LAS VEGAS — As advertised.
There’s only so much a rookie can do in his first Summer League game to establish any kind of value at the NBA level.
It’s not that hard to diminish it. It’s never an encouraging sign when a first-round draft pick looks overwhelmed, even if the rosters are populated by a wide swath of experienced pros working hard to keep their opportunities afloat.
But it’s a much better story when a recent draftee shows up in Las Vegas and plays pretty much exactly how he played to get drafted in the first place.
There are multiple ways to evaluate the performance of Toronto Raptors rookie Allen Graves in his first professional game.
The most obvious is his box score contributions, which were impressive on their own. Even if Summer League games are ultimately meaningless, the level of competition is high and the defensive intensity is tangible as players try to ace their collective job interviews.
So it’s not for nothing that the versatile six-foot-eight forward Graves popped off for 22 points, 13 rebounds (five on the offensive end), three steals and two blocks while converting three of eight three-point attempts in what ended up being an 83-80 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.
But there was music between those high notes that brought the whole piece together.
The simplest way to explain Graves’ showing — with all the ‘it’s just one game’ caveats in place — is that the 19-year-old from Santa Clara has a real knack for playing basketball. He’s got great timing, good hands and the kind of vision that allows him to always be in motion, finding the next opportunity to get a hand on a ball or track a rebound or cut off an opposing ball handler. His feet keep moving, and he flows from one opportunity to the next.
It’s hard to explain. He had a steal and two offensive rebounds in the first five minutes of the game. Down the stretch of what ended up being a fun, competitive contest, Graves was even better. He missed his first four looks from three but then hit three straight in the fourth quarter and overtime. With the Raptors down three on the final possession, Graves secured not one but two highly contested offensive rebounds in the last 13 seconds to set up potentially game-tying threes for his teammates. It was impressive.
“He’s got gifts, that’s all I got for you,” said Chucky Hepburn, the second-year point guard who struggled with his shooting (4-of-16, 1-of-9 from three) but was otherwise sound in his first competitive game since he had knee surgery last season. “He just reads the game really well, and when you got a guy that already plays hard like he does, and reads the game really well, like how he does. It’s just natural for him (to make plays).”
The Raptors have a few players on their roster who have similar attributes, headlined by Scottie Barnes, with second-year forward Collin Murray-Boyles — who was held out of this game with a sprained index finger — having a lot of those qualities too.
But Barnes and Murray-Boyles are elite NBA athletes. They can make things happen at times because they are bigger, stronger or faster. Graves is certainly athletic but doesn’t have quite the size or burst that that pair do. It’s one of the reasons he was available for the Raptors to take with the 19th pick in the draft a couple of weeks ago. There were some questions about whether Graves’ ability to be active and disruptive would translate at the NBA level, given he played for a smaller school outside of the glamour college conferences.
Graves wondered too, but he felt confident as he took the floor at Cox Pavilion on campus at the University of Las Vegas that he would find a way, mostly because he always has.
“I mean yeah, I was (curious), but also I knew that (my game would) translate very well because of my IQ,” he said. “I feel like I can adapt at an elite level, and I feel like that’s what I’m going to do and continue to do as I’m going forward, is just use my brain. That’s my biggest asset. So you know, finding ways to impact the game, no matter what I’m doing, whether that’s offensive rebounding, whether that’s shooting a three, whether going to dive on the floor.”
It has impressed Ivo Simovic, the Raptors assistant who is the head coach of their Summer League entry.
“He’s a high-IQ guy. I don’t have to tell him twice to do something,” said Simovic. “We talk about offensive rebounding. The guy goes out and rebounds. He wants to win. That’s the main thing. I think he has an amazing feel for a game. When that ball goes up, he really has a great feel for where the ball gonna bounce after the shot. Certain players they have really good nose for that type of stuff.”
They are the elements of Graves’ game that the Raptors were excited about when they drafted him and in his professional debut they were obvious for all to see.
It’s a team thing: The Raptors regulars were out in good numbers and sitting courtside to watch the Summer League version go at it, with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Jamal Shead, Immanuel Quickley, Jamison Battle and Trace Jackson-Davis on hand. They were vocal and Graves listened.
“I mean, they’re my vets.,” he said. “They’re the people I want to listen to. I want to learn and grow from. So definitely was listening to them. They were telling me to get an angle, get in help position, just stuff like that. Just trying to listen to them, trying to learn.”
Block party: The Raptors finished with 12 blocked shots with Nate Bittle — newly signed to a training camp deal — counting six of them and seven-foot-five Jamario Sharp checking in with four. The Raptors are intrigued by Bittle, the 23-year-old undrafted centre out of Oregon. The seven-footer has long arms, sets decent screens and stepped out and hit a pair of threes to go along with eight points and 10 rebounds.
When in doubt, keep shooting: Graves shot 41.3 per cent from three in his one college season but averaged just 2.6 attempts. His career high for attempts in college was eight. But Graves showed no hesitation on Friday night, even after his first four attempts didn’t drop.
“I want to shoot the ball at a high level, and you know, that’s what I’ve worked on, just trying to get more consistent with it,” he said. “And like you said, the first two didn’t fall, but just knowing, you know, keep shooting. That’s the that’s the only mindset that I can have. You know, don’t get disappointed.”
