Summer League player grades: Jay Huff

The 2022 NBA Summer League is now in the books for the Los Angeles Lakers, and they had a few players who showed at least some potential to make it to the big league and spend significant time there.

One of those players is Jay Huff, a 7-foot-1 center who spent time with the South Bay Lakers of the G League this past season. He went undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft after playing four seasons of college ball at the University of Virginia.

Here is a summary of what Huff showed in the summer league over the past couple of weeks.

Huff loves to stuff people at the rim

The most impressive aspect of Huff’s game is his shot blocking and rim protection. In two summer league games, he averaged 3.5 blocked shots per game. Before that, he had four rejections in a California Classic contest.

Huff missed time after being placed in the league’s health and safety protocol, but he has pretty much made the most of the time he has been able to be on the court.

He is a strong presence defensively near the rim, and it seems that every time someone tries to penetrate and get to the rim, he denies them.

Huff isn’t just a nice stand-still shot blocker. He also seems to have solid instincts for rotating over at the right time to get a rejection.

Outside shooting

What makes Huff a more impressive prospect is his ability to stretch the floor as a center.

He made 66.7% of his 3-pointers during the Las Vegas Summer League and both of his attempts from that distance during his lone game in the California Classic.

Leaving Huff open to help on his teammates seems to be a stupid decision.

If he were to make the big league Lakers’ roster this season, he could help open driving lanes for LeBron James and Russell Westbrook while keeping the paint free for Anthony Davis, since defenders wouldn’t be able to leave Huff without paying the price.

On occasion during summer league play, Huff even showed the ability to score in the paint or near the hoop.

Huff may need to add some muscle to truly hang at the NBA level. He currently weighs about 240 pounds, and it’s easy to imagine bigger, more rugged centers such as Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic abusing him in the post or taking advantage of him to get offensive rebounds.

His rebounding over the last couple of weeks has left something to be desired, although he did average 6.1 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game during 28 G League contests in the 2021-22 season.

But he seems to already be a gem because of his two main skills, and given the roster composition and needs of the Lakers, perhaps they will call him up at some point this fall or winter.

Final grade: B-plus/A-minus

Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire