Summer league news is some good and some bad for the Tar Heels.
The NBA Summer League regular season is over with Theo Pinson of the Brooklyn Nets the only former Heel going on to the playoffs. There some consolation games for the teams that didn’t make the post-summer league, but I have no earthly idea why.
First the good. Tony Bradley, who I completed discounted in this space recently, now has a decent chance to get a third year of his rookie contract from Utah after averaging a double-double for the NBA team’s summer league club. It’s not guaranteed, and the Jazz have to award a contract to Bradley, who has yet to prove he can hang with actual NBA players. But at least he has a chance.
Coby White showed some of his natural brilliance with the Bulls’ summer league team, but he heads for training camp as the No. 3 point guard on the Chicago roster unless former Providence College star Kris Dunn gets traded. While Coby still has more than $9 million guaranteed, he has not shown enough so far to avoid playing for both the Bulls and their G-League team. Training camp in October will reveal more of Coby’s rookie fate.
Cameron Johnson did not play for the Phoenix Suns’ summer league team, joining fellow first-round draft pick Ty Jerome of Virginia in the Suns’ off-season workout program to get stronger. Johnson is still guaranteed just under $7 million, but will have to earn a roster spot during training camp or play at least part of his rookie season in the G League.
Bad luck continued to bite Nassir Little, who was thought to be a middle first-round draft choice, but sat with his family in agony until he was picked by the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 25. Little injured his elbow early in summer league play and was held out for the remaining games. He is due more than $3.5 million, but where he will be when he gets his checks remains to be seen.
The Blazers are one of the few NBA franchises without a G-League team, so how can Little practice and get coaching if he doesn’t make the big team and has to work out on his own?
Frankly, the best luck for Little would be if the Blazers traded him to a franchise active in the G League, so he can practice or play every day for an organized team with a coaching staff and shake the label of a great athlete for one with an NBA name on it.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing OutRoy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps UpDean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) StarBen Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and AmbitionsGarrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID DebateClemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft DodgersCarolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To CarolinaUNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra MotivationCarolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›
