The Atlanta Hawks went to Las Vegas with a pretty specific goal. They needed to figure out which young guys could actually help them win games in the regular season. Not just flash potential. Actually contribute. And after watching Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor for a couple weeks, they got some real answers. Some of them encouraging. A couple of them pretty worrying.
The thing is, the Hawks aren’t in development mode anymore. They traded for Aaron Wiggins and Devin Carter. They kept CJ McCollum around. They added Jock Landale. Quin Snyder is coaching a team that’s supposed to compete right now. So every mistake in Summer League matters more than it would for a rebuilding squad. These guys aren’t just fighting for a roster spot. They’re fighting for a real role.
Kingston Flemings: Great feel, broken jumper
Flemings looked like a natural out there. He controlled the pace. He made the right reads. Defensively, he picked pockets and jumped passing lanes without gambling. That part of his game translates immediately.
But here’s the problem. Defenses stopped guarding him. They went under every screen. They gave him wide open looks from three and dared him to shoot. And he shot around 30 percent from the field and from deep. That’s not a slump. That’s a real limitation that NBA teams will exploit every single possession.
In transition, Flemings can still make plays. His speed and vision let him create even without shooting gravity. But in the half court? It’s a different story. You can’t drive effectively when nobody respects your jumper. If he gets to even average from outside, the rest of his game opens up. Until then, opponents will keep packing the paint and making his life miserable.
Zuby Ejiofor: Nonstop motor, nonstop fouls
Ejiofor plays hard. Really hard. He attacked the glass, protected the rim, and set a physical tone that the Hawks clearly wanted. His energy was contagious. But that same aggression cut both ways.
He fouled. A lot. Multiple possessions ended with him chasing a highlight block instead of staying disciplined. At the NBA level, you can’t be an elite rim protector if you’re on the bench in foul trouble. It doesn’t matter how talented you are if you can’t stay on the floor.
Offensively, the Hawks let him experiment. They let him shoot jumpers and try things outside his normal role. That’s fine for Summer League development. But it led to some inefficient stretches. He took shots that weren’t really there yet. The priority should still be high-percentage looks around the basket.
Here’s the good news for Atlanta. Neither of these problems looks unfixable. Flemings has high basketball IQ and solid mechanics. Shooting consistency usually improves with reps and coaching. Ejiofor’s discipline will come with experience. He doesn’t need to play less aggressively. He just needs to play smarter.
Both guys left Vegas in a better spot than they started. If Flemings can hit enough threes to make defenses honest, and if Ejiofor can learn to channel that motor into controlled aggression, the Hawks might look back at Summer League not as a place where flaws got exposed. But as the point where two raw prospects started turning into actual NBA players.
Leave a Comment