Summer league is certainly a unique brand of basketball.
While every game, every statline, every trend should be taken with more than just a grain of salt, there's already one undeniable truth that has emerged in Atlanta - Kingston Flemings' playmaking is no joke.
Amidst his peers struggling to deliver in the same category, it's not ridiculous to say that Atlanta stole the 5th best prospect right out from under the noses of the Clippers, Kings, and Nets.
Kingston Flemings' icy-hot performance this summer
Unfortunately for the Hawks' top pick this year, the shot isn't falling just yet.
Converting on an impressive 38.7% of his college long-range attempts, the same magic hasn't been present during summer league. Aside from his 10/33 overall conversion rate from the floor, Kingston has only converted on 3/10 looks from range - nothing to be overly concerned about, but it's certainly been a damper on his otherwise all-around impressive performances.
Scoring aside, though, Flemings' playmaking has been precisely the revelation Atlanta has been searching for. Dishing out 22 assists to a meager 3 turnovers across three games this summer, I imagine Onsi Saleh couldn't be any happier with his newest recruit.
Unfortunately for the teams selecting above the Hawks this year, their rookies have emerged with more of a whimper than a bang - a stark contrast to Kingston's superb play.
Acuff and Wagler's early struggles - what do they mean?
Earlier this week, Darius Acuff - selected 7th overall by the Sacramento Kings this year, just one slot above Flemings - competed against the 5th overall selection by the Los Angeles Clippers, Keaton Wagler.
While it is just one game, both players exhibited the very weaknesses they were feared to carry over to the next level. Acuff's inefficiency on extreme volume (6/20 from the field, 3/9 from range) paired with an unimpressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 7-4 would certainly concern me if I was a Kings fan.
On the other end of the floor, Keaton Wagler was invisible. Posting a quiet statline of 7-2-1 on 1/7 from the floor, you'd certainly expect more from the guard selected ahead of his three competitors this draft class.
While it's a hard sell to believe that any of the guards taken in the 5-8 range this draft (Wagler, Mikel Brown Jr., Acuff, and Flemings) will supersede any of the widely-lauded top 4, Atlanta's off to a great start in their case for stealing the best player available.
Add us as a preferred source on Google