UCLA Basketball: Amari Bailey Outplays Lottery Pick Teammate in 2nd Summer League Game
UCLA Bruins fans have been in for quite the treat these past couple of days as two key players for their 2022-2023 roster have now played in two summer league games for their respective NBA teams in Jaime Jaquez and Amari Bailey. We knew Jaquez was going to get a ton of opportunities right away seeing that he was a first round pick made by the Miami Heat and dropped a smooth 22 points in his debut but followed up with a four point performance on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings.
Bailey, on the other hand, started off his career with the Charlotte Hornets a bit slow as he recorded just six points in his debut but last night, he had a team-high 17 points to go with four rebounds. The southpaw guard even outscored his teammate Brandon Miller who was the number two pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Even though the Hornets lost 98-83 to the Golden State Warriors, Bailey was able to really find his rhythm off the bench and went six for nine from the field while making all five of his free throws. He continues to thrive in transition as he fills his lane perfectly and is usually able to finish at the rim.
One play that stood out to me in particular was in the fourth quarter with about eight minutes left where Nick Smith Jr started dribbling in Bailey's direction and with no defender in front of him, he made a hard cut which led to an easy floater.
However, this play also highlighted one of the former UCLA guard's weaknesses as despite no defender on him at the three-point line, he opted to go in for a two. Bailey did not attempt a single three this game so we'll have to see if he gets comfortable on that end as well.
We'll see him back in action on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs!
