First, smaller news: I wrote a Pelicans preview for Defector. I am honored to be on their site, they have built an extremely cool thing. Flock up.

Second, bigger news: Kansas signed former Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, adding a versatile, accomplished veteran to a roster that could use some more depth. We got that, and then some. The Jayhawks have built a team that could contend for a title, and the timing could not be better.

Kaufman-Renn’s inclusion on the roster is not a lock, due to a legal battle that doesn’t feel quite finished. I’ll let that lie for now, and assume he’s playing with the Jayhawks as soon as possible, even if that’s not a safe assumption, at all.

Kaufman-Renn started 147 games at Purdue, delivered a 20ppg season in 24-25, and his rebounding numbers jumped every year. The deep stats are pretty nice. He is not a shooter — he attempted 64 total threes in his career, and was just 2-13 last year. I do not believe he will be asked to shoot to score for Kansas, but I just had to include that, because I still feel like Kansas could use shooting (evergreen).

If TKR is eligible, the starting lineup projects to be something like Council/White/TKR/Stokes/Dawes. That’s playing a little small, however I am hoping that this team would love to be in transition a lot. I liked what I saw from Christian Reeves, the type of center Self loves to lob the ball up to.

LATE NIGHT OBSERVATIONS

Hey, you know, it’s live ball. That’s something, right?

I thought the Jayhawks looked fine. I do not perceive they showed their hand at all, and didn’t really get into anything too complicated. The play was not to be dominated by one player, or another. Here’s the box in case you’d like to follow along.

Going against Division-II Pitt State, Bill Self played a lot of guys and rotated the squad a ton, consistent with his comment that he wants to play a 10-man rotation. We know he won’t do that, so that’s just marketing. I would have to guess that some of the freshman additions might be feeling some “type of way” about adding so many veterans, fresh off legal victories, to the squad late in the game. RIP RHQ, we miss you.

Christian Reeves and Julian Dawes hoovered up boards. Check. Tyran Stokes played with energy befitting a Late Night scrimmage, yet showed what he can do off the dribble. I sincerely hope Self gives Stokes the keys to the offense as early as possible. We simply don’t have the time to do the 20-game trust exercise during this critical Jayhawks season. He is a canny passer, plays with his food, and is the kind of rim shark that can cook in Self’s cutting offense. He got caught ball-watching a few times, and I am positive he was reminded of this.

The speed of everything seemed to overwhelm Leroy Blyden Jr. Returning guard Tre White played actively and showed some polish and poise commensurate with having a good Summer League experience (the Heat wanted him to stay in the org). Kohl Rosario’s shooting is still hypothetical — no one is more pained to report this than I am (posted a -12 in 13 minutes, bid on his game-worn uniform to celebrate the moment forever). Freshman Luke Barnett was chucking it, and I approve (1-6). I have a feeling Dennis Parker, Jr. will be an immediate rotation cog, he was +15 in 15 minutes in the exhibition.

I would love to know more about what kind of offense the Jayhawks are going to run. What they prioritize feels important. This team might need some NBA-lite sets, with switchable actions and moves that require players to make a read on the fly. I’m not sure this team reaches its ceiling with a more structured, paint-touch-forward attack. For all of the (fair) criticism of Self’s stubbornness at times — he even said “I’m a pretty rigid guy” at media day yesterday — he has always adjusted the sliders based on his roster. This one is just more of a puzzle than in years past, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the best closing lineup is different than the starting lineup.

I love Taylen Kinney’s ability, he feels a little reckless on the ball so we might not see meaningful PT for him for a minute. Davion Adkins feels like the odd man out here. Who’s the point guard? A few questions remain. But speaking of answers…

…another exhibition game tonight against Flory and Louisville. RCJH.