NBA Summer League Recap for Former Hoosier Standouts

As the 2018 NBA Summer League concludes, check out how your favorite former Hoosiers did for their respective teams:

OG Anunoby – Toronto Raptors

• As expected, OG was the leader for the Raptors summer league squad. four games while averaging a team high 15.8 PPG. On top of the points, he added 6.0 RPG and only averaged 0.8 APG. I’m sure the Raptors would have liked to see OG shoot it better from deep (30%) but he did shoot over 40% total, which isn’t horrible when you look at the summer league overall. OG wasn’t in a position that would have caused him to worry about making the team and I think this added to his comfortability being out on the court. As always, he continued to play solid defense in the games that he played. I am looking forward to another productive season for him, hopefully he shoots the three well, and continues his growth on the offensive end where he needs to grow the most.

Thomas Bryant – Washington Wizards

• Days before the summer league started, Bryant was waived by the Lakers (dumb move) and was quickly picked up by the Wizards (smart move). Bryant averaged 15.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.4 APG offensively, doing so 59% FG%. TB is one of those new big men that are long but have a shooting touch from distance. Each game commentators remarked on his ability to sprint the floor to get easy buckets. I was interested to see how he would play defensively because he never dominated defensively at IU, granted it was with a Tom Crean defense. However, he surprised me, he had a couple multiple block games and his presence was felt inside pretty frequently. I see him being a two-way player this year for the Wizards and having a very successful G-League once again. I hope that if he gets an NBA shot in a game this year, that he proves exactly what he can do and how he can help that team.

Troy Williams – New York Knicks

• Troy had another productive Summer League this year, averaging 11.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.6 APG offensively with 1.2 SPG defensively. Usually with Troy the field goal percentage is dragged down due to his three point ability, and this was the case this summer league as well. Rumors were that his shot was coming around, only to see him shoot 25% from three. The good news is that he still shot 46% from the field and displayed his unparalleled athleticism, cutting up the defenses that he faced. Williams will always be a great slasher, but adding a 3-pt shot will get him on a roster. The Knicks waived his contract at the end of the Summer League, but I do believe he will be picked up by someone on at least a 10-day contract.

Robert Johnson – Atlanta Hawks

• Rob didn’t play poorly, but he didn’t standout too much either. He wasn’t overly productive offensively and wasn’t a lock down defender by any means, he just had a solid couple of games. He did save his best game for last where he tallied 18 points. For the whole summer league, he averaged 8.6 PPG on roughly 40% from the field and 35% from three. I think he has done enough to play in the G-League this season, only time will tell.

James Blackmon Jr. – Milwaukee Bucks

• Boy oh boy, this summer was a horrible showing for JBJ. I was hoping to see him do what he does best, which is light it up from deep, but did the exact opposite. JBJ played in three games and shot 13% from three (yikes). Only averaging slightly less than 4.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.0 APG, this was a tough summer for Blackmon. This is so unlike JBJ so he isn’t in a world of hurt, but this could have been a great platform to put on a shooting clinic. Once again, this is the summer league where offensive plays hardly exist, so there were not great opportunities but 13%, come on now.

Christian Watford – Memphis Grizzlies

• This was intriguing to me to get to watch Watford play. I hadn’t been able to see anything but G-League highlights from years ago. He didn’t play great, averaging 2.3 PPG and 3.7 RPG. He only shot 30% from the field and slightly over 14% from three. I wasn’t expecting him to come out and be a stud, but I was hoping for slightly more than this. Watford will continue playing in the upcoming “The Basketball Tournament” where he will compete on team Eberlein Drive for a chance to win the $2 million grand prize.