Kai Sotto Thread

[ja.he]

I actually totally believe Kai would get a summer league offer last summer and will get one this summer. (Definitely 100 % there would be interest), it's not saying much though, as Kai is definitely at least Parks, Baba level if not better .
BTW many players refuse to play in summer league when invited.

It's actually a win for an NBA team , if they can get Kai's camp to agree to a development contract g league affiliate (for cheap) with the enticement for him to work towards an NBA call up.
The bar for that contract, isn't high at all. With many imports and players like Cooks or Creek would never agree to..

2 way contracts limited to two per team, is a little harder to get as teams reserve this to those entering the draft this year .

Of course if a player is really good , nothing is stopping a NBA team from offering him a 10 day, 2 way or full contract. (This wil be official confirmation of the level of interest)

Kai signing a 10 day contract in the NBA is already a history that will put him as the best player the Philippines has ever produced.

[DAdmiral]

Kai signing a 10 day contract in the NBA is already a history that will put him as the best player the Philippines has ever produced.

A 10 day call up for Kai in the next 10 years is indeed a reasonable possibility. ( I think it was last season that the NBA had a record high of call ups (at least 1 game ) due to Covid.

[jasper222]

I am suddenly swamped with work at a time when Kai discussions are very high. Damn it.

Anyway there's various unconfirmed news going around the block about him, I only trust Tattoo so far from the vlogging side. Treat every piece of rumor with skepticism, though I think Homer Sayson's source is reliable.

I think it's great news that Kai's getting 6 teams interested in him, I was only expecting 2 because of the Melbourne game.

Now the downplayers are unsure, they rethinking if they should downplay NBA Summer League (cause up to six teams have shown interest for KAI)

Funny how the tides change. They were so happy when Kai only played like 2 mins in Adelaide's last game. Now they're claiming all this positive stuff when they didn't give any whisper of a chance to Kai before this.

[Juan Lun]

Kai signing a 10 day contract in the NBA is already a history that will put him as the best player the Philippines has ever produced.

It will be a national holiday in PH if that happens lol

[Juan Lun]

A 10 day call up for Kai in the next 10 years is indeed a reasonable possibility. ( I think it was last season that the NBA had a record high of call ups (at least 1 game ) due to Covid.

If Kai stays in B-League then that's highly unlikely - really hope this offseason showcase is not a long term plan for Kai and his team

[Juan Lun]

Kai?s ig post seems he wouldn?t returning back to Adelaide/NBL.

He already said his goodbyes, kind of feels sad

[jasper222]

The downplayers and kai critiques is putting him into a different level of pedestal... They repeatedly voices this lateral issues...

If they can't even see themselves Kai's improvements this past 3-5months (pnr defense, perimeter awareness, strength improvement) they've tainted how they view basketball as a whole then.

The problem with ADL not being able to defend the PNR is because none of them are able to. Even the defensive players they brought in for that purpose aren't able to. But for some reason, the horizontal meme is only strong with Kai, the same guy who last year fresh from being undrafted was able to keep up with Deandre Ayton. All the advanced stats even say that Kai and Gallo are the 2 best defenders on the team. What the downplayers and "critics" are claiming is that Kai's defensive weaknesses affect the team as a whole...with that amount of PT from 12-15 mins? Like the cool kids nowadays say, the math ain't mathing. The simplest answer is that ADL is a horrible defensive team.

But it doesn't matter. Kai is finally out of that team, good luck to them.

[PeeZones]

This video was a prelude to Kai's recent announcement. Most likely that the agreement was finalized a couple of weeks ago.

The other side were claiming that Kai didnt have any SL invite and had zero interest whatsoever.haha all of a suddenly analyze made a turnaround and was claiming that Kai definitely had NBA interest even last year. As always they will all try to discredit everything in the end, but for me i will just sit back and relax and just enjoy Kai's road to the NBA.

[DAdmiral]

If Kai stays in B-League then that's highly unlikely - really hope this offseason showcase is not a long term plan for Kai and his team

That's correct , 10 day contract are generally reserved for those in the G League (US base) waiting for a call up on short notice.
That's actually the dilemma for American imports do they play overseas for guaranteed pay or do they gamble and wait in the G League hoping for a call up (10 day) with the hope that it turns into a two way to eventually a guaranteed contract for the season . The latter scenario is different from the Landale or Cooks route who ask for nothing less than a guaranteed NBA contract to crossover. ( these guys won't play in summer league without assurance of a guaranteed year contract)

I see People confusing none top 100 draft prospect invite (which is official) with summer league offers. Note the former is a higher bar than the latter (with guys like Parks and Baba playing in SL, but not to combine)
To give u an idea how low SL invite is , 8 players in the Nz Breakers have played in SL, (China NT played , so did Baba and Parks and many more lesser players, thst is why i have no doubt Kai is good enough last summer and this, it not saying much at all.

