NBA Summer League Standouts: Day 8 Recap
Entering the final few days of this offseason’s Las Vegas Summer League, teams are continuing to get a better idea of what their young cores are looking like.
In addition, every franchise around the league is still evaluating players participating in Summer League not only to see if they would like to add them to their G League rosters, but to see if they would potentially fit in with their actual NBA roster on a two-way contract.
While there have been quite a few rookies to make a name for themselves out in Las Vegas this summer, there have been a lot of experienced second-, third- and fourth-year players to put together impressive performances.
Day 8 of this year’s Las Vegas Summer League took place on Thursday, July 14 and here are some of the key names that stood out amongst the rest.
JD Davison - Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics had just one draft pick this year and they used their mid second-round pick on JD Davison out of Alabama.
A young crafty ball-handler, Davison struggled in his first handful of games out in Las Vegas, scoring just a combined 20 points on 6-24 (25%) shooting from the floor through his first three games.
In his fourth game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, JD Davison dropped 28 points on 9-14 shooting, 4-6 from three-point range, and he also recorded 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals.
Depth has been a big problem for years in Boston and after making it all the way to the NBA Finals this past season, the Celtics have seemed to turn their attention to building their bench this offseason.
The Celtics traded for Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers, they re-signed sharpshooter Sam Hauser out on the wing and now, Boston is continuing to address their backcourt depth with JD Davison.
The 53rd overall pick in this year’s draft has already signed a two-way deal with the Celtics and it will be interesting to see if they look to get him integrated in their rotations early on in the year.
An avid passer who has the skill to be a pure scoring weapon, Davison is an intriguing rookie to keep an eye on from the 2022 draft class.
Blake Wesley - San Antonio Spurs
One of the rookies that has stood out the most to me over the course of Las Vegas Summer League has been Blake Wesley with the San Antonio Spurs.
Entering the 2022-23 season, the Spurs are going to be rebuilding and after trading Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio has minutes to be had in their backcourt.
Fellow rookie Malaki Branham and 2020 second-round pick Tre Jones will see time in the backcourt, but Blake Wesley has a chance to be an All-Rookie type of performer at the point guard/shooting guard position in San Antonio.
Through his first three Summer League games, Wesley was averaging 18.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. In his fourth game against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, Wesley had 20 points on 8-17 shooting and he also had 6 assists.
His explosive first step and ability to get to the rim offensively is what makes Blake Wesley an impressive looking rookie and being comfortable with the ball in his hands is what really sticks out about the young guard’s game.
The Spurs are going to be taking a lot of time to develop the young talents on their roster this upcoming year and we should expect Wesley to get a lot of playing time early on in his career as a result.
Cam Thomas - Brooklyn Nets
Who knows what is going to happen with the Brooklyn Nets in regards to their two superstars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
No matter what though, the Nets are going to need new depth to step up and they are going to be looking for production from their youth. Day’Ron Sharpe, Kessler Edwards and David Duke Jr. could all wind up seeing minutes next year, but Cam Thomas needs to emerge as a key scoring weapon for them.
We saw glimpses of Thomas’ effectiveness on the offensive-end of the floor during his rookie year and after a stellar 2021 Summer League, Cam Thomas has once again dominated in Las Vegas this year.
Scoring at least 26 points in each of his first three games this summer, Thomas scored another 26 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves during Day 8’s action and he did so on 7-16 shooting, 4-8 from three-point range.
He now leads all players in Summer League in scoring (28.0) and his 18.8 shot attempts per game also leads all players in Las Vegas.
If he can continue to mature and learn to play off of his team’s stars, Cam Thomas could wind up being one of the breakout stars of the 2022-23 season.
Moses Wright - Dallas Mavericks
One of the more underrated names participating in Summer League year is Moses Wright.
Going undrafted last year, Wright was the 2021 ACC Player of the Year at Wake Forest and spent time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and Texas Legends in the G League during the 2021-22 season.
A strong, low-post forward that has the ability to potentially be a “small-ball” center in today’s league, Wright has showcased his rebounding instincts in Las Vegas and he had a big day on Thursday.
Scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against the Milwaukee Bucks during Day 8 of Summer League, Moses Wright drew a lot of attention in this game.
He may not be the most effective player, nor a high-impact player, but Wright understands his role in this league and he can be a terrific complimentary bench player for many teams.
Getting to the basket and being a high-percentage finisher in the paint, the Mavericks could look to bring Moses Wright back on a two-way contract this upcoming year.
