NBA Summer League Recap
Which players stood out at the NBA Summer League and what can we expect from them next season?
Advanced statistics used in this article are gathered by ESPN.com, StatMuse.com, and NBA.com.
The NBA is officially on a break until October with the conclusion of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Now we enter the dreadful dead period of no basketball for 3 months. Nonetheless, it was an exciting 10 days of basketball at the NBA 2K23 Las Vegas Summer League that featured top picks and draft steals displaying their talent. The first weekend featured top picks Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr., Chet Holmgren, and Jaden Ivey, but Banchero showed his NBA readiness immediately and was shut down after 3 games.
Smith Jr. struggled in his first two games but then averaged close to 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals per game over the final stretch of Summer League. Chet Holmgren showed out in the Salt Lake City NBA Summer League before playing just three games in Las Vegas. The Thunder had seen enough and shut him down as well. After Jaden Ivey went off for 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in the Pistons’ first game, he then had 11 points and 2 assists in 5 minutes before injuring his ankle in the second game. As the Pistons had seen enough and wanted to take caution, Ivey was shut down from Summer League action as well.
The only top 5 pick that played in every contest was Sacramento Kings Keegan Murray, who quite frankly dominated the competition. Showing off a multi-faceted offensive bag of body control in getting to the rim and drawing fouls while finishing, stepping back, crossing over, and toying with defenders to create space and hitting shots at a high rate, Murray averaged 23.3 points per game on 40 percent shooting from 3PT range. He also averaged 1.3 steals, 7.3 rebounds, and just under 1 block per game displaying the versatility on both ends of the floor that evaluators raved about Murray’s game. I personally would have given Murray Summer League MVP (as you will see at the end of the article when I give my selections) even though the Kings didn’t make the championship.
If there is one takeaway from the top picks after Summer League it is that Murray has to be the favorite to win Rookie of the Year at this point. Both Banchero and Holmgren were fantastic as well but struggled with efficiency at times. Yes, playing in Summer League is a whole different level of play than the beast that is the association, but Murray was extremely efficient from the field and that should translate with better players getting him open shots. Murray will also have arguably the best team (maybe the Pistons will be better) of any of the top 5 picks, and will play meaningful basketball down to the stretch of the season and have better players around him.
Banchero will have to create his own shot a lot and sometimes struggles with creating space from his defenders. Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony are both score first point guards and haven’t shown the ability to create much spacing for their teammates yet. Holmgren will have Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander passing to him and getting him open looks so that is always a positive as well. Nonetheless, Murray will start for the Kings and play 27+ minutes right away as a top option (probably the 3rd option behind Sabonis and Fox) which means his usage could be way higher than anyone at the top of the draft board.
But it wasn’t just the top picks that showed out in the Summer League, as this draft features some incredible depth. JD Davison (picked 53rd by the Celtics) averaged 8.2 assists per game and is only 19 years of age. Cole Swider went undrafted, signed a two-way deal with the Lakers, then proceeded to show off that he’s an insanely productive 3PT marksman (28/53 or 53% from 3PT range in Summer League) and finished 2nd in Kevin Pelton’s WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player) metric in NBA Summer League behind Keegan Murray.
The Lakers have been looking for shooting and Swider needs to play 20 minutes per game already next to LeBron James as he is a perfect fit, certified sniper, and can actually play good defense. Jabari Walker of the Summer League championship-winning Portland Trailblazers finished 4th on Kevin Pelton’s WARP after an extremely efficient showing in Summer League in only 110 total minutes. In the championship game, Walker played 27 minutes and scored 14 points while pulling in 11 boards. The Blazers selected Walker with the 57th pick in the NBA Draft and he is already one of the biggest steals from this class. Walker should even get minutes on the actual NBA team this season as he has proven to play the role of a multi-positional defender, tenacious rebounder, and efficient scorer and those qualities will automatically translate to the NBA level.
Apparently, the Minnesota Timberwolves don’t need any of the first-round picks they sent to the Utah Jazz in the Rudy Gobert deal because they selected both Josh Minott and Wendell Moore Jr. in the second round of the NBA Draft and both selections are already being considered steals by a ton of evaluators including myself. After starting off the Summer League with a dominant performance, Josh Minott continued to show off his extreme athleticism and knack for getting to the rim throughout the rest of the games. Wendell Moore Jr. continued to excel in all aspects of the game showing off defensive versatility and great playmaking and shot creation on the offensive end. Moore Jr. was already going to get serious minutes on the Wolves bench, but Minott is going to possibly demand minutes right away too after originally being seen as a “project” by many evaluators in the draft.
Kenneth Lofton Jr. and Kennedy Chandler both balled for the Grizzlies over the past week and although it was a surprise Chandler was selected in the second round, many evaluators overlooked what Kenneth Lofton Jr. can do. At 6-7 285 pounds, Lofton Jr. is a big body that can use his strength to get to the rim but has arguably the most polished offensive game of any incoming rookie in the NBA with his ability to step back and hit the mid-range, use a multitude of moves to create space and get to the rim, and pass at an elite level as well.
Sure Lofton Jr.’s 3PT shooting needs work but the Zach Randolph comparisons are warranted for sure. They are far from the same player, but the toughness/bully basketball and the smooth mid-range game that they both play with are extremely similar. I still don’t understand how Lofton Jr. went undrafted and I can see him getting minutes for the Grizzlies as a rookie despite being on arguably the deepest team in the NBA. Chandler on the other hand was a pest on the defensive end and created a lot of turnovers. He also showed his great playmaking abilities with 5.2 assists per game and an ability to get guys open looks with his speed and knack at drawing defenders away from the shooters. After signing the largest second-round contract in the history of the NBA, the Grizzlies feel like they got one of the best players in the draft at 38th overall.
NBA Summer League veterans Quentin Grimes, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Cam Thomas all showed out again as Moody averaged 27.5 points per game (in two games), Grimes averaged 23.5 points per game, Thomas averaged 27.4 points per game, Jonathan Kuminga averaged 19.3 points per game, and Josh Giddey averaged 13 points and 8 assists per game. All of these guys dominated Summer League and really had no business being there. I get the argument that most of the guys listed above did not play serious minutes (20+ per game) last season for the NBA team, but Moody and Kuminga didn’t play much because they were on a championship roster, not because they weren’t good enough.
Those guys are way too talented to be playing in Summer League. Then Quentin Grimes, Cam Thomas, and Josh Giddey all played serious minutes for their respective teams last season, yet still went back to Summer League for whatever reason. The Thunder obviously wanted Giddey to get reps with Chet Holmgren, but Giddey put up a triple-double and was just unfair to the competition. They can work on their camaraderie come training camp. Cam Thomas won Summer League MVP last year and will get way more minutes on the Nets this year, yet still was added to the roster for Summer League. Thomas averaged 21 points per game when he started for the Nets last season. Just let that sink in.
Nonetheless, it was an exciting Summer League that showed off the depth of this draft. Congrats to the Portland Trailblazers on winning the 2022 2K23 NBA Summer League and receiving those coveted and new championship rings. I will end this article with my picks for Summer League MVP and the All 1st and 2nd teams.
NBA Summer League MVP: Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
Note: No Paolo Banchero and Moses Moody since they played two games.
All Summer League First Team
PG: Josh Giddey
SG: Quentin Grimes
SF: Cole Swider
PF: Keegan Murray
C: Tari Eason
All Summer League Second Team
PG: JD Davison
SG: Cam Thomas
SF: Trey Murphy III
PF: Kenneth Lofton Jr.
C: Jabari Walker