Sixers: 2022 Summer League and there’s a few guys to watch out for

2022 Summer League and there’s a few guys to watch out for: Trevelin Queen

Trevelin Queen is another talented 3-and-D wing for the Sixers, but in my opinion, this is much more of a home run swing. If he misses, he could miss big and be playing overseas shortly, but his skills are so tantalizing that if he hits he could be a serious scorer off the bench for this team for years to come.

He is a long 6-foot-6 shooting guard/small forward with the ability to handle like a point guard. He played at New Mexico State, where he was the Western Athletic Conference Tournament MVP and a member of the All-WAC Second Team. That team was undersized and not particularly talented, but led by Queen they overachieved and went 25-6, 16-0 in the WAC.

After starting basketball late he seemed “too old” at the age of 23 and went undrafted in 2020 but landed with the Houston Rockets G-League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Last year he stuffed the stat sheet with 25.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.3 steals, and a block in 35 minutes per game.

For his efforts, the Vipers won the G-League Championship and he was named G-League MVP, Finals MVP, First team all-G-League, and First team all-defense. He can do it all, but has often been asked to do too much and will likely thrive in a more specific role.

He can create his own shot off the bounce and create for others and is happy in either role. He has no fear of big moments or big games because the rocky road he took to get here taught him what real stress is and has made him a leader everywhere he has gone.

The numbers suggest that he is merely an average three-point shooter but that is deceiving because he has been asked to be “the man” on teams without spacing, so most of his shots are taken with a hand in his face.

Given any space at all, he has proven the ability to knock down open shots. If he’s this good, why did Houston let him go? Once again, too many people in the NBA value the possibility of youth and ignore late bloomers. At 25 years old, he was deemed to be not part of the Rockets’ new youth movement and they are already trying to figure out what to do with the four players they just added from the Christian Wood trade.

In short, they let him slip away. Out of everyone at Summer League, this guy might just be the one to watch.