New Orleans Hornets’ Las Vegas Rookie Review
Anthony Davis- After a last minute call up to join the Olympic team, Davis did not get to participate in the Summer League.
Fans should not be too upset, because the experience he will get and the character that will be grown should make him a better player than before. Expect a polished and ready top overall, who should be the hands down favorite for Rookie of the Year. This is just the beginning for the up and coming superstar.
Austin Rivers- Rivers was only able to play in two of the five Hornets Summer League games, because of a lower body injury, but the games he did not play were rather disappointing. The team has been completely open about their desire to grow Rivers into a full time point guard, but if Summer League play was any indication, he is far away from that goal. Thrust into the role of lead guard and distributor, Rivers really struggled to the tune of 4-19 shooting, 6 turnovers and 7 assists.
He has played primarily at the two guard or as a scoring guard since High School and trying to come in right away and attempt to lead a roster full of NBA caliber players was a very difficult proposition. His shot was off, but there were bound to be nerves and he is such a great shooter that this should not be a problem going forward. He did have trouble with his overall decision-making and a tendency to over dribble and get himself into trouble.
Rivers is extremely talented, but if they are serious about him becoming a full time point guard, it may be a bumpy rookie season. If they let him play as the first scoring option off the bench, he has a great chance of being near the top of the rookie leader board in scoring. Whatever they decide, they have another fantastic young player on their team.
Darius Miller- It is fair to say that Miller really struggled in Vegas over the last ten days. With five game averages of 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.333 percent shooting in a little over 18 minutes per game, Miller was somewhat of a disappointment. To be fair, Miller is a role player who is at his best when he surrounded by talent and doing all of the little things to help his team win and based on talent the Hornets were one of the worst teams in the Vegas League, especially once Rivers was out.
Miller was one of the best sixth men in college over the last two years and knows how to best fit onto a roster, but as a player who struggles to create for himself and without a talented passer to help him out on the Vegas roster to give him open shots, he was bound to struggle. Miller has five years of college experience and is a National Champion, so do not expect his Vegas struggles to be the norm and expect him to be on the Hornets’ opening night roster.
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