Ben Simmons saga, top-pick matchup and Dame talk rule first week of NBA Summer League
By Melissa Rohlin and Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writers
LAS VEGAS — Among all the high rollers, showboaters and high motors in Sin City this week, here are the biggest storylines from NBA Summer League.
1. No one knows what’s going to happen with Ben Simmons
NBA Summer League isn’t just about the action on the court. Anytime you drop basically every NBA executive, coach and agent into the same city for a week, you’re going to see some deals. This year, all eyes are on the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia.
As has been reported in all sorts of places, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has been shopping Simmons since his ugly playoff performance in Philadelphia's disappointing second-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Morey has been asking teams for outrageous packages featuring young players and picks, with little success.
One team that has expressed interest is the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to league sources, but they’re not surrendering Karl-Anthony Towns or Anthony Edwards. The best they might offer is D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley — two fine players but not needle-movers — and a bunch of picks, which the Sixers, in win-now mode, don’t need. Maybe the two teams can find a third partner to take the picks and send another starter to Philly, but it’s hard to know who that could be or even if Morey would be willing to settle for that sort of package.
It’s clear that Morey is waiting for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard to become available (Morey even recently brought in Lillard’s longtime trainer Phil Beckner as a consultant), and for good reason. There’s just one problem: Lillard, despite making it clear that he’s unhappy with the state of the Blazers roster, has yet to demand a trade. He seems reluctant to play that card or any card that could generate criticism or make him "the bad guy." (See No. 4.) And the Blazers, according to sources, have no interest in trading him.
All of which has created a giant stalemate. The question is who’s going to break first? If Lillard doesn’t become available, will Morey move on to a different target? And if he doesn’t like any of the offers and decides that his best move is holding on to Simmons, will Simmons be OK playing for a team that has been trying to trade him and for a coach who threw him under the bus? If not — and I’d say it’s fair to assume that he’s as done with the Sixers as they appear to be with him — what’s he willing to do about it?
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Morey, no doubt, has thought about all this, and we can assume he has a plan. But whatever it is, he’s keeping it close. I asked a bunch of high-level executives with other teams this week what they thought would happen with Simmons. None had any ideas. Right now, the Sixers have time to sort this all out. But with training camp just six weeks away, it’s running out. — Y.W.
2. Jalen Green is playing angry
Rockets rookie Jalen Green earns a seven-figure paycheck, he's getting an incredible amount of hype, and he's poised to become an NBA star sooner rather than later.
So why does he have such a large chip on his shoulder? He resents that he was selected No. 2 in the NBA Draft.
"My chip is super big," Green told ESPN during a walk-off interview after the Rockets' win over the Detroit Pistons this week. "It started at draft night when I got drafted No. 2. I felt I was No. 1."
Green worked out his frustrations on the court against the Pistons, who selected Cade Cunningham over him. The rookie Rocket outshined everyone, scoring 25 points in 30 minutes. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line to lead his team to a 111-91 win. Cunningham, meanwhile, was 8-for-18 from the field, finishing with 20 points.
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A 6-foot-6, 180-pound shooting guard who is incredibly explosive and unstoppable on the fast break, Green has drawn comparisons to Kobe Bryant on the court. Apparently, he also shares Kobe's work ethic and instinct to be the best.
Green grew up playing basketball on the driveway of his family's home on the edge of an almond orchard in Central California. The summer before eighth grade, he taught himself to dunk after his stepfather, Marcus Greene, promised to give him Air Jordans when he could jam.
He went on to star for three seasons at San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno, California, before closing out his high school career at Napa Christian, where he played for the basketball academy Prolific Prep.
Green then took an unconventional route to the NBA. He could've played for many top college programs but chose to join the G-League's Ignite, which was created in April 2020 to funnel elite prospects into the NBA and with which he could earn $500,000.
Now it's only a matter of time before Green becomes a household name. After all, we've seen over and over again that incredible athleticism paired with a giant chip on your shoulder can be an unstoppable combination. — M.R.
3. Jalen Green isn't the only Rockets rookie turning heads
A good rule of thumb for Summer League: Never overreact to on-court results. But also, look at this play from Rockets rookie Alperen Şengün, a 19-year-old Turkish native whom most NBA fans hadn’t heard of before this year’s draft.
The Rockets sent the Thunder two future first-round picks to move up to No. 16 to grab Şengün. After seeing him put up 36 points through two Summer League games on 46% shooting — to go with 23 rebounds and eight blocks — I can see why.
But more than that: Just look at everything he has going in that video. Footwork! Handles! Strong hands! Awareness! The ability to drain a 3 from the logo!
Yes, of course, this is just Summer League. None of this actually means anything. But we’ve seen enough to know that there is something here. Who knows what that is or what it will turn into. But the combination of Şengün and Green could make this year’s Rockets a League Pass favorite. — Y.W.
4. What will Damian Lillard do?
It's Dame Time.
No, it's not a close game with seconds remaining on the clock and the deadliest of shooters getting ready to stun millions of fans with a buzzer-beater.
But all eyes are on Damian Lillard after the Trail Blazers didn't hire the coach he wanted (Jason Kidd) and failed to dramatically improve the roster in free agency, acquiring only Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore and Tony Snell.
Lillard has been incredibly loyal to the Blazers in his nine seasons, but it's clear that frustrations are building, considering the team has never advanced beyond the conference finals in that time.
Last season, the Trail Blazers flamed out in the first round against the Denver Nuggets despite multiple draw-dropping performances by Lillard, including a 55-point, 10-assist barrage in Portland's 147-140 double-overtime loss in Game 5.
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Lillard needs help. He wants to win a championship, and it's questionable whether the Trail Blazers have convinced him that they're equally committed, considering the team's offseason moves.
During his gold-medal-winning run with Team USA this summer, Lillard shot down rumors that he has requested a trade but added that he hadn't yet "made any firm decisions" on his future.
Lillard is under contract through the 2024-25 season, and it's unclear whether he will force the Blazers' hand. But this much is certain: Whatever he decides to do could greatly shift the balance of power in the league. — M.R.
5. The NBA is anti-quarantine beards
Here’s what Monty McCutchen, a former NBA official and the current NBA SVP of referee training, looked like the last time we saw him:
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Never has an NBA official been more relatable, which is why it was so sad to see a clean-shaven McCutchen taking in games at Summer League. At one point he walked by one of the media sections, and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic asked him what happened to his luxuriant beard.
"I got a call," McCutchen replied with a smile.
Neither he nor his colleagues should stand for such heavy-handedness. Other NBA referees should be growing out beards in solidarity. — Y.W.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.