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NBA Summer League Stars: Which Players Have Shined Brightest So Far in Las Vegas?

Breaking down the best players of NBA Summer League in 2026, from Caleb Wilson to Chaz Lanier.
Liam McKeone|
Caleb Wilson has played great basketball in Las Vegas for the Bulls’ summer league team.
Caleb Wilson has