The Portland Trail Blazers‘ NBA Summer League squad was nothing short of surprising this year in Las Vegas. They started slow in the preliminary round, finding a rhythm just moments after losing two players that were expected to — at the very least — produce.
There were four primary names that everyone had their eye on going into Summer League: rookies Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan, as well as Rip City veterans Pat Connaughton and Jake Layman.
Two guys went down with injuries. One vet looked rather solid, while one of the rookies may have been one of the top-10 players in Vegas this summer. There were a number of interesting storylines that came out of Vegas, one of which may even be wrapped up as soon as this Tuesday!
While Summer League performances must always be analyzed with a grain of salt, here are five takeaways from watching the Blazers this summer in Vegas.
5. Pat Connaughton is due for a career change
Pat Connaughton went into Summer League this year with something to prove, going into Sin City hoping to convince the Blazers staff that he and his non-guaranteed $1.4 million contract were worth taking a chance on this year.
Unfortunately for him, Connaughton averaged a mere 6.0 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds over the course of three Summer League games before being ruled out for the rest of the summer due to a hamstring injury.
Connaughton was a complete question mark going into next season. His lackluster Summer League performance confirms why. And frankly, Connaughton’s time in Portland has been unimpressive thus far.
Considering Connaughton’s lack of production in the preliminaries and injury status, it’s safe to assume that the promising young baseball player could see himself playing a different sport come next spring.
4. Jake Layman deserves a bigger role
Jake Layman was pretty impressive in Vegas this year, helping lead the Blazers to the Summer League title game despite losing two players that were previously considered central to the team’s success.
In eight Summer League games, Layman averaged 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.4 minutes, shooting 33.9 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from behind the arc.
By comparison, he averaged 17.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals in eight G-League games last season, playing 33.3 minutes per game on 42.4 percent shooting from the field and 22.6 percent shooting from behind the arc.
He finished in double-digit scoring five times, both in Summer League this year and in the G-League last year. The only difference is that he never once crossed the 20-point threshold in the G-League.
This summer, he scored 20+ in three games, each time adding seven rebounds while shooting better than 37 percent from the field. His improvement wasn’t at all mind-boggling, but he did end up turning some heads this summer, which is certainly more than what this next player can say.
3. Zach Collins is most definitely a project
To say that “Vegas was unkind” to Zach Collins this summer would be too nice a statement; the rookie was a complete and utter disappointment this summer, failing to live up to any level of expectations.
That being said, there’s a lot to like about the kid, and he has a bright future if he continues to get stronger.
Collins looked way out of his depth playing in Vegas this summer. He was a boy among men, and it’s unlikely he makes any sort of jump between now and the beginning of the regular season. He needs to build his body to better combat the effects of the playing against larger big men.
However, he did happen to show a willingness to learn, adapt, and continue pushing through adversity. While that may not make up for his poor Summer League display, he proved to have a solid foundation on which the Blazers coaching staff will enjoy developing this season.
2. Caleb Swanigan is ready for the NBA
There isn’t really all that much to say about Caleb Swanigan that everyone doesn’t already know. He took the Summer League by storm, captivating fans with his high-energy play and his propensity for cleaning the glass.
Swanigan averaged 16.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 blocks in 30.8 minutes per game. He shot 43.8 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from behind the arc and 80.6 percent from the free throw line.
“Biggie” was simply a double-double machine among his peers. He was just unstoppable. And the thing is, he’s showed a great deal of maturity throughout this entire process, proving that he’s both physically and mentally ready to make the jump to pro.
I said it once before and I’ll say it again: Caleb Swanigan may be the best rookie drafted by the Blazers this offseason.
1. Injury bug bites Rip City again
I’m not sure what it is about the Portland Trail Blazers that the basketball gods don’t like, but they just seem to be really unlucky.
Greg Oden. Brandon Roy. Hell, we can trace this all the way back to Bill Walton. Just injuries on top of injuries on top of even more injuries. When will it stop?
Though it likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference, losing Jusuf Nurkic shortly before the 2017 postseason dealt an immense blow to Portland’s chances, not to mention the loss of Ed Davis.
Additionally, Allen Crabbe had to have foot surgery this summer, and now Connaughton and Collins are down after playing just three Summer League games a piece. I want to say I’m surprised, but nah.
https://twitter.com/PlayersTribune/status/887019569469988864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blazersedge.com%2F2017%2F7%2F21%2F16011854%2Fcj-mccollum-meyers-leonard-jusuf-nurkic-workout-video
And this year, the West is absolutely stacked. If the Blazers want to see themselves back in the postseason this year, the key will be finding a way to remain healthy.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Otherwise, we can probably expect to see a lot more offseason workout videos from C.J. McCollum this summer — only a lot sooner.