The Denver Nuggets 2019-20 NBA Summer League kicks off in Las Vegas on July 5. At Nugg Love we will be compiling watchability rankings for the four Nuggets summer league contests.
This is the game that Denver Nuggets faithful should justifiably get the most hyped up for. This game will feature some intriguing matchups and should provide possible 2020 contributor Jarred Vanderbilt with his toughest matchup of summer league in Celtics rookie forward Grant Williams. It will also feature two of the more notable prospects in general, Romeo Langford and (of course) Michael Porter Jr.
Williams was an advanced stats darling during his junior season at Tennessee. During the 2018-19 season, he posted a 30.6 PER, 128.7 offensive rating and a 96.3 defensive rating, with an 18.5 percent assist rate.
The 6-foot-7, 240 lb., super (physically) strong Williams had concerns about his lateral movement and 3-point shooting stroke that saw him slip to No. 22 overall. Hopefully, Vanderbilt and Williams will match up head-to-head, as it would be a fascinating test of measurables versus feel for the game.
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Vanderbilt had a 39.5-inch vertical leap at Kentucky’s pro day in 2018, while Williams had a max 31.5-inch vertical leap at the 2018 NBA Combine. Vanderbilt has a 7-foot-1 wingspan, while Williams has a 6-foot-11 wingspan.
If matched up against each other, expect Vanderbilt’s size to swallow up any drives by Williams. On the other hand, also expect Williams’ adept cutting and screening to catch the bouncy Vanderbilt off-guard.
Romeo Langford was expected to be a lottery pick coming into the college basketball season, but poor perimeter shooting played a strong part in dropping his stock. Langford is a has some real power in his game when driving to the rim and definitely is not afraid of contact.
Wings like Porter, Vlatko Cancar and whoever else plays summer league for the Denver Nuggets summer league team will need to play disciplined defense to make Langford prove it from the floor, rather than letting him heat up at the charity stripe. On the flip side, this is a game I could see Cancar thriving in.
Boston’s summer league team doesn’t possess a ton of hyper-athletic wings. This will allow Cancar to get to his spots, finish on the fast break and possibly, show off some of his shot-making ability in a one-on-one situation.
The most important aspect of this game for me will be the pick-and-roll defense. The Celtics picked up two undersized guards who can really make defenses scramble with their mixture of speed, shooting and playmaking ability in Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters.
If Waters and/or Edwards gets going with their off-the-dribble 3-pointers off of pick-and-roll action, the Denver bigs will either need to provide a hard hedge without losing balance or quickly backpedal to get a solid contest in drop coverage.
Either way, we will likely get to see Welsh, Vanderbilt and Porter guard in space in this matchup. The personnel in this matchup could also lead to a solid game from former Ohio State guard Ja’Sean Tate, who is on the Nuggets summer league squad.
Tate shot 67.2 percent at the rim in his final season at Ohio State (2017-18) per Hoop-Math.com but struggles with touch, and was an abysmal free throw shooter (55 percent for his career). Obviously, the shooting will have to improve from the charity stripe and elsewhere, but at 6-foot-4, 200-plus lbs. and a 6-foot-8 wingspan, Tate could thrive in the switch-heavy defense of today’s NBA.
This game will be a great chance for Tate to show his ability on the defensive end of the floor. Making the right play and looking for cutting opportunities on offense will also bode well for his NBA chances.
In the event that the Nuggets can not corral Boston’s diminutive guards off the dribble, we will need to see them fight even harder to get through screens. This game has an awful lot of offensive potential and will feature several rookies–on both squads–who could actually play a key role in their team’s success in the 2019-20 season,