The problem with this thread is that Summer League is not about stats.
Summer league is about how a player moves, and if you can see flashes of what a player can do.
Oh I see... So the 140+ players (42 of which were undrafted semi-pros) who outperformed Hunter did so while not moving or showing flashes? Got it.
If those players failed the eye test it's because you weren't watching them. That's the point.
Definition of outperformed is simply putting up numbers? It's gone over year after year pretty much. Most people get excited based on how a player plays within the offensive sets and how good their intangibles look. Isn't your point that stats are meaningless in the summer league? Doesn't that mean it is possible for a player to put up gaudy stats but understand that the player probably won't find that type of success in the NBA based on
how he put those numbers up?
Hunter moved well off the ball. Understood when to cut and when not to cut. Showed range beyond the 3PT line. He knew when to pass the ball and when to take it to the hoop on a fast break, which is surprisingly a skill a lot of players lack. He showed skills that appear transferable to the NBA regardless of his numbers. I'm sure some of the players who outperformed him stats wise did also, but I like what I saw from Hunter IQ wise, and that's all anyone is saying.
We've had these same conversations with players like Rondo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Jefferson, and Smart now. More often than not if you aren't looking at the numbers, you can tell which players in the summer league will actually have some type of role.
I remember Telfair vs Rondo in the summer league. Telfair and Rondo put up similar numbers if I remember correctly; however, Telfair was doing completely unrealistic things with the ball. He was doing 360, reverse spin no look passes on fastbreaks. Stuff that would never happen in the NBA. Rondo was making simple passes and following the scheme to a key slicing the defense up in the half court. There was a clear difference in their understanding of the game even though they put up similar numbers in the summer league.