After spending years waiting for the 2014 draft class to arrive, the NBA and its fans got its first glimpse of the stars of tomorrow over the past two weeks in Orlando and Las Vegas in summer league action.
Here are some thoughts on some of the top young talents from this year’s draft (plus one exception) after The Post got a chance to see all of them in action:
Andrew Wiggins arguably was the most hyped draft prospect since LeBron James — ironically, his new teammate in Cleveland — came into the league 11 years ago. Through three games in Las Vegas, he only has given people more reasons to get excited about his potential.
Wiggins has shown off his tremendous length and athleticism, averaging over 13 points to go with 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks, pairing well with last year’s top overall pick Anthony Bennett. It’s still unclear where Wiggins will be playing next season — it either will be in Cleveland or Minnesota, as a report Thursday stated the Cavaliers would be willing to include him in a potential Kevin Love deal. If he remains with the Cavaliers, he gives new coach David Blatt at the very least an athletic defender who can be thrown at the opposition’s best perimeter scorer.
While the Cavaliers have cruised, the Bucks have struggled in Vegas, going 0-4 heading into Friday’s finale. But that has little to do with the play of second overall pick Jabari Parker, who is not surrounded by much talent past last year’s draft picks Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nate Wolters.
Parker has shown he can score, averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, and is the runaway favorite to be this year’s Rookie of the Year. And the rough summer league record isn’t the worst thing for Parker to prepare him for what is going to be a long season in Milwaukee.
The Sixers didn’t have either of their first round picks from this year’s draft – Joel Embiid, out after foot surgery, or Dario Saric, who is staying overseas – but gave everyone their first glimpse of Nerlens Noel, last year’s projected top overall pick before he tore his ACL and fell to No. 6.
Noel is averaging 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 3.0 blocks per game, and has shown tremendous burst and athleticism after 18 months of rehabbing his injured knee. It’s hard to see Noel putting on significant bulk to his slender frame, but it’s not much of a stretch to see him developing into an elite defender and rim protector. If he can combine that with any kind of offensive game, he’ll be a star.
The Magic love a lot of things about Aaron Gordon, including his motor, his competitiveness and his supreme athleticism. But Gordon is going to have to improve is his shooting stroke if he wants to become an impact player.
Gordon shot below 50 percent from the free throw line in his one year at Arizona, and went 11-for-23 from the charity stripe in Orlando. In his first game last Saturday, he opened the game with bad misses from 3 feet, behind the 3-point arc and the foul line … but also threw down a hellacious dunk. That’s likely a preview of what to expect from Gordon, who drew Shawn Marion comparisons during the draft process.
Between Gordon, No. 12 overall pick Elfrid Payton and last year’s No. 2 overall selection Victor Oladipo, the Magic have the potential to have a trio of elite defenders down the road.
Dante Exum was the International Man of Mystery heading into last month’s festivities at Barclays Center. The Australian prospect spent the final several months of the draft process working out following the end of his high school season in his native country.
But Exum was very impressive in his first three games in a Jazz uniform in Vegas, showing off supreme athleticism and forming a nice partnership with incumbent starting point guard Trey Burke. It’s going to be a long road for Exum, given his age (he turned 19 on Sunday) and inexperience, but the Jazz are very excited about both him and fellow first round pick Rodney Hood, a swingman who had 29 points and hit seven 3-pointers in a win over the Bucks.