The Clippers’ second game of the 2023 Summer League is against the Sacramento Kings tonight at 7:30 PM Pacific Time on NBA TV, at the Cox Pavilion.
The Clippers lost their first game in a valiant effort, and all of their key players had flashes. For this game, I’d love to see Jason Preston and Xavier Moon swap roles a bit, with Preston being more aggressive in looking for his shot and Moon taking on playmaking duties. Preston can pass, we all know it, but we haven’t seen him be a true scoring threat. Moon is a very competent ballhandler and scorer, but his lack of playmaking is part of what’s held him back from a true NBA role.
In terms of the other young guys, I’d love to see Moussa build on his Game 1 performance and further dominate the glass both offensively and defensively. When he does get offensive boards, go up strong and dunk or get fouled! For Kobe Brown, I was encouraged by his willingness to shoot threes and rebound. I would like to see him flash his playmaking a bit more, especially in short-roll type situations. Finally, for Jordan Miller, he played well in Game 1 but was overall pretty quiet, especially as a scorer and ball-handler, and it would be great to see him get more of those attacking opportunities in this one.
The Clippers played four other guys in Game 1 – Matt Morgan, Brodric Thomsa, Jordan Bowden, and Bryson Williams. Normally in Summer League it’s customary for just about everyone on the roster to get a look of some kind, so it will be interesting to see if the Clippers play an entirely different group off the bench in this game or play a couple of the same guys again.
The Kings don’t have any recent 1st round picks in this Summer League, as Keegan Murray isn’t suiting up for this one and they traded away their 2023 first to dump Richaun Holmes. However, they do have the 34th pick in the 2023 draft, Colby Jones, a player I quite liked, who will be on their main roster. Other players of note are Kessler Edwards, the 44th pick in 2021, who will probably be on the Kings’ roster, Keon Ellis, who they had on a two-way deal last year and are bringing back for next year, Jalen Slawson, the 54th pick in the 2023 draft and another two-way guy, and Neemias Queta, the 39th pick in the 2021 draft.
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