Filipino Players in Foreign Leagues

[NOiNU]

Even Akoldah Gak of the Illawarra Hawks who plays 3 mins a game got invited to play in the Summer league with the Chicago Bulls.

Gak had <2ppg and .5rpg. Shooting down Kai?s chances of getting an invite using these stats as your basis is simply hating. You can do better than that.

[paliganibossalfrancis]

One third of the NBL season has passed and Kai's numbers are all in decline.

Things are looking very grim for Kai's chances at even securing a big money contract with an overseas club after this NBL season.

Kai doesn't hold a European passport so will be classified as a import in a Euro club.

Big Euro clubs don't offer spots to imports who average 5pts & 4 rebs in the NBL. That is just facts.

He can always sign with a 2nd rate European team or some irrelevant bush league in Asia.

I dont think he will be renewed or signed by another NBL team if his numbers keep declining. He has to have some sense of urgency and make the most of the remaining games and also play as much as he can with Gilas as that's the only team where he can play freely and showcase his wares. Let us not give up on the kid but the next windows, this NBL season and FIBA WC 2023 is crucial to his NBA chances. He has to demonstrate dominance as all NBA players are DOMINANT in their respective collegiate, national and previous professional teams.

[Sikatrix]

Gak had <2ppg and .5rpg. Shooting down Kai?s chances of getting an invite using these stats as your basis is simply hating. You can do better than that.

Gideon has been called out for his hate before. He likes to see Kai fail for some reason (According to him, annoyed by Kai diehards)

[paliganibossalfrancis]

Gak had <2ppg and .5rpg. Shooting down Kai?s chances of getting an invite using these stats as your basis is simply hating. You can do better than that.

Stats are key indicators of future performance my friend. At this point of Kai's career he should be averaging more or else he risks being demoted to the "oldest professional basketball league in Asia" or be thrown into oblivion in some second rate European team... Juan Gomez de Liano got lucky he still got an opportunity to play in Lithuania despite having a lackluster stint in Japan. These kids who are playing internationally (japan, australia, europe) should make the most out of their contracts as their chances of playing in the Euroleague and the NBA is virtually zero even if they win multiple MVP awards in the PBA.

[DAdmiral]

Feedback is all contextual.
Kai didn't get an invite of any sort in his draft entry year when he was in the US available begging to be invited.
2nd he actually had a lot of exposure Ignite , 8 workouts in front of teams , and the feedback was bad, evidence by the decisions made after

Regardless of the rules , parameters, criteria (e.g. summer league invites) what matters is the level of interest received (feedback after exposure). The Italian Utah player had excellent feedback from Celtics 2015, (he could not be invited to global or Ignite camp cause it wasn't running in 2017 (draft yr), but this does not matter , cause he got good feedback (avg 25 min at 20 and 21 yrs old). This is no way comparable to Kai's lack of positive reviews . Kai's avg 10 min in NBL 3 yrs removed from HS as comparisson ?).

Accuracy of forecast , is reason why I've cited both 10 day contract ceiling (plausible) and explicitly ruled out guaranteed contract as unlikely ( So we know what exactly i'm predicting , not vague ) .
And yes I'm saying based in current situation and trajectory he has a 2 % chance of getting a full guaranteed contract and a reasonable % say 30 to 40 % of getting a 10 day contract in next 5 years ( that's not bad at all)
( regardless if others basis decision are on future events happening ( stars aligned ) which all have a probability of happening or not ) . Note Coaches already know what Kai can do well. ( a 7 '3 with good skill etc , yet still have arrived with an upside trajectory assessment ( note the draft process was about upside assessment ), Kai is not an under the radar international player with little exposure to NBA scouts, He is one of the most exposed 20 year olds to NBA scouts in history actually.

It's very reasonable assessment

on that note I will take NOiNU advise, let people have their alternative views.. and I humbly agree my error and let others have their take .or disagree with my take..

[DAdmiral]

I actually don't know much about Gak to make an intelligent prediction.

Gideon as surprising as it may sound despite Kai's rough 3 years , ( and the negative feedback, which is real: he is really a rejected next star player for last year and this year, confirmed by Kai's camp and NBL personnel literally, and as 3 rd yr pro avg lukewarm #'s ) , i think Kai due to Notoriety and impact he can do for short stretches ( 2 min etc) , i really think it is plausible for him to get a 10 day contract in next 5 years, ( that bar isn't high actually , note 10 % around 60 players secured 10 day contract last season) , to say Kai will be one of those 50 every year to get a 10 day contract is actually plausible. . Really to me a bigger accomplishment is if Kai can be a starter ( 22 min avg) in the league like the NBL, ( which i think is realistic in the next 5 years, -- this is context is nothing to sniff about , that is like best SRP level already , (Zhou type level)

[NOiNU]

Averaging 5 pts and 4 rebs in the NBL sadly ain't even enough for a Summer League call up.

Gak got the Summer league call up not because of his NBL stats but because he impressed in several of his team workouts.

Kai may of had better NBL stats than Gak but he certainly didn't perform well enough in team workouts to warrant even a summer league call up. It was a complete failure for Kai.

First impressions actually do matter. Once teams have a negative opinion on a prospect it is certainly very hard for them to change their assessment.

They just draw a black permanent marker through Kai's name and look for the next prospect.

