The NBA Summer League is the midway point for next season.
We are removed from the big names signing in free agency, the draft, and sometimes blockbuster trades.
This is also the time to watch young prospects and see if they are ready for the real NBA.
Fans are so excited to see if their favorite team nailed their draft picks.
What tends to follow is an overreaction from each fanbase.
The Summer league is a showcase for players trying to make a roster and for top draft picks to work on their game.
It is not a time to determine as to who is going to be the next superstar in the league; especially after one or two games.
This is also not a time to decide on who is a bust or not as well.
However, that is what happens with us fans.
We cannot help it as fans.
The Summer League is not a time for overreactions.
Rough Patches
For a lot of the prospects that are in the Summer League, they have not played in high level competition in several months.
Now they are thrusted into games against NBA talent.
There is definitely going to be some hiccups.
We have seen it before with some of the best players in the league today.
Trae Young shot 25% from the field and 18% from three in 2018.
Back in 2009, Stephen Curry shot 32.5% from the field.
Young just proved that he can carry a team far in the postseason, while Curry is one of the all-time greats.
Cade Cunningham is this year’s No. 1 pick.
The expectations for him are extremely high.
However, he was not his best in the first game of Summer League.
Cade Cunningham Summer League debut:
12 PTS
6 REB
2 AST
2 STL
2 BLK5-17 FG
2-7 3P pic.twitter.com/4ZG0T6TWyK— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 9, 2021
A bad game, or bad Summer League, should not be the determining factor for how we view Cunningham.
Other point guards have struggled in this spot after a long lay off.
Wait for the regular season to analyze his game.
The talent is there.
However, the growing pains of the NBA will show up.
The History of the Summer League
The Las Vegas Summer League is the most popular one in the NBA.
It has the most teams and the most eyes on it.
People focus heavily on the Summer League and put weight into an individual’s success.
The Summer League focuses on individual success as they give out an MVP award each summer.
However, you would think that your favorite players would have won the award.
The opposite has had happen.
There have been only three All-Stars that have won the MVP, which has been given out since 2006.
Some players that won the award, ended up out of the league within the next couple of years.
This year has seen already outstanding performances from players that are not future stars in the league.
2020 second-rounder Jordan Nwora went off in a tight Summer League win for the Bucks! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jtUDZf8zUT
— theScore (@theScore) August 10, 2021
The Summer League is not the time to figure out who is going to be what in the future.
There is no science behind it.
Fans should just relax and enjoy the moment.
However, that is not what a fan is supposed to do.
