2024 NBA Summer League

I gotta say that I'm a little disappointed in the Oklahoma City Thunder for a couple of reasons. First, they waited until the day before their first Summer League game in Salt Lake City to post a roster:

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Second, they refused to extend their marvelous troll job of 2022. That year they drafted 6-5 wing Jalen Williams (Santa Clara) and 6-9 forward Jaylin Williams (Arkansas) to make life difficult for announcers and reporters, and just confuse the rest of us. This year they had a chance to trade up their #12 pick for Colorado's 6-7 forward Cody Williams (Jaden's brother), who was selected by Utah at #10. They also could have signed 6-8 Auburn player Jaylin Williams, an undrafted rookie who instead has an Exhibit 10 deal with Denver.

My guess is that the Thunder were hesitant to trade #12 for #10 this time, because that's exactly what they did last year, when they traded Dereck Lively to Dallas for Cason Wallace. That move came back to bite them when they lost to Dallas in the playoffs, and could have used a center like Lively against the actual Lively. As for Wallace, his head coach Mark Daigneault said last week that he would work out individually and not be on the summer roster. That's an odd choice; Wallace needs the experience at the point now that Josh Giddey has been traded to Chicago.

So no Wallace, and no Nikola Topic, the injured point guard that OKC drafted and kept at #12. Who is on this roster? 2024 picks DIllon Jones and Ajay Mitchell, 2023 pick Keyontae Johnson, and 2022 lottery pick Ousmane Dieng, who hasn't developed as quickly as other Thunder picks from that night, Jalen/Jaylin Williams and Chet Holmgren.

There are two former ACC players here: undrafted rookie Cormac Ryan (UNC) and Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), who is now a free agent after his two-way contract with Detroit Pistons was not renewed.

My favorite odd couple pairing on this roster? Tre Mitchell and Jack Gohlke. Many of us watched with amusement in March as Gohlke hit 10 threes to lead Oakland to an first round upset of Mitchell and Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.

 
moonpie23 said:
man, i just don't get all this hate for bronny......so his dad got him a leg up on a professional career......bronny will be the one that has to make hay out of his opportunity.....this "problem" will adjust itself as time goes on...
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I'm not sure we're "hating", but speaking for myself, I ain't giving him any love. Haven't had one reason to do so.
 
moonpie23 said:
man, i just don't get all this hate for bronny......so his dad got him a leg up on a professional career......bronny will be the one that has to make hay out of his opportunity.....this "problem" will adjust itself as time goes on...
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I don't think anybody hates him. I definitely don't. I just don't care for the insane amount of coverage on him. If he was putting up 30 point games and dominating, then I'm interested, but he's just a G-League player right now.
 
The Toronto Raptors have a summer roster for Las Vegas.

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You'll see all four 2024 draft picks (Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, and Ulrich Chomche) plus former Jayhawks and 1st rounders Gradey Dick (2023) and Ochai Agbaji (2022). Undrafted rookie Joseph Girard III, who played 4 years at Syracuse and a 5th year at Clemson, is the only ACC representative.

Weird to see Drew Timme here, as he's already in this thread for Sacramento. My guess is that he's with the Kings for the California Classic, but joining the Raptors in Las Vegas.
 
The Los Angeles Clippers, the only California team that is NOT playing in the California Classic, have a roster for next week. Once again, former Duke player Dahntay Jones is their summer head coach.

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Their last four draft picks are all here: Cam Christie (2024), Kobe Brown and Jordan Miller (2023), and Moussa Diabate (2022). Miller, who was on Miami's Final Four team a year ago, is the lone ACC player.

As luck would have it, Christie's brother, Max Christie, plays for the crosstown Lakers. The Clippers will play in a new arena, so they won't work in the same building, but there's nothing stopping them from living together. We're in Hollywood, so I'm thinking sitcom: "The Brother from Another Franchise". Coming to ABC's all-new TGIF lineup this fall!
 
Skydog said:
Has there ever been a poorer-fitting DBR username than ‘brevity’? I think not.

And I hasten to add - we readers are lucky this is the case.
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Thanks! I'm like the DBR version of the late pro wrestler-turned-character actor, 6-5 Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr, who played the galactic president in The Fifth Element and the boat convict in The Dark Knight:


My username used to be accurate. Most of my points (and sporks) came from my series of humorous one-line posts. I've become more long-winded in my old age.
 
The Memphis Grizzlies could teach lessons in procrastination, waiting until Sunday afternoon to post a summer roster, about 24 hours before their first game in Salt Lake City. It's not like the team is flying out right now; they've probably been in SLC for a while, and local reporters in Memphis were posting informal lists hours ago, but nothing official came out until recently. The team's website still offers nothing.

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I'm still wondering why the Grizz drafted Zach Edey with the #9 pick. It's widely believed that they were unsuccessful in trading up for Donovan Clingan (who went #7 to Portland), and they were interested in getting a rookie center. Edey is perfectly fine -- he's more battle-tested than Clingan, and he did a little bit better in agility tests at the NBA Combine -- but you can trade down and still get him, along with future picks or something else of value. The Mock Draft Database collects predictions from multiple sources, and there was one who had him at #9. Weird to see the outlier get it exactly right.

