NBA Vegas Pro Summer League 2010: Day 2 Preview

Day two of the Vegas Summer League starts up today, and...yeah, there's been a lot of basketball this week.  Thankfully, these games start at a more reasonable time than the Orlando league, which is helpful to all those bloggers out there who are writing this post at 2:30 a.m.  Day 2 action should bring some pretty solid games, including the return of Toronto's DeMar Derozan/Sonny Weems combo and a matchup between the Lakers and Nuggets, two squads with some pretty solid free agent talent looking to get a shot at an NBA roster.

The majority (if not all) of these games will be shown on NBA TV, and those that don't have access to NBA TV can watch all of the Summer League games online for $14.95 either live or on demand.  The "what to watch for" notes are after the jump (all times are Eastern).

4 p.m. - Toronto Raptors vs. Phoenix Suns

Raptors Free Agent Player to Watch: Ronald Dupree

Being 29, Dupree pretty much is what he is at this point, so a team won't be really investing in the future if they decide he's worth a training camp invite.  Nonetheless, he's a pretty good as far as Summer League/training camp players go, and he has about 150 games' worth of NBA experience over the years going back to 2003.  He finally picked up an outside shot in Germany last year, and a team looking for something close to what Jawad Williams gave the Cavaliers last year (don't laugh) could do a lot worse than Dupree.

Suns Free Agent Player to Watch: Gavin Edwards

Somewhat to my surprise, both Kevin McHale and Not Kevin McHale (I never caught who the announcer working with McHale was) were fairly complimentary of Edwards during the game.  Nothing against Edwards, but I was a bit confused.  It didn't help that they praised his "improvement" as a senior, when he finally averaged double digit points, without pointing out that he went from playing 11 minutes a game as a junior to 30 minutes as a senior.  But oh well.  Edwards had some rough patches (five turnovers and five fouls in about 16 and a half minutes), but he did some good things as well, namely hit all three of his shots.  I'll be interested to see if he picks one option and sticks with it.

6 p.m. - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

Lakers Free Agent Player to Watch: Courtney Sims

Sims played some decent defense on Austin Daye early on in the first game, but overall had a quiet outing with five points and five fouls in 20 minutes.  He's undeniably talented, but some missed opportunities have kept him on the D-League/overseas circuit.  The Nuggets don't have much of an inside presence on their roster (Brian Butch being more of a perimeter player, and the other guy being Othello Hunter), so Sims could shine today.

Nuggets Free Agent Player to Watch: Antonio Anderson

Anderson is a lot better than how he played yesterday so, like Sims, he should be able to bounce back.  An excellent defender capable of guarding three positions, Anderson also can handle the ball a little bit and can be quick and explosive going to the basket.  He occasionally settles for threes, as he did yesterday, but when he focuses Anderson can be a force.  Defense really isn't a focus in Summer League, but Anderson certainly can make things tougher for his opponent.

8 p.m. - Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors

Pistons Free Agent Player to Watch: Jordan Eglseder

Detroit's a tricky team for those of us who are following the free agents, because their starting five are all roster players.  They'll probably be rotating their bench, meaning the guys who play one day won't the next.  Mac Koshwal got the nod up front yesterday, and was pretty terrible (six fouls and two turnovers in 13 minutes), so it's likely that either Eglseder or Jared Reiner will get the nod today.  I already talked about Reiner, so in Eglseder's case look to see whether he can compete with two good rebounders in Andre Brown and C.J. Giles.

Warriors Free Agent Player to Watch: Kasib Powell

Powell is a former D-League MVP (and, in the interest of disclosure, a former RU contributor), and he's a pretty versatile forward.  He didn't have the best game on day 1, but he can rebound, defend and score, and he'll likely have to do all of those things while matched up against either Jonas Jerebko or Austin Daye at some point.  Powell is 29 just as Dupree is, but he undoubtedly can contribute to an NBA team.

10 p.m. - Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets

Mavericks Free Agent Player to Watch: Mouhammed Faye

Faye had a pretty good game off the bench yesterday, with 12 points on 5-8 shooting and eight rebounds.  Faye is lanky, not quite as thin as Austin Daye but pretty close (though also a few inches shorter), and was pretty versatile while playing at Southern Methodist.  As Scott put it in the roster breakdown, "He played quite a bit at both on the perimeter and in the post for SMU, though, and loved to get position and dunk it on whoever was in his way when he was down low (though typically without the use of many post moves)."  Faye will be interesting to watch because Scott also advocated for him to go to the D-League this year, and Dallas has a new, direct D-League affiliate; if Faye continues to play well, it's possible the Mavericks could keep him around in Frisco.

Rockets Free Agent Player to Watch: Dwight Lewis

Lewis scored 10 points on four shots yesterday, by virtue of getting to the free throw line fairly often considering he only played 13 minutes.  His outside shot is the biggest question, and he attempted none yesterday, so watch to see if he continues to play it safe or starts trying to show a larger repertoire - his defense is very good, and he has good size, so showing more of a complete game could be his ticket to training camp.