2024 NBA Summer League

The longer a team makes us wait for a Summer League roster, the higher our expectations, and the greater the disappointment when it isn’t amazing. Case in point: the New Orleans Pelicans.

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NOLA is giving us recent picks Yves Missi and Antonio Reeves, plus 2023’s Jordan Hawkins. No ACC players, no undrafted rookies, not much else to say.

It’s nice to see G League players perform well in this setting, and if they finally break through, then great. But unless you have an existing attachment to them, they aren’t big draws on announcement day.

28 of 30 NBA teams have now told us who’s playing in Las Vegas. At least Sacramento has a good excuse: they have two squads in the California Classic, which finished today. They’ll probably announce a consolidated team tomorrow.

The New York Knicks have no excuse. Their SB Nation fan site predicted a roster release for last Sunday, but there’s still nothing, with games starting early Friday and the Knicks debuting Saturday. At this late point, if it’s not going to be the best Summer League roster ever, then it’s just embarrassing.
 
Before all the teams head to Vegas, a couple of Kings decided to pick up 7 fouls in Keon Ellis and Mason Jones, but I think that they need a 3rd 7 foul player to help with the slot machines. Justin Edwards picked up 7 fouls in Utah.
 
brevity said:
The New York Knicks have no excuse. Their SB Nation fan site predicted a roster release for last Sunday, but there’s still nothing, with games starting early Friday and the Knicks debuting Saturday. At this late point, if it’s not going to be the best Summer League roster ever, then it’s just embarrassing.
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The rumor is that they haven't announced the roster because the 4 Nova guys are going to play because they feel they need extra reps to develop chemistry. 😜
 
King of Defense said:
Ron Harper Jr. Scottie Pippen Jr. Bronny James. Anyone else feeling old here?
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Daddylawman said:
Talk about feeling old - the Bucks have Vin Baker, Jr, whose father was drafted seven years after I graduated.
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Sorry, but there's no comparison: the 2nd generation player in Summer League who is affecting the most people this year is Jameer Nelson Jr. His father (only 42 years old) peaked in popularity in 2004, when he won National Player of the Year as a senior at St. Joseph's. That's only 20 years ago!

Junior (player bio) wasn't a one-and-done like Bronny James. He completed 5 seasons of eligibility at George Washington, Delaware, and TCU. He made his pro debut with the Spurs this week in the California Classic.

By comparison, Ron Harper (age 60) and Scottie Pippen (age 58) started their NBA careers in 1986 and 1987. It's almost conventional to see their children in the family business. Vin Baker (age 52) played pro ball from 1993-2006, and it was mildly surprising to see his son Vin Baker Jr debut in Summer League last year. His daughter, Carys Baker, is a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech.

LeBron James (age 39) is younger than Jameer Nelson, but there's a low level of shock value because we've witnessed his long career firsthand, and have even been aware of Bronny for a few years.
 
brevity said:
28 of 30 NBA teams have now told us who’s playing in Las Vegas. At least Sacramento has a good excuse: they have two squads in the California Classic, which finished today. They’ll probably announce a consolidated team tomorrow.
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My mistake; the Sacramento Kings unexpectedly announced a Las Vegas roster Wednesday afternoon.

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This was dumb for 2 reasons. First, one of their two squads still had a game to play in the California Classic on Wednesday night. This meant that a few members on that squad -- Jay Nagle, Yves Pons, and Hason Ward -- already knew that their summer was essentially over before tip-off. And what's worse, none of them got to play last night, according to the box score.

Second, one of the guys listed above doesn't even need the spot. As I posted upthread, Drew Timme is on the Toronto Raptors summer roster, and I assumed he would play in NorCal for the Kings and then in Las Vegas with the Raptors. So what's happening here?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1811183286972252173

Cal's Fardaws Aimaq did not make the cut for Vegas, leaving Dane Goodwin of Notre Dame as the lone ACC player. We still have Lindsey Harding (and UNC's Jawad Williams) as assistant coaches.
 
brevity said:
The New York Knicks have no excuse. Their SB Nation fan site predicted a roster release for last Sunday, but there’s still nothing, with games starting early Friday and the Knicks debuting Saturday. At this late point, if it’s not going to be the best Summer League roster ever, then it’s just embarrassing.
Click to expand...
Billy Dat said:
The rumor is that they haven't announced the roster because the 4 Nova guys are going to play because they feel they need extra reps to develop chemistry. 😜
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If they needed the extra time to put together an all-Villanova summer roster, that would have been awesome, and all is forgiven. Alas...

