Tim Cone says Summer League best Plan B for Kai Sotto after NBA Draft snub
Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone is hesitant to apply the hackneyed hoop label to NBA hopeful Kai Sotto.
“He has unique skills,” Cone, who will be in the NBA Summer League to join the Miami Heat coaching staff, said Friday night after his team hit a 75-72 match against the San Miguel Beer brought Gin Kings to the top of the leaderboard.
“He is if I may say – I wouldn’t call him a unicorn, because that’s kind of reserved for [Washington big man Kristaps] Porzingis and now [Oklahoma City draftee] Chet Holmgren – but I’ll call him baby unicorn. He is still developing his skills. He was shot [to make the NBA]. There is no doubt about it,” added Cone.
But to earn that shot, Sotto needed to show up.
“I think the next step for him is to go to a team in the Summer League and have time to play and show his skills,” Cone said. “Someone will find him. If you’re that good, they’ll find you in the NBA. You can’t hide.”
30 NBA teams overcame Sotto in the NBA Draft on Friday (Manila time) in what could be the most anticipated second round of the annual event. But Cone doubled down on what many had said after being snubbed: The draft wasn’t the only platform for Sotto to show off to NBA scouts and coaches.
“[H]I still have a lot of ways to go, as I said. He just needs to explore. It’s never easy. Usually, it’s an opportune time (many things),” the Grand Slam mentor added.
The 7-foot-3-year-old Sotto played a season in Australia with the National Basketball League’s Adelaide 36ers and Cone says that probably kept him hidden most of the time.
“A lot harder to watch [players] from Australia rather than it [to scout players] from North Carolina or in Georgia or UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) or somewhere similar. So they watch the highlights, watch the video, call the coach. But they don’t have full-time NBA scouts out there watching every game like old colleges do [have]’ said Cone.
Handicap
The 20-year-old Sotto also has a huge disability that international prospects like him many years ago did not have.
“What’s really hurting him at this point – like so many guys – is the pandemic. Basically, for a year and a half, you’ve lost normal growth. He wasn’t able to express himself during those key years, to build his momentum, which made things more difficult for him,” he said.
Sotto’s management team had previously abandoned the idea of playing in the Summer League in Las Vegas, but former High School star Ateneo clarified that his agent “missed” and an option like So has not been dropped amid reports that he has received several offers from teams to match their roster.
“I’m sure he will [invited] because someone has to pick him up. It would be great if Miami did the same. That was so poetic,” Cone said. “He can go to [Sacramento] Kings with Jimmy [Alapag]. [It is] very important for him to be able to get into the Summer League and show he can play against the players in the league. There are still NBA boys in the Summer League. Very few, but yes. “
Cone says he has yet to speak to Heat’s close friend and coach Erik Spoelstra about Sotto.
“I haven’t really had a chance, but I’ll go when I get there and go for a morning walk with Spo and be sure to ask about Kai,” Cone said. INQ
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