Summer League overreactions: Chet will be an MVP, Jordan Usher should be on the team

SALT LAKE CITY — If Summer League was a true indicator of NBA success, Josh Selby would be a superstar — so would Glen Rice Jr., Tyus Jones and Anthony Morrow, and a number of other players that starred in July.

So the smart thing is to not overreact to Summer League games. But where's the fun in that?

So here's our overreactions after Oklahoma City's 98-77 win over the Utah Jazz on the first day of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

Overreaction 1: Chet Holmgren is a future MVP

The former Gonzaga star and No. 2 overall pick looked like he was already too good to be playing in the summer.

In 24 minutes, Holmgren had 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting (4 of 6 from three), seven rebounds, six blocks and four assists and dominating just about every facet of the game. Was his first half — 18 points, four 3-pointers and three blocks — among the best halves in Summer League history? Probably not, but at the moment it sure felt like it.

He was just plain rude to Tacko Fall, freezing him with step-back jumpers and casually shooting over him on pull-ups. Remember: Fall is 7-foot-6 — people should not be able to casually shoot over him.

And he didn't take too kindly to Utah's Vic Law, either. Holmgren stuffed Law's tomahawk dunk attempt and hit a one-footed fade away that resembled Dirk Nowitzki.

In short, he was just ridiculously good in his first quasi-NBA action. He did just about everything on offense and showed that he had the timing to play drop big defense, too. In the second half, he shut down a drive by Jared Butler (likely the only NBA player on the Summer Jazz roster) and then switched off him to swallow up a layup by Kofi Cokburn.

It's true the Jazz are a particularly bad Summer League team, and Holmgren looked like an absolute star.

I'm not sure how much Holmgren plays over the next two days (my guess? He rests Wednesday and plays Thursday), but Jazz fans should try and catch this future MVP candidate before he leaves town.

Overreaction 2: Jared Butler might not be who Jazz fans want him to be

Butler had a rough night. He was just 3 of 10 for just 10 points and had three turnovers. He struggled to get separation off the dribble, and was lost among the long Thunder players when he did get into the paint.

Second-year players who end up being good are supposed to take control of these Summer League games; Butler didn't.

You can point to plenty of reasons why Butler struggled — OKC has a very strong Summer League roster, he didn't get a lot of reps as a rookie, and the lack of talent around him made the court much smaller — but even then, he should have been able to overcome all those things.

"You just want to play so well, you want to make every shot, you just have high expectations, and sometimes expectations don't meet reality," Butler said. "It's hard."

Butler wanted to come in and dominate; heck, as a second-year player that showed he could score at the NBA level as a rookie, he expected to. He said he's gonna be playing on Wednesday, so he'll have another chance to meet those very soon.

Overreaction No. 3: Jordan Usher should get the 15th spot

Look, the 15th spot on a roster rarely plays. They are used for either longtime veterans, young players with potential, friends of stars or some good-vibe guys.

Usher showed he's the perfect vibe man on Tuesday.

He played just 14 minutes, but made the two most exciting plays of the game. OK, not really (all those belong to Holmgren and one put-back from Utah's Jeenathan Williams), but based on Usher's reactions, you'd be forgiven if you thought that. He celebrated like he hit a game winner when one of his passes led to a three. Then he acted like he had won Utah a title when he forced an eight-second violation. He egged the crowd on and then ran all the way down the Utah bench high-fiving and screaming. It sure won over the crowd.

"I'm a blue collar dude," Usher said. "I'm from the country; I'm from Canton, Georgia. I had to get out from the dirt from the beginning. So just being able to get out and get in someone shots and play hard basketball. … They let me go on defense. Let me run around, get some energy. So as long as I can do that, I'm having a great time."

And while he might be a bit biased, he believes every team needs a few guys that can provide that type of energy.

"If you ask me, I think (teams need) two or three," he said, smiling. "I feel like the guys like me have a good personality even off the court. I feel like I'm fun to be around. And I feel like I can break up the game, change it up a little bit. And the way the NBA's transitioning, I think you need that, especially at the wing spot."

Oh, and he already likes Utah, too — and wants to see more.

"I've been kind of in the gym a whole bunch of everybody's saying you can go kayaking and hiking, so I say this a spot for me," he said. "I'm a country boy, I like wildlife and to fish. I want to see the Salt Flats; I want to see a bunch of stuff. But right now, I just been in a hotel room resting and watching film."

Come on, Jazz, sign him (at the very least to the Salt Lake City Stars), and let the man go fishing.

Overreaction No. 4: The jerseys are awful

Actually, this is just a proper reaction. The Jazz debuted their new highlighter yellow scheme jerseys on Tuesday (at least the Summer League version of them) and they are … not great.

What made them so starkly bad was playing on the beautifully designed orange and yellow (of the non-highlighter variety) sunset Summer League court that was first used in 2019. Yep, it was just three years ago the Jazz organization put out a design that is still universally praised. Sigh. The beauty of that design just made the ill-advised jerseys look that much worse in comparison.

Will the new jerseys look better on the proper court? Probably, but better still won't be good.

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