Las Vegas Summer League: Kings win again; Davion Mitchell’s D; top NBA draft picks injured
The Kings remained unbeaten in the Las Vegas Summer League with a 90-75 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Cox Pavilion.
Some organizations are beginning to shutdown some of their young stars to prevent injuries and evaluate other players. Kings summer league coach Bobby Jackson said the team’s front office will decide which players are available when the Kings (3-0) face the Dallas Mavericks (0-2) at noon Sunday, but Jackson and his team seem to be setting their sights on an appearance in Tuesday’s championship game.
“We came in wanting to win it,” Jackson said. “We’ll talk with management on who needs to play and who needs to get shutdown, but I think everybody wants to play because we’re playing at a high level. … That’s something that’s out of my hands. Management will answer that question, but I know the guys I have on the floor, they want to finish this thing out and they want to play every single minute and just try to take this championship home.”
The Kings haven’t won the Las Vegas Summer League since 2014. They are one of six teams that remain unbeaten. The others are the Boston Celtics (3-0), Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0), New Orleans Pelicans (3-0), Utah Jazz (3-0) and Philadelphia 76ers (2-0).
Davion Mitchell, the No. 9 pick in last month’s NBA draft, continued to impress for Sacramento, scoring 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range with four assists and three steals. Jahmi’us Ramsey also had 19 points and three assists.
Davion’s defense
Outstanding individual defense isn’t usually enough to excite people in a city that traffics in titillation, but Mitchell’s defensive prowess has been a hot topic in Las Vegas this week.
Mitchell has lived up to his “Off Night” nickname and his reputation as the best on-ball defender in the draft. NBATV re-aired a pre-draft interview Friday that included the following exchange between Mitchell and veteran college basketball analyst Andy Katz.
Katz: “Why did you embrace defending?”
Mitchell: “Because I love winning. Everyone on our team (at Baylor) loved wining, but I just stood out because I was in the front of the halfcourt. I was guarding those type of guys. So that’s why I think I stood out, but I just love winning and whatever it takes to win. We know defense wins championships and I feel like we were the best defensive team in the country.”
Katz: “Here’s what else it does. It translates. A lot of guys can shoot. A lot of guys can dunk, block shots, run the floor, but the one still you know can translate, not everyone can do, which is defend. How much does that make you prepared to play in the NBA?”
Mitchell: “I think a lot of guys now, especially where the NBA is going, is more like scoring guards. It’s not a problem, but I think I can score the ball at a high level and I also think I can defend anybody at a high level. I think I can guard anybody. That’s just a confidence thing, but I know every night I’m going to bring that side of the ball. Im’ going to guard the best player. I’m going to make it hard for him no matter how big, how fast, how strong he is. I’m going to try to make it hard for him, so I think that’s why I’m different than a lot of people in the draft.”
Top draft picks injured
Two of the top picks in the 2021 NBA draft are expected to miss the rest of summer league after suffering minor injuries Thursday.
Jalen Green, selected by the Houston Rockets with the No. 2 pick in the draft, left a 92-76 loss to the Toronto Raptors with a sore left hamstring. Jalen Suggs, the No. 5 pick in the draft, left the Orlando Magic’s 108-71 loss to the Boston Celtics with a sore left hand.
Both teams will reportedly shutdown their young stars. The Rockets were among the unbeaten teams in Las Vegas before Thursday’s loss to the Raptors.