[jasper222]

This video was a prelude to Kai's recent announcement. Most likely that the agreement was finalized a couple of weeks ago.

The other side were claiming that Kai didnt have any SL invite and had zero interest whatsoever.haha all of a suddenly analyze made a turnaround and was claiming that Kai definitely had NBA interest even last year. As always they will all try to discredit everything in the end, but for me i will just sit back and relax and just enjoy Kai's road to the NBA.]

I saw that too. In Filipino, biglang kambyo. All of a sudden it's "I always believed Kai got invites" after spending 2 years debating that he didn't get any and that Joel Bell's claims were all fake. It's funny but at the same time I don't really care anymore. It's tiring to argue against people who remind me of fairweather fans, mga walang paninindigan. Even Yeshkel had to admit that the whole armbar boxout wasn't actually a problem but just a preference.

I've been looking at the B League feed for a few mins now and it seems like they were expecting Zhou Qi.

[Juan Lun]

That's correct , 10 day contract are generally reserved for those in the G League (US base) waiting for a call up on short notice.
That's actually the dilemma for American imports do they play overseas for guaranteed pay or do they gamble and wait in the G League hoping for a call up (10 day) with the hope that it turns into a two way to eventually a guaranteed contract for the season . The latter scenario is different from the Landale or Cooks route who ask for nothing less than a guaranteed NBA contract to crossover. ( these guys won't play in summer league without assurance of a guaranteed year contract)

I see People confusing none top 100 draft prospect invite (which is official) with summer league offers. Note the former is a higher bar than the latter (with guys like Parks and Baba playing in SL, but not to combine)
To give u an idea how low SL invite is , 8 players in the Nz Breakers have played in SL, (China NT played , so did Baba and Parks and many more lesser players, thst is why i have no doubt Kai is good enough last summer and this, it not saying much at all.

Then the move Kai can make is try to improve until he's at his peak (probably around 25 to 26 yrs old or 4 to 5 yrs from now) and try his luck at the g-league for a year or two and hope for a call up.

[PaVi]

If the story is true that Kai will have a short stay at hiroshima before going to SL, I hope he should understand that he will be treated and expected to play as a real import. I also hope that Kai will not wilt under pressure unlike Kobe who himself said that he was not able to take in the pressure of his prior team expecting him as an import. Kai should understand that he should be real import level in B-league. Not necessarily in numbers but in how he actually impacts the game. In short, ramdam na import nga sya at hindi asian import.

[paliganibossalfrancis]

problem is this will be like TSF Kai again, more of a showcase on what Kai's strengths (something that scouts already know) instead of being in a higher tier league like NBL1 where he can focus more on his weaknesses (mobility against higher level of basketball)

Actually, despite the eye test, BLeague is a higher tier league than NBL1. NBL1 is semi-pro, players there have full-time work aside from basketball to get by, also old players who will never make it to NBL. In fact we have Fil-Aussie players in the NBL1 such as Jasper Rentoy and James Spencer who are not even PBA-ready.

Japan will be a worth it for Kai.

[paliganibossalfrancis]

If the story is true that Kai will have a short stay at hiroshima before going to SL, I hope he should understand that he will be treated and expected to play as a real import. I also hope that Kai will not wilt under pressure unlike Kobe who himself said that he was not able to take in the pressure of his prior team expecting him as an import. Kai should understand that he should be real import level in B-league. Not necessarily in numbers but in how he actually impacts the game. In short, ramdam na import nga sya at hindi asian import.

Import in PBA and Asian-import in Japan are totally different things. If what you mean is Kai being a PBA-type import where he's the main option, that's the coach's discretion. Hiroshima can take that gamble since they're at the top of the standings. Kai will make them formidable ala-Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the UAAP Jrs.

[NOiNU]

What we should be watching out for come Summer League are those teams that he had worked out before during the pre-draft. If they wanna bring back Kai for their SL team, that means they saw something they could work on.

Kai has improved from draft day up to now, but would it be enough to earn him an NBA roster spot? He’s got time to further improve his game and physique. Although I am not that optimistic this Summer League would be the day, I am certain there’s no way but up for him. I still believe another year or two is what it’d take for him to get to the level he’d earn a GM’s nod, but I ain’t holding my breath and would simply enjoy the ride.