1. The first clip here perfectly illustrates how shallow the playbook is for summer league, especially when half of the roster is forced to quarantine for health and safety protocols. If you turn up the volume, you can hear Charles Klask call out the play: “spread iso.”
Fortunately, Bones Hyland has been at his best when given spacing and freedom. He’s a natural isolation scorer. The one question surrounding Bones’ 1 on 1 game has been his first step and his ability to get around NBA athletes. He’s checked those boxes throughout the week, looking like he has improved his handle and gained a bit of quickness with the ball in his hand.
2. One of his go-to moves is a left-right double crossover move.
3. Bones is also a master of off-rhythm finishes. That inside hand layup is a staple but plays like the one below are also common for him.
4. The most impressive part of Bones’ summer league performance has been his comfort level in the PnR. The next couple of videos highlight his ability to read the PnR at full speed and his ability to score at the rim, behind the three-point line, and making a variety of passes to the roller or spot-up shooters around the perimeter.
5. He has great patience in the PnR and employs a nice hesitation dribble to freeze both the on ball defender and the big containing the drive.
6. Bones is also comfortable rejecting the screen when defenses try to “ice” the screen and force him to the sideline. This became especially important in the win over the Dallas Mavericks since the Mavs were trying to trap Bones by bringing both defenders all the way up the court.
7. The Nuggets made the adjustment to start slipping the screener so that they only gave the appearance of a screen. This forced the on ball defender to expect to make a wall on one side while the other defender would form the wall on the other side. By slipping this screen, Bones had to time when to attack the empty side. He did a perfect job of this in the 2nd half of the game and it was a large part of why they were able to storm back and get the win.
8. What was especially impressive is that Bones didn’t just use those slipped screens as an excuse to barrell towards the basket or jack up step-back threes. Instead, he remained patient and read the defense, waiting for the help side to rotate before finding the open man.
9. Bones also showed great tempo running off of DHOs (dribble handoffs), something that he will be asked to do a lot of alongside Nikola Jokic. He will benefit from adding a floater to his game to score in the in-between range but his feel and vision on these possessions is impressive for a young rookie.
10. Another simple play that demonstrates the control Bones had over the 4th quarter of this game. Read the court, then attack with a plan.
11. Here is another one of those unique finishes that he is so good at. Driving left, jumping off of the left foot, finishing with the left hand.
12. His most NBA ready skill is his three-point shooting. His shot is quick and compact which allows him to get shots off even against tight defense. This trait will increase his gravity and open up extra spacing for his teammates.
13. He’s also comfortable letting it fly when teams go under on PnR.
14. One of his best traits as a Sophomore was ability to knockdown three pointers off of the bounce in transition.
15. Bones’ 6’9 wingspan helps him as a helpside defender but he will still have a lot of learning to do at the NBA level to cut down on missed rotations.
16. Zeke Nnaji had a rough summer league but his defense was promising. He rarely got beat out on the perimeter, even when tasked with guarding quick guards.
