s all good on that end. Then we move on to Isaac Jones, and I think he’s another guy who should be able to dominate on this level, especially offensively, because we saw what he was able to do in the G- League last season, and he came into the the last game of the finals for the Kings and put on a big performance to pro propel Stockton to the G-League championship. But he also showed last season that he could score in the post against NBA competition and it didn’t really feel like he had a drop off in terms of scoring in the post and in terms of his touch around the rim. So I feel like he’s a guy who at any point you can just toss the ball into the post and he’s going to make something happen. So, I think the things that I’m looking for from him, one, his passing out of the post, because I think with his scoring ability, if teams then throw more defenders at him, throw some numbers, throw some length at him, is he able to navigate those situations and find his teammates and make his teammates better in those situations. And then we’re also looking at the three-point shot. That’s really what he’s been trying to develop. And that would be huge if he’s able to knock down the three with consistency, especially the corner three. and we saw a little bit of it and we just want to see that continue to progress. And then the defensive side of the ball, I actually thought he struggled a bit defensively last summer league, which is why I was a little skeptical on him as an NBA player, but then throughout last season, I think he showed that he was constantly improving on the defensive end. He has all the physical tools. He has that leaping ability and the length. But I want to see him be a defensive playmaker. I want to see him predict plays before they happen and disrupt them rather than just reacting to plays as they happen. Then we move on to the rookies starting with Nick Clifford. So I’m interested to see what position he plays because as a two guard he has a lot of positional size and so can he scale up as a three where I think he’ll be asked to play more for the Kings just because the Kings are clogged at the guard position. Need a three and D guy at the three. So can he scale up? how does he guard bigger players? And then also a lot has been made of his playmaking ability. So I’m I’m interested to see if he can be a ball handler and playmake for others because I don’t think he projects as a primary playmaker, but can he be a a good secondary playmaker at this level? The Kings really do not have a ton of super young guys on this roster. And so Nate Clifford also an older rookie and so you’re hoping he might be able to come in and and play really well in summer league even though it’s his first summer league. I want to see how that three-point shot is looking and then I just want to see the different ways that he’s able to score on the offensive end. I’m very intrigued by what he’s going to bring on the offensive end. Moving on to our big man, Maxim Renault. For him, I’m really looking at the defensive end of the court because he’s going to bring a lot offensively, I think. But I think a lot of what’s going to decide if he can be a real NBA player is going to be on the defensive end. How can he move around the court, switch on to smaller guards and and stay in the defensive play and then be a deterrent around the rim, stay out of foul trouble while using his size and length to block shots and just be a disruptor in the paint. And then offensively, I’m interested to see how much he’s playing on the perimeter versus how much he’s in the post because I think a guy like Isaac Jones, he really wants to be in the post. But Renault has a post game as well. And so I’m kind of looking to see what Renault’s in instincts are. Is he picking and popping? Is he picking and rolling? What is his three-point volume look like? Because he was taking a ton at Stanford. And then I’m also looking at his passing because he had some turnover problems at Stamford. But I do think he has potential to be a solid playmaker. So we’ll see what his passing out of the post or maybe out of the short roll looks like or even if he’s run off the three-point line and he attacks a closeout because that’s a skill that he definitely has, the ability to attack closeouts off the dribble. And so as a big man attacking off the dribble, is he able to playmake from there? And then we move on to the last guy that has a roster spot. But it is a two-way spot. And I guess technically Isaiah Crawford doesn’t have his 2-way contract yet, but I believe he will. So, we move on to Dylan Cardwell. And Dylan Cardwell is someone who I am very excited to watch because I’ve been asking for just a massive athletic defensive freak for the longest time just because that’s something that the Kings haven’t really had. So, a Jonathan Isaac like player where he’s he’s 6’11, can play the four five, does not have any type of jump shot, can’t shoot from the free throw line. offensively is very much a runand dunk type of guy, but that can be very fun. And so he should be flying around defensively, being able to guard the perimeter, being able to guard inside, just super versatile defensively. But then on the offensive end, it’s like how does he contribute to the spacing? And he has to contribute to spacing, not by being a three-point threat because he’s just not. It’s how can he be a cutter and make himself a threat off the ball, be a lob threat, screening well and rolling to the rim, picking and choosing his spots, not getting in the way of other players, but making himself an option offensively. Really just being a good decision maker on the offensive end to be able to cover some of his offensive flaws. So then looking at some of the other guys on this summer league team, like I said, we have Mason Jones, a massive part of that G-League championship last season, and I think the Kings are bringing him because you always need a a point guard that can run the offense who can set other guys up. And so the Kings aren’t coming in with a young point guard, unless you are looking at Devin Carter as that young point guard. And so you kind of need that vet point guard to be able to run the offense. It allows everyone else to show what they can do offensively because if the offense isn’t flowing, maybe you’re just not able to see what other guys can do offensively if their thing isn’t to be on the ball and to run an offense themselves. But I do hope that he that we do get to see some Devin Carter looks at point guard and that he doesn’t totally get in the way of that. And then you have like a John Elmore who’s a little bit of the same thing as Mason Jones has been a staple for the Stockton Kings. We got Isak Nogay Gonzalez who is another guy who’s just going to get it at get after it defensively. This Kings summer league team is going to be amazing defensively. He’s a defensive playmaker. Is able to get steals and deflections. He’s 6’5 last season playing in the G-League for the RIP City Remix. He did not score the ball at all. He did not shoot well from three. Shot six for 20 from three in 40 games. Averaged like two and a half points per game. But he said he likes to be more in the point guard role. But I’m not sure we’re really going to see him there. He had four assists on one and a half turnovers per game, but averaged two steals. So, is he really going to be an NBA player with that type of offensive game? Probably not. But again, he’s a fun guy to watch on the defensive end. And then we got Patrick McAffrey, who’s the son of Fran McCaffrey, a college basketball head coach. And really, the only reason I know him is because I think Caitlyn Clark is dating his brother. So cool, I guess. We got Jabri Abdul Raheem, who is Sharif Abdul Raheem’s son. So, that’s kind of cool. And then the other guys on the roster, Daniel Bacho, Tavon Kinsey, and Isaiah Stevens. I am expecting a deep run from this Kings summer league team. I’m expecting a championship run, and if we don’t get it, I will be very disappointed. This is this is our championship as Kings fans. If we can’t have the actual NBA season, we at least need to own the NBA summer league. So, I’ll be very disappointed if this team doesn’t get a good run at the championship. But anyways, that is it for this episode of the Roll Report. I will be back to of course cover summer league and if anything Kings related happens before then then I will see you guys then. Peace.

Welcome to The Royal Report

In this episode of The Royal Report I discuss the Sacramento Kings NBA Summer League roster including what to expect from players such as Devin Carter, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, Isaac Jones, Isaiah Crawford, and Dylan Cardwell.

0:00 Intro
1:41 Isaiah Crawford
6:05 Devin Carter
9:10 Isaac Jones
10:48 Nique Clifford
11:49 Maxime Raynaud
13:08 Dylan Cardwell
14:20 Others

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