The New York Knicks brought up the rear and gave us a pretty conventional roster that's fine, but not worth the wait. To tap into another DBR thread, I feel like sports fans in the Tri-State area should redirect some of their Daniel Jones hostility toward whoever in the Knicks decided to dedicate their social media toward week-old Mikal Bridges news instead of making their roster announcement.

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It is interesting to see Alex O'Connell, formerly of Duke and more recently of Creighton, resurface here. Those familiar with my Summer League threads from past years know the style convention I use: Duke players get colorful bold text, while Duke's outgoing transfers get conventional bold text. I consider him (and Sixers summer player Jordan Tucker) to be Duke-adjacent, but I'll still cover them.

After lying dormant in 2023, the Knicks were very active in the 2024 draft, making a total of 8 trades in the first and second rounds. They ended up with Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek, Kevin McCullar, and Ariel Hukporti, all of whom are listed above.

From what I can tell, Alan Griffin, who finished his college career at Syracuse, is the only player here the ACC can claim. The Knicks are not currently scheduled to play the Houston Rockets in Vegas, so Alan will not be facing his younger brother, AJ Griffin.

And that's it for the announcements. 30 NBA teams have rosters in place for Las Vegas Summer League, which runs from July 12-22.
 
brevity said:
My mistake; the Sacramento Kings unexpectedly announced a Las Vegas roster Wednesday afternoon.

Image


This was dumb for 2 reasons. First, one of their two squads still had a game to play in the California Classic on Wednesday night. This meant that a few members on that squad -- Jay Nagle, Yves Pons, and Hason Ward -- already knew that their summer was essentially over before tip-off. And what's worse, none of them got to play last night, according to the box score.

Second, one of the guys listed above doesn't even need the spot. As I posted upthread, Drew Timme is on the Toronto Raptors summer roster, and I assumed he would play in NorCal for the Kings and then in Las Vegas with the Raptors. So what's happening here?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1811183286972252173

Cal's Fardaws Aimaq did not make the cut for Vegas, leaving Dane Goodwin of Notre Dame as the lone ACC player. We still have Lindsey Harding (and UNC's Jawad Williams) as assistant coaches.
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That's quite a coach-to-player ratio.
 
I don't know about you guys, but I can never draw conclusions from summer league games....little and half known guys scoring against other little known guys.....maybe I need to pay more attention...
 
budwom said:
I don't know about you guys, but I can never draw conclusions from summer league games....little and half known guys scoring against other little known guys.....maybe I need to pay more attention...
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It's a bit like spring training. Interesting nuggets can be found, but you really need to get into the weeds to know "Is it real, or is it Memorex?"
 
budwom said:
I don't know about you guys, but I can never draw conclusions from summer league games....little and half known guys scoring against other little known guys.....maybe I need to pay more attention...
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I honestly find the on-court product to be worse than college. Which is funny to me, because it's the NBA in name at least and a lot of these players are fresh out of college. It's a combination of the meaninglessness, the lack of a foul cap, the unfamiliarity of the players, and the somewhat misaligned incentives where players are all about me-me-me for their 10 days of, in some cases, one shot at fame and fortune.

I guess I tune in because there isn't much else on during the summer (local baseball, mostly - which is fine, if painful, for a Mets fan). But almost every game I find to be as or more painful than my Mets fandom.

- Chillin
 
budwom said:
I don't know about you guys, but I can never draw conclusions from summer league games....little and half known guys scoring against other little known guys.....maybe I need to pay more attention...
Click to expand...
azzefkram said:
It's a bit like spring training. Interesting nuggets can be found, but you really need to get into the weeds to know "Is it real, or is it Memorex?"
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ChillinDuke said:
I honestly find the on-court product to be worse than college. Which is funny to me, because it's the NBA in name at least and a lot of these players are fresh out of college. It's a combination of the meaninglessness, the lack of a foul cap, the unfamiliarity of the players, and the somewhat misaligned incentives where players are all about me-me-me for their 10 days of, in some cases, one shot at fame and fortune.