Precisely my point. You don’t use stats as your basis because it does not tell the whole story. And your pathetic try to cop out of this won’t work. Obviously you were talking about a future SL invite (which is speculative at this point) or else you would have used his last season’s averages. You got burned and you simply have to man up.

Neither you nor me has the final say whether Kai would be invited for a summer league tryout or not. Only time will tell.

[DAdmiral]

BTW a summer league invite on a players none draft year process is not the same as securing one on draft year. Just for context..something when terribly wrong with Kai's workouts

Understand invites in context .

To fly a Euro contracted player for workouts with NBA team or even Team camp roster. (knowing he can withdraw) Is very different in context than a player who is US base in draft process begging to be invited. (who cannot withdraw).

Again feedback received is contextual that indicates the level of interest or lack of

[The_Big_Cat]

I'm actually concerned that he did private workouts but it didn't amount to anything. Especially after the public backlash teams like the Blazers got.

Props also to the 8 NBA teams (Orlando, Lakers, Kings, Blazers, Pacers et al) for giving Sotto the opportunity to showcase himself in the individual pre-draft workouts despite not being rated in the Final Top 60 of any Mock Drafts.

However these individual pre-draft workouts were not fruitful for Sotto as he went undrafted or none of the 30 NBA teams took a chance on him. And did not result in any Summer League offers. My guess is that these workouts only confirms Sottos deficiencies and he is not NBA level.

If Sotto would have gone to the US NCAA route he would have been a sophomore by now. I?ll give him 2 more years to be called up in the NBA.

US NCAA College Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe (17 ppg, 15 rpg, 30 mpg) opted out of the NBA Draft to get better and come back for his 4th year. The same can be said for another US NCAA College Player of the Year Luka Garza (23 ppg, 9 rpgs, 32 mpg) who came back for his 4th year to get better.

[DAdmiral]

I was honestly surprise with Kai's draft process outcome, i was confident he would at least get a summer league invite ( He was literally asking for exposure and even went out to make himself available instead of confirming to play for Gilas, basically saying please give me a chance )

was also surprise he wasn't invited to the G- league elite combine , ( the coaches saw something - either while in Ignite or in his workout process) that was a turn-off.

If you told me prior to NBL season that Kai would be avg less pts this season in the NBL as compared to last , I would say you're lying (yet it happened , i'm sure there are reasons behind it, but still that's damning , not a good look at all)

Given where Kai sits now ( all above are context) , you would have to forgive me if or anyone if they felt Kai's NBA future ( especially getting a full year offer like Landale) really looks bleak and is not got going according to plan or trajectory.

[DAdmiral]

More importantly Kai has yet to prove he can defend the pick and roll at NBL level.

He currently is a complete liability in this area at NBL level. If he doesn't improve this facet of his game it wouldn't matter if he averaged 20 and 10. He would still have zero chance of making the NBA.

i actually have a different view, for a 10 day contract, if you play Kai in short stretches ( 2 min) not enough time for opposing teams to target him in on PNR, and NBA team would add him for notoriety, (1st Pinoy homegrown in NBA game) , Kai does have a reasonable chance for that 10 day call up

[The_Big_Cat]

The concerning thing is Kai's numbers in his second year are actually in decline all across the board.

There is still 60% of the season to go, so hopefully Kai can turn it around.

Right now things are looking pretty grim for Kai and his army of nuthuggers.

Sotto has to show some form of dominance in the NBL like leading his team in rebounding and blocked shots. And the numbers or stats must be substantial to be noticed.

Definitely numbers do matter because its a validation of improvement or regression. And the most important skill he has to develop is to be a defensive switchable center.

[thatweirdguy]

You mean he went undrafted? That's not the end to one's NBA goals right? Apart from not getting drafted no one here can say that the workouts amounted to nothing since we are not privy to the negotiations and developments that happened after the draft. The real piece of information that we have really is from his ex agent Joel Bell but I'm sure not everyone here will accept that especially the haters like Admiral and Gideon.

I mean not even summer league or training camp invite. Is it really that bad? Not really sure if it's Bell's fault as he was supposed to play in a pro am league before being barred by the 36ers. I mean who would reject to Sumner league invites to play in pro am leagues after going undrafted?

[DAdmiral]

^
I've actually heard 1s hand the feedback (not draft process) , but process to recruit him for the NBL, the feedback G- league personnel talked to on how Kai is as a prospect player ( of course any team or league (NBL next star) would do reference checks ) was really not good. I'm sorry if I'm confident of what the perception is on Kai given what I've heard in discussions to tap him . EWP was really on the phone looking for Kai's next team after Ignite fall out.

[DAdmiral]

Heard or overheard?

heard, to be specific I've engaged Kai's handlers (EWP) , spoken to GM that signed kai, was commissioned to look for a prospects for an NBL team (kai was on my list ) , and asked to help do the due diligence reference check on Kai. (among other things includes arranging for conference calls between teams coaches/ managers and Kai's former coaches (in Ignite) . Everything was clear and straightforward direct feedback from the horses months

hello on announcing if people got an an invite, We're obviously referring simply to those who ended up in summer camp rosters ( not confirmation if an invite was made LOL) you're right we don't know or have confirmation if an invite was actually made towards Kai, but that's not what I'm referring to I'm literally just referring to confirmed transactions ( e.g. roster for combine, roster for camp, roster listed summer league etc etc . Kai officially has NO confirmed transaction agreement sign up in the draft process , ( all the others we refer to HAVE) confirmed