The Wrap on Tai Webster’s 2018 Summer League Journey
Last year there were two, this year – with brother Corey doing his thing in China – there is only one. There was almost a second as Isaac Fotu got the eleventh hour buzz from the Boston Celtic but he was already in camp with the Tall Blacks then and kinda had his mind set on playing in Auckland. So Tai Webster, chilling and grilling with the Miami Heat, was the only kiwi at the 2018 NBA Summer League.
Webster was always a good shot at getting back into the Summer League stuff after a fine season in Germany, his first as a pro since finishing up with Nebraska after four years. Playing for Fraport Skyliners he averaged 14.9 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8% from deep and 48.0% from the field. Pretty impressive numbers those, especially the three-point shooting for a dude for whom that hasn’t always been a strength. Those triples came in bundles, he was a streaky shooter in Germany, but that’s no red flag for a young player. It proves he’s got that feather in his cap and can develop. Exactly what he’ll need to do to have a chance at the NBA someday.
With that form and coming off a spell with both the Charlotte Hornets and Golden State Warriors in Summer League last year following on from his numerous pre-draft workouts and showcases, the word back in April was that he was getting interest from EuroLeague and EuroCup teams. It was also said that there were multiple Summer League offers that might come his way. The Euro stuff will still be there later but the NBA dream might only have a year or two to make happen. So he snapped up the chance to play with Miami, meaning a few days of practice sessions, three games in Sacramento and at least five in Las Vegas. A solid two and a half weeks with an NBA franchise.
782 Likes, 29 Comments - Tai Jack Webster I. (@tjawtherula) on Instagram: "💭🏀🏃🏽♂️💨"
Joining him on that Miami roster were Bam Adebayo, the Heat’s first rounder from 2017 (they didn’t have a 2018 pick, which helped things for Tai), as well as last season’s two-way duo Derrick Jones and Derrick Walton and Rashad Vaughn who has played for three teams already at 21 years old. The rest of the squad was made up of desperate rookies all in the same situation as Tai Webster – trying to win an NBA contract. And being the modern NBA there were plenty of guards.
Last year Tai took some time to get going and it wasn’t until he hooked up with the Dubs that he even really got a chance. He actually left the Charlotte side early to join the Warriors as he wasn’t getting a look in. This time wasn’t much different as he sat out the first game in Sacramento as a DNP-Coach’s Decision. He wasn’t the only one either. Five of the 14 man roster all watched from the benches to see the Golden State Warriors win it by 11 on the back of 19 points from Kendrick Nunn. Derrick Jones dropped 24p/11r for Miami but it wasn’t enough. Walton and Vaughn carried most of the point guard duties, although Walton shot 1/12 from the field and 0/9 from 3pt range.
Jonesy continued to dominate in the next two games in Sacramento, top scoring each time with 21 in a win over the Lakers and then 19 as the Heat beat the Kings. Having blasted away the Lakers early, the coaches were able to get plenty more minutes for the rest of the roster and only forward Yante Macon played more minutes off the bench than Tai Webster did here. Only issue was that the bloke shot 1/12 from the field. Made one of his five triples and committed three turnovers. He was a -11 while out there on the court in a game his team won by 15 points, so not the best. It might have been if he’d made his shots but those are the margins when you’re this close to the top.
The following game, against the Kings, he only played four minutes with no points, although he was a +8 in those four mins. That didn’t discourage the coaching staff and Webster got a good 17 minutes in as the Heat commenced their Las Vegas visit, playing one of his better games in a big defeat against New Orleans. The Heat gave regular rests to basically their whole roster along the way which meant no Derrick Jones here but we did witness the emergence of sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, who hit four trebles on the way to 18 points and pretty soon he’d be offered a two-way contract with the Heat for his efforts.
Webster then sat out a narrow defeat against the Charlotte Hornets, a game which featured plenty of Rashad Vaughn, Duncan Robinson, Derrick Walton and Daryl Macon in the guard positions (each playing at least 24 minutes and scoring all four scoring in double figures). However he was first man off the bench when they took on Utah next, playing nine minutes all up. Not his biggest cameo but he logged 1’s in most of the stat columns and also bagged his brightest moment of the whole Summer League experience with this trampoline block on Utah’s Kelan Martin. Get some.
That took us into the playoff brackets and TW had solid enough days in each. Both games, first a narrow win over the Pelicans and then a narrow defeat to the Celtics, saw him log 13 minutes or so with 1/3 shooting. Again nothing dramatic but again consistent output. Other than his two rest games he only had one game in which he played only a minimal amount. Highly doubtful we’re looking at enough to get him into a training camp but with existing interest from some top standard European teams it’s one more step in the right direction.
TAI WEBSTER'S 2018 NBA SUMMER LEAGUE GAME LOGS
The Heat signed Derrick Jones to a two-year contract on the second day of free agency, right at the same time as he came out and began shredding up the Summer League (an ankle injury limited him in Vegas). Robinson took up the vacated two-way deal but then the Heat went and extended 10-day contracts to Daryl Macon and Yante Maten. They also, midway through Vegas as the deadline hit, withdrew any qualifying offer for Derrick Walton which made him a free agent. He continued to play with the Heat but they’re not looking at him for that second two-way anymore. Walton went on to miss what woulda been a buzzer beating game winner in the defeat against Boston.
Maten was never competing with Webster but Walton and Macon were. Each had some really nice moments too and will both get plenty more offers. Macon hasn’t actually signed the 10-day yet as he’s juggling offers from three other NBA teams plus more lucrative and guaranteed overseas deals. It’s tricky with the Heat as they’ve already got most of their roster set for this upcoming season. Not a lot of room for the fringe dudes to impress. 12 players are under guaranteed contract plus Robinson is using up a two-way (which allows for a max of 45 days on the NBA roster). That only leaves three more spaces and one will probably go to Dwyane Wade.
Which is all good, Tai’s still got a burgeoning career in Europe to go back to. Last time he was here he struggled for opportunities to show what he can do. This time he got significant minutes in more games than not. Still couldn’t give them the best of himself but don’t let that overshadow the climb up that learning curve. Tai’s on his way.
Tai Webster’s out there hustling and so is The Niche Cache.
Whack an ad to support the hustle, become a Patron on Patreon to endorse it