NBA Summer League Day 5 Recap: Trey Murphy III Stands Out
LAS VEGAS - On Monday, only six games were played during Day 5 of Las Vegas Summer League.
Many circled the fourth game of the day featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic, as the thought was that we would see the No. 1 overall pick from this year in Paolo Banchero face off against the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft in Chet Holmgren.
Ultimately, Banchero did not play after playing in the first two games of Summer League for Orlando, but Holmgren did play for the Thunder and made the most of his opportunities.
Outside of the rookie standouts, there were plenty of other headlines made on Monday.
Trey Murphy III and the New Orleans Pelicans made some noise early on in Cox Pavilion and later on, Matt Ryan and the Boston Celtics took care of business in a very high scoring affair with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Summer League keeps getting better and better and heading into Day 6, we should expect nothing less than some more great games being played!
Here is a game-by-game breakdown of what occurred during Day 5 of Las Vegas Summer League, as well as who the “big winner” of the day was.
New Orleans Pelicans 101, Atlanta Hawks 73
The first game of the day was the “Trey Murphy III show,” as the second-year wing for the New Orleans Pelicans recorded 30 points on 10-18 shooting, 3-6 from three-point range. Murphy also had 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block against the Atlanta Hawks.
While they picked up a near 30-point victory, there is more concern for the Pelicans here in Summer League, as second-round pick E.J. Liddell suffered a scary looking knee injury.
Liddell needed help leaving the floor and will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury. This is the second key injury the Pelicans have had to deal with now in Las Vegas, as first-round pick Dyson Daniels suffered a sprained ankle earlier in the week.
Daeqwon Plowden also played well for the Pelicans on Monday, putting up 16 points and 6 rebounds coming off-the-bench.
For the Atlanta Hawks, first-round pick AJ Griffin has yet to play, but the Hawks second-round pick in Tyrese Martin has played.
Against the Pelicans, Martin had 9 points on 4-9 shooting and 3 rebounds in about 24 minutes. It will be interesting to see if Martin gets one of the final roster spots this year for Atlanta or if he will be their second two-way player next to Chaundee Brown.
Speaking of Brown, he registered 14 points, tying Justin Tillman for the team-high in scoring in this game.
Houston Rockets 97, San Antonio Spurs 84
Jabari Smith Jr., the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft by the Houston Rockets, has been a little underwhelming to this point in Summer League. However, Day 5 was his best showing yet, as Smith recorded 19 points on 6-12 shooting and he also recorded 9 total rebounds.
The story of Summer League for the Rockets has not been Jabari Smith Jr. nor fellow first-round pick TyTy Washington, but Tari Eason, who was selected No. 17 overall in this year’s draft by Houston.
Eason recorded a double-double in his first two games in Las Vegas and then in his third game on Monday, Tari Eason recorded yet another double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, finishing the game as the leading scorer.
Second-year guard Josh Christopher finished with 18 points on 6-13 shooting and Daishen Nix finished with 18 points as well.
On the other side of things with Jeremy Sochan out for Summer League due to recently being sick, fellow rookies Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley continued to carry the load for the San Antonio Spurs.
Branham finished this game with a team-high 20 points on 8-18 shooting and Wesley ended the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Undrafted rookie Darius Days played well off-the-bench for the Spurs, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Boston Celtics 111, Milwaukee Bucks 109
The Boston Celtics are searching for depth in Summer League this offseason and they may have already found some heading into the 2022-23 season.
Sam Hauser is a sharpshooter who scored 12 points on 3-7 shooting against the Milwaukee Bucks in this game and Matt Ryan continued to make a name for himself, scoring a team-high 23 points off-the-bench.
Former first-round pick Mfiondu Kabengele continued to impress as an avid rebounder, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds, 7 of which came on the offensive-end of the floor.
For the Bucks, last year’s draft pick and current two-way player Sandro Mamukelashvili continued to play well, scoring 28 points on 9-19 from the floor in this game. Mamukelashvili also had 9 rebounds in this game.
Lindell Wigginton also played well off-the-bench for Milwaukee, as he finished the game with 24 points on 8-13 shooting.
In regards to this year’s draft picks, JD Davison had just 5 points and 6 assists for Boston and first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp had 15 points for Milwaukee.
Oklahoma City Thunder 84, Orlando Magic 81
Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, has quickly become a fan-favorite out in Las Vegas Summer League and for good reason. Between his length and ability to impact the game in many different ways, Holmgren has proven that he is one of the top guys in this year’s draft class.
Against the Orlando Magic on Monday, who were playing without Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Second-year players Aaron Wiggins, Tre Mann and Josh Giddey each had 12 points in this game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Without Banchero, the Magic spread the ball around on the offensive-end of the floor and got a lot of their production from two guys on their bench.
Justin James (16 points) and Tommy Kuhse (14 points) combined to score 30 points off-the-bench for the Magic and Zavier Simpson continued to impress starting in the backcourt.
Simpson finished this game with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals. A very versatile player that can be utilized as a primary facilitator, it would be surprising to see Zavier Simpson remain without a contract after Summer League concludes.
Utah Jazz 83, Dallas Mavericks 82
The Dallas Mavericks did not have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, but they ended up taking a first-round graded prospect with the No. 37 overall pick in the draft.
Jaden Hardy has proven to be a strong-minded, “score-first” type of shooting guard and in Summer League, he has looked like someone who can impact the game off-the-bench for the Mavs right away.
Against the Utah Jazz on Monday, Hardy had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Ultimately, he could not carry Dallas to a victory, as the Jazz barely came away with the win.
Kofi Cockburn, Johnny Juzang and Xavier Sneed each recorded 11 points for Utah and fan-favorite big man Tacko Fall finished the day with a team-high 12 points.
The game’s overall leading scorer was Jerrick Harding, who finished with 18 points on 8-14 shooting off-the-bench for the Mavericks.
Portland Trail Blazers 88, New York Knicks 77
Outrebounding the New York Knicks 49-30, the Portland Trail Blazers were able to close out Day 5 of Summer League with a double-digit victory.
Trendon Watford led the way for Portland with 18 points and 6 rebounds, as second-round pick Jabari Walker really impressed rebounding.
Walker finished the game with 16 points and 13 total rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Keon Johnson, the 21st overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, had 11 points on 3-9 shooting.
Trevor Keels, the New York Knicks lone draft pick from this year has yet to score in double-figures in Summer League, as he had 8 points and 5 rebounds against the Trail Blazers.
Quentin Grimes continues to show out for New York, as Grimes recorded 24 points on 9-17 shooting on Monday. Fellow 2021 draft pick Miles McBride had 16 points on 6-15 shooting.
Day 5’s Biggest Winner: Trey Murphy III - New Orleans Pelicans
The biggest winner from Day 5’s action was featured in the first game of the day between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks.
Trey Murphy III showed flashes of his full potential in Summer League last year, as well as during the 2021-22 regular season. Now, Murphy is looking a lot more comfortable and confident in this year’s Summer League.
Scoring 23 points in the Pelicans’ first game in Las Vegas this summer, Trey Murphy III scored 30 points on 10-18 shooting from the floor, 3-6 from three-point range. He also ended his day with 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
Standing about 6-foot-8 with a near 7-1 wingspan, Murphy checks off all the boxes for being a difference-maker entering the 2022-23 season, especially given that he is a very strong perimeter shooting threat.
If things can begin to click for him defensively, Murphy could very much rise up the Pelicans’ depth chart and be their breakout young star of this upcoming year, similar to how Herb Jones had a breakout rookie campaign.
