Brooklyn Nets: Breaking down Summer League roster
By Phil Watson
Ding Yanyuhang, SF (2017-18 team: Shandong Golden Stars, China)
Ding Yanyuhang returns to the NBA Summer League after turning some heads last year with the Dallas Mavericks.
The Chinese wing is the two-time defending Domestic MVP in the Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 26.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 37.6 minutes per game in his seventh season with Shandong, shooting.471/.345/.774.
At 6-foot-7 and 200 pounds, Ding has solid size on the wing, but will be 25 years old in August, so upside could be limited.
Last summer with the Mavericks, Ding averaged 6.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game over 11 games in the Orlando and Las Vegas sessions.
His playmaking ability turned some heads, but he ultimately was not offered a contract and returned to the Golden Stars.
Ding is an intriguing prospect, considering he plays a position from which players from mainland China have had difficulty breaking into the NBA.
Other details
The Nets of Summer will be coached by assistant coach Jacque Vaughn, who joined the Nets shortly after head coach Kenny Atkinson was hired in 2016.
He’s got some NBA head coaching experience, going 58-158 in parts of three seasons at the helm of the Orlando Magic from 2012-15 and spent two years as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs prior to that.
There are some differences between Summer League play and what we see during the NBA season.
For starters the quarters are only 10 minutes long, rather than 12. Players don’t foul out until their 10th personal foul and 10 fouls is also the limit for the penalty. For the tournament phase, the foul limit for players goes back to six personal fouls.
The shot clock rules are different as well this year — the clock resets to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound of a shot that hit the rim.
Teams will be allowed one coach’s challenge during the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.
For the preliminary stage, overtime will last two minutes and if still tied, the second overtime is sudden death with the first team to score wins. For the tournament phase, two-minute overtime periods will be played until a winner is determined.
At this point, the usual caveats about Summer League play should be issued. No, the level of competition isn’t what we see during an NBA regular season. Results should be taken with some skepticism for that reason.
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That said, it is still an important evaluation tool for teams and a way for players on the fringe to get a training camp invitation.