I can't question Edey's commitment, though. He gave up a chance to represent Canada and the Olympics because he wanted to focus on his professional career, starting with Summer League. "The work I put in this summer on my body and my game is critical for me to be the best version of myself," he said, and then added, "I must break you."

Also putting in summer work on their bodies: fellow 2024 draft picks Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer, 2023 pick GG Jackson II, and 2022 pick Jake LaRavia (from Wake Forest, and the only ACC player here). That means that former Duke player Matthew Hurt, who played for the Grizzlies last summer, did not return. He played for their G League affiliate last season, and had two 10-day contracts with the main team.
 
brevity said:
The Memphis Grizzlies could teach lessons in procrastination, waiting until Sunday afternoon to post a summer roster, about 24 hours before their first game in Salt Lake City. It's not like the team is flying out right now; they've probably been in SLC for a while, and local reporters in Memphis were posting informal lists hours ago, but nothing official came out until recently. The team's website still offers nothing.

Image


I'm still wondering why the Grizz drafted Zach Edey with the #9 pick. It's widely believed that they were unsuccessful in trading up for Donovan Clingan (who went #7 to Portland), and they were interested in getting a rookie center. Edey is perfectly fine -- he's more battle-tested than Clingan, and he did a little bit better in agility tests at the NBA Combine -- but you can trade down and still get him, along with future picks or something else of value. The Mock Draft Database collects predictions from multiple sources, and there was one who had him at #9. Weird to see the outlier get it exactly right.

I can't question Edey's commitment, though. He gave up a chance to represent Canada and the Olympics because he wanted to focus on his professional career, starting with Summer League. "The work I put in this summer on my body and my game is critical for me to be the best version of myself," he said, and then added, "I must break you."

Also putting in summer work on their bodies: fellow 2024 draft picks Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer, 2023 pick GG Jackson II, and 2022 pick Jake LaRavia (from Wake Forest, and the only ACC player here). That means that former Duke player Matthew Hurt, who played for the Grizzlies last summer, did not return. He played for their G League affiliate last season, and had two 10-day contracts with the main team.
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Loved the drago reference!
 
In past years, the Phoenix Suns could be counted on to put out Summer League rosters that made you say, "Who?" This year's version is a lot more familiar.

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Leading the way are 2024 draft picks Ryan Dunn (Virginia) and Oso Ighodaro (Marquette). 2022 first rounder David Roddy is also here; he played for Memphis but was traded to Phoenix last season. In addition to Dunn, the ACC boasts Georgia Tech's Michael Devoe, FSU's Malik Osborne, and Miami's Isaiah Wong. Devoe had a strong showing for the Blazers last summer after Scoot Henderson was injured.

It’s good to see Phoenix embrace the new (undrafted rookies) rather than their past philosophy of filling the summer roster with journeymen. We’ve got Jalen Bridges (Baylor) and Tyson Walker (Michigan State), both on Duke’s schedule last year, plus the fun-to-say Boo Buie (Northwestern).
 
Bronny has at least 4 years to mold himself into a legitimate NBA player... he might have a bit longer if he his dad winds up being an owner of the Vegas franchise. I'm rooting for the kid and I think he has a decent chance to truly earn his way into a rotation for an NBA squad.
 
Marques is really trying to finish out the San Francisco tournament with an insane block rate.

Among the other storylines of the game besides one guy's absence, Blake Hinson, having already had an excellent shooting display in the opener, decided to focus on fouling in this game and had 7. Ethan Thompson had another good game for the Warriors, who might be interested in guards named Thompson continuity on their roster. The question will be whether he gets a spot on Puerto Rico's Olympic team having missed their qualifying tournament for this event.
 
The Denver Nuggets announced their summer roster at about the same time as the Phoenix Suns, but I'm just now getting around to sharing it.

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Denver's lone pick of 2024, DaRon Holmes II, will make his pro debut alongside 2023 draft picks Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett, and Hunter Tyson. I'm also interested to see how undrafted rookies Trey Alexander and PJ Hall do. There are 3 ACC players: Tyson and Hall went to Clemson, while Armaan Franklin went to Virginia.

Somehow, Grand Canyon also got 2 former players on the same roster, Walter Ellis and Gabe McGlothan. How did it happen? I can't see a connection between the Antelopes and Nuggets. I checked to see if GCU coach Bryce Drew ever played for Denver, but he did not. Speaking of mysterious circumstances...

"What's this? Christian Braun was drafted by the Nuggets a few years back, and now his older brother Parker is playing for the Nuggets in Summer League? Why, this is the most blatant example of nepotism in NBA history!" said Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, maybe. Seriously though, this kind of thing happens. Even the older brother angle has precedent: LiAngelo Ball (the middle child, born after Lonzo but before LaMelo) played on the 2021 and 2022 summer rosters for LaMelo's team, the Charlotte Hornets.
 
brevity said:
In past years, the Phoenix Suns could be counted on to put out Summer League rosters that made you say, "Who?" This year's version is a lot more familiar.


It’s good to see Phoenix embrace the new (undrafted rookies) rather than their past philosophy of filling the summer roster with journeymen. We’ve got Jalen Bridges (Baylor) and Tyson Walker (Michigan State), both on Duke’s schedule last year, plus the fun-to-say Boo Buie (Northwestern).
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If they don’t sign Bol Bol and pair him with Boo Buie imma hold my breath until I turn blue.
 
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