Three things I am looking forward to in NBA Summer League

July hoops to the rescue.

All eyes will be on Cooper Flagg in Vegas (via dallasmavs Instagram)

Thank goodness NBA hoops are back. I know, I know, its just summer league, but I’ll take what I can get.

NBA Summer League is one of the more underrated things about the league. Seeing young talent take the court for the first time and show why they were top draft picks. Undrafted and G-League guys trying to find their place in the league. Second year players trying to show they are ready to take a leap.

There is nothing like summertime hoops. Plus, it gives everyone a little break from watching baseball every day. You can watch Cal Raleigh chase 40 homers before the All-Star break and watch Cooper Flagg’s debut. With the Vegas festivities kicking off today, here are three things I am looking forward to in this year’s summer league.

1. Cooper Flagg vs. Dylan Harper

Usually, we get the first overall pick and the second overall pick matched up on the first day of summer league, but we have to wait until day 3 this year. Regardless, this will be the main event of summer league.

One thing I am looking for from Harper: improvement on his shooting. That is the one drawback in his offense. He shot 33 percent from three on five attempts at Rutgers last year and while there is nothing seriously wrong mechanically with his shot, he does shoot a lot of line drives that fall short or clank off the back rim.

I know it is only summer league, but I want to see more progress with him as a shooter. He will be tasked with playing more off the ball this coming season with the Spurs, so that shot needs to come along quickly.

For Flagg, the Mavs want to use him as a lead ball handler this year and I want to see if he’s up for the challenge in Vegas. We know the all-around nature of his game and he did a good job of taking care of the ball at Duke (two to one AST-TOV ratio, 11.5 turnover percentage).

I’m intrigued to see Flagg as the ball handler in high pick and roll sets. His IQ is one of the best parts of his game, but as a primary handler, that will be put to the test even more.

2. How good will Alex Sarr be?

Sarr put together one of the worst summer leagues we’ve seen from a top pick last year. This included an 0/15 performance against the Blazers. That translated to an up and down rookie season, but he did finish the year strong (15+ points in nine of his last 20).

The Wizards view Sarr as part of their core and in order for him to take the next step, he needs to be “too good” for summer league. I’m looking for the second year big man to showcase his improving inside-out game and continue to show his strong defensive skills. He needs to be able to dominate against this kind of competition to continue his upward trajectory.

It will also be fun to see Sarr play with the newly drafted Tre Johnson and second year guard Bub Carrington. All three are viewed as foundational pieces to Washington’s rebuild and seeing them take the court for the first time together in Vegas will be exciting.

This will be the start of a busy summer for Sarr. He is expected to make his national team debut with France at EuroBasket this summer. Combined with summer league, that is a lot of basketball for the 20-year old. He does need the reps and the opportunity to play against tough competition to ready himself to lead the Wizards this season.

3. The Brooklyn Nets. That is all.

When you make an NBA-record five first round picks, all eyes will be on you. The Nets are one of the more intriguing teams in this year’s summer league, with four of their five first round picks taking the court for the first time (Drake Powell is out with a knee injury).

One of two things will happen with Brooklyn. They will either be one of the more fun teams to watch because of their snappy ball movement and an abundance of playmakers. Egor Demin, Danny Wolf, and Nolan Traore were three of the best passers in this year’s class. Traore’s lightning speed, Demin’s creative passing, and Wolf’s all-around game will all be treats to watch. All three possess great court vision and in the free-flowing system that Nets coach Jordi Fernandez employs, those are all plus skills.

Then there’s the other end of the spectrum: utter disaster. None of the three can shoot or score the ball effectively. Traore has his struggles finishing around the rim, Demin is a subpar shooter and struggles against ball pressure, and Wolf is inconsistent with his scoring and has a high turnover rate. Scoring the ball will be this team’s biggest challenge this summer and it could yield less than ideal results.

Either way, everyone on this Nets team needs to get their shots up now. With Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. likely on the roster next season (Thomas is still a restricted free agent), there may not be a lot of shots to go around. I am mostly kidding, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that duo combines for 45 shots a game and Brooklyn morphs into the LA Fitness “cook him” offense. The bottom line is that Demin, Wolf, and Traore need those on-ball scoring reps in order to co-exist and Vegas is the first step in doing so.