I guess I tune in because there isn't much else on during the summer (local baseball, mostly - which is fine, if painful, for a Mets fan). But almost every game I find to be as or more painful than my Mets fandom.

- Chillin
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Summer League is what you make of it, even if what you make of it is nothing at all.

Weirdly, it's not really for the fans. It's televised, and open to the public, if you want to wait in line outside the UNLV arenas in 110-120 degree weather. (It's July in Las Vegas! I used to live there, and I only did Summer League once.) There are certainly prime time showcase games in Thomas & Mack Arena, particularly on opening night, but at 1pm local time in Cox Pavilion, almost half the crowd are NBA scouts and executives.

It's more like an elaborate scrimmage, so it's not surprising that the on-court product can be worse than college. The agendas vary from team to team, and winning the actual game can be a reduced priority. Returning players might make cameo appearances, show their stuff, and sit out the rest of the schedule. Last year the Cleveland Cavaliers won the Summer League title over the Houston Rockets, but the Rockets had already shut down 2nd year players Jabari Smith Jr and Tari Eason after the first 2 games.

In the No Ceilings article about undrafted rookies that I quoted earlier, author Maxwell Baumbach wrote, "I love underdog stories, and I love the margins." That sums it up for me. Summer League can be an early look at rookie star power (like it was for Victor Wembanyama or Paolo Banchero), but it's also about the lesser known newcomers, G League lifers, and random returning veterans who are trying to get noticed.
 
ChillinDuke said:
I guess I tune in because there isn't much else on during the summer (local baseball, mostly - which is fine, if painful, for a Mets fan). But almost every game I find to be as or more painful than my Mets fandom.

- Chillin
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Actually bing a Met fan these days is pretty fun. However, I will enjoy it while it lasts...which usually isn't very long.
 
budwom said:
I don't know about you guys, but I can never draw conclusions from summer league games....little and half known guys scoring against other little known guys.....maybe I need to pay more attention...
Click to expand...

Putting up big numbers in summer league doesn't always mean good things, but struggling badly in summer league pretty much always translates to bad results in the NBA. Bronny's basketball IQ was supposed to be a strong suit, but I'm not seeing it. He doesn't move well without the ball, doesn't space the floor well, ignores open cutting lanes, ball watches a lot, and often gets lost on defense. And he really can't shoot. I'm not seeing any NBA potential, to be honest.
 
kAzE said:
Putting up big numbers in summer league doesn't always mean good things, but struggling badly in summer league pretty much always translates to bad results in the NBA. Bronny's basketball IQ was supposed to be a strong suit, but I'm not seeing it. He doesn't move well without the ball, doesn't space the floor well, ignores open cutting lanes, ball watches a lot, and often gets lost on defense. And he really can't shoot. I'm not seeing any NBA potential, to be honest.
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I remember last year on the Field of 68 Doug Gotlieb before the season said Bonney was a 3-4 yr player at a mid major. After he said it people were shocked. Mostly because he had the balls to say what a lot of people thought but won't. I am not a Gotlieb guy but I like guys who speak the truth rather than guys who are yes men. Bronny is just too small and can't shoot.
 
kAzE said:
Putting up big numbers in summer league doesn't always mean good things, but struggling badly in summer league pretty much always translates to bad results in the NBA. Bronny's basketball IQ was supposed to be a strong suit, but I'm not seeing it. He doesn't move well without the ball, doesn't space the floor well, ignores open cutting lanes, ball watches a lot, and often gets lost on defense. And he really can't shoot. I'm not seeing any NBA potential, to be honest.
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I would think that LeBron would notice these... so no real pressure on Redick... :rolleyes:
 
Accounting for the level of competition but Reed Sheppard looked really good against the Lakers. If I recall, the fanbase twisted Cal's arm to make the offer. Maybe that explains why Cal brought him off the bench all season.
 
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