NBA teams
Michael Wallace, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Five to watch at Orlando Summer League

NBA

ORLANDO -- With free-agency frenzy in full swing, the league now shifts some of its focus to the NBA draft picks and young roster hopefuls preparing in summer leagues to battle for roles next season. That action starts Saturday morning from the Orlando Pro Summer League at the Magic's practice facility.

The Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Hornets, Magic, Nets, Pacers, Pistons and Thunder open the first of three NBA summer league showcases throughout the month, with the league's remaining teams getting involved next week at venues in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

Here are Five Potential Impact Players to watch over the next seven days in Orlando.


Frank Kaminsky
Charlotte Hornets
7-0 Power Forward/Center
Drafted: 9th overall from Wisconsin (2015)

The Lowdown: Hard to blame Hornets followers who responded to Kaminsky's being selected ninth overall last week with emotions ranging from skepticism to flat-out bewilderment. They've been through this before. Charlotte used top-10 picks the past five years on Bismack Biyombo, Cody Zeller and Noah Vonleh, big men who have hardly been slam dunks. Now enter Kaminsky, the consensus college player of the year from Wisconsin, who initially struggled in camp for summer league. Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, the Hornets' summer league coach, said Kaminsky advanced light years from his first camp workout and has set the bar high this week.

It will be difficult for the methodical, structured Kaminsky to thrive in the frenetic, open-gym pace in Orlando. But if he can show decent range and a smooth release on his shot (he made 42 percent of his 3-pointers), there's hope for a solid fit alongside post-up machine Al Jefferson next season. "I know he's going to be on me," Kaminsky told reporters of Ewing. "They expect a lot from me. I was the ninth overall pick in the draft, so there's a lot I need to live up to."


Justise Winslow
Miami Heat

6-6 Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Drafted: 10th overall from Duke (2015)

The Lowdown: Winslow insists the fall in last week's NBA draft wasn't nearly as bad because he landed softly on the sands of South Beach as the No. 10 pick by the Miami Heat. But that doesn't mean he isn't motivated to face teams that passed over the projected top-6 prospect. That process begins in the coming days when Winslow leads the Heat summer league squad against the Magic (fifth), Pistons (eighth) and Hornets (ninth), who each prolonged his slide down the board. If there's a knock against Winslow coming off his national championship run at Duke, it's that he does everything well but doesn't necessarily specialize in one area, especially shooting.

But the versatile Winslow expects to get significant time at shooting guard this summer as he prepares to provide perimeter depth behind Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng. Instead of being the first swingman taken in the draft, Winslow was third. So expect a little extra spark in matchups with Orlando rookie Mario Hezonja and Detroit's Stanley Johnson. "It was a little tough, but I don't feel like I slipped at all," Winslow said. "I feel like I ended up in the right situation in Miami."


Mario Hezonja
Orlando Magic

6-8 Small Forward
Drafted: 5th overall from Spain (2015)

The Lowdown: There's plenty of intrigue and mystery surrounding Hezonja, who was selected fifth overall by the Magic and will be the highest 2015 draft pick in the Orlando Summer League. But the sharp-shooting, athletic swingman clarified his competitive agenda in one resounding quote to a Spanish publication while preparing to make his NBA splash. "I heard about, 'If they smell blood, you get eaten,' " Hezonja said about the cutthroat NBA. "I'm not [intimidated] like that. Whether it's a veteran or a young player standing in front of me, I always have the same goal: I want to run over everybody."

The 20-year-old native of Croatia has been compared favorably to Golden State's Klay Thompson because of his length, shooting, athleticism and playmaking off the dribble. But Hezonja's game won't be on full display right now, with the Magic's plan to limit him to only a couple of games after he recently completed a full Euroleague season with Barcelona. That could leave room for Orlando second-round pick Tyler Harvey to steal the summer-league show after leading the nation in scoring last season at Eastern Washington.


Jordan Adams
Memphis Grizzlies

6-5 Shooting Guard
Drafted: 22nd overall from UCLA (2014)

The Lowdown: Now entering his sophomore season of summer league, the Grizzlies' 2014 first-round pick will have a legitimate shot to build confidence and establish trust with the coaching staff in an attempt to crack the rotation next season. Adams, a former UCLA standout, showed flashes in limited doses last season when he appeared in 34 games for Memphis, including four in the playoffs. He scored in double figures three times, including a season-high 19 points against Golden State late in the regular season. Adams shot 40 percent from 3-point range on limited attempts but should have a chance to put up significant numbers in Orlando.

Still, it won't be easy to crack into an off-ball perimeter rotation that returns veterans Courtney Lee, Tony Allen, Vince Carter, Beno Udrih and Jeff Green in addition to recently acquiring Matt Barnes in a trade. Getting off to a running start in summer league should help Adams, who could put up James Harden-type performances in these games. Adams has also benefited from the tutelage of Carter, who is essentially interning as an assistant with Memphis' summer team.


Myles Turner
Indiana Pacers

6-11 Power Forward/Center
Drafted: 11th overall from Texas (2015)

The Lowdown: Perhaps no prospect's lottery stock rose as highly or as quickly as that of Turner, the 19-year-old talented big man who left Texas after his freshman season and was snagged by the Pacers. Team president Larry Bird will be watching closely from the stands over the next few days hoping Indiana landed the potential steal of the draft. Turner's development now becomes an even higher priority as the Pacers prepare for life in the post amid the free agency departure of David West and the planned reduction of Roy Hibbert's role. In Turner, the Pacers have a teenager who already has an NBA grown man's body.

There were early questions about Turner's hips and knees because of his awkward running style, but he has worked to strengthen his core to alleviate structural concerns. He's ranked among the nation's best shot-blockers at Texas, where he averaged 2.6 a game. But what has Bird and the Pacers intrigued entering summer league is that Turner has quickly adapted to NBA 3-point range to stretch the floor. Turner said the expansion of his game is a product of spending time at Texas watching film of former UT star and NBA standout LaMarcus Aldridge.

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