The 2024 Las Vegas Summer League is set to tip off on Friday, July 12. And while the Sacramento Kings will be without their 2024 first round draft pick Devin Carter, there are still a handful of Kings' players that fans/analysts will want to keep tabs on.
The Kings have not announced their 2024 Vegas Summer League roster, but they have released the list of players who will be suiting up for them during the 2024 California Classic. So, for this exercise, we will just assume that the same players participating in the California Classic will be playing in Vegas.
Sacramento Kings announce their 2024 Summer League Roster(s) which will feature two teams playing during California Classic pic.twitter.com/b0lcoTO03C
— No Ceilings (@NoCeilingsNBA) July 3, 2024
With that in mind, here are three Kings players people should keep an eye on during the Vegas Summer League.
Keon Ellis
If there was one player whose appearance on the list above shocked me, it was that of Keon Ellis. After appearing in 57 games (starting in 21 of them), you would have figured that the soon-to-be third-year combo guard was too old and too good for summer league. Alas, it looks like Ellis and the Kings figured this would be a great experience for the team's potential starting shooting guard heading into the 2024-25 season.
As a general rule, whenever you have one of these players who is borderline too good to be in summer league, you would like to see them dominate in the games they participate in. If Ellis doesn't look spectacular, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it also wouldn't be the jolt of positive vibes this type of decision is supposed to ignite.
Colby Jones
Unlike Ellis, it is much more natural for someone like Colby Jones to participate in the Vegas Summer League. He's only heading into his sophomore season in the association. Plus, Jones appeared in just 30 games (0 starts) in 2023-24.
Given all the guards and wings on the projected 2024-25 roster, it will be hard for Jones to see an uptick in playing time if he doesn't show a significant amount of growth in the summer league.
To carve out a role on this Kings' team, Jones is going to have to prove that he can slot into a modern-day "3-and-D" role. To do this, Jones is going to have to show that he can defend, attack closeouts, and (obviously) shoot the three ball.
Jones has proven he can provide some defensive pop (73rd percentile steal rate and 74th percentile block rate), and he's shown some promise as a driver (65th percentile true shooting on drives). The real concern has to do with his jumper. Jones hit just 2 of his 22 3-point attempts (9.1%) last year. Although, there is some hope for improvement, as he canned 34.4% of his 218 threes in college.
As a second round pick, Jones' leash isn't as long as a lottery pick. So, showing up big time in the summer league will be critical to his chances of having a prosperous NBA career.
Isaiah Crawford
If you have been following along on our website, you know that I love me some Isaiah Crawford. When I was at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine, I kept hearing the best things about him from scouts, and now I'm convinced that he could be the next Bruce Bowen (an undrafted player who becomes a nice 3-and-D role player).
For that vision to come to fruition, Crawford is going to need to show some flashes over these next couple of weeks. Similar to Jones, he projects as a 3-and-D player. But rather than be a 3-and-D guard/wing, Crawford is more of a 3-and-D forward (he's been compared to the likes of Robert Covington).
When watching him, we will want to focus on three things. First, Crawford's 7'1 wingspan made him a defensive playmaking machine (he had 122 combined steals/blocks in his final season of college). But that was in college. Everyone in the NBA has some length. Will his affinity for event creation translate to the next level?
Second, how does Crawford's jumper look? He was a better shooter than Jones in college (39.3% on 321 career 3-point attempts). But his volume was pretty low (2.8 attempts per game), and his free throw percentage (69.9%) doesn't ease the mind, either. Can Crawford hit enough threes to be a credible spacer in the NBA?
Lastly, how much can he do off the dribble? If Crawford is a good shooter, defenses will try to run him off the line (aka the "fly-by closeout"). How comfortable does Crawford look when he's forced to take a dribble or two? If he wants to have a long career in the NBA, the answer to that better be pretty damn comfortable.