Fears Summer League

[pnkranger]

After a really rough start, Fears has looked solid in Summer League for an 18 year old playing against grown professional players. He's started to relax into his role running the show. He went 9-33 for 29 total points in his first two games and then seemed to turn the corner:

14 points / 1 reb / 1 assist / 2 steals (6/11 FG)
22 points / 6 reb / 6 assists (8/15 FG and 1/5 3PT)
22 points / 7 reb / 4 assists / 3 steals (7/16 FG and 1/5 3PT)

His first step, ball-handling, and ability to get to the rim still look elite. Once he puts on some muscle, his finishing will improve. 3 point shooting has got to improve -- he needs to get more 3s off of ball movement vs. late shot-clock or when ball movement stagnates.

Turnovers were an issue, but they are for everyone in summer league. It's AAU ball with a rotating cast of characters and no offensive game plan. Juries out on defense, but he takes the westbrook, curry young approach -- solid on ball, gamble off ball, which leaves him out of position a lot of times.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I think much of his ceiling will depend on whether he can significantly improve as a shooter. He was an awful 3-pt shooter in his one year of college and also really struggled on the summer circuit in high school from what I’ve read. Usually, free throw shooting is an indicator of whether a guy can be a good perimeter shooter, but there are some guys who just never become a reliable outsider shooter. If he doesn’t really improve that part of his game, it’ll be hard for him to turn into a really good pro.

 

[TINY]

I was impressed in the game he played against OKC. Gotta remember how young he still is. He is going to have a long and successful career in the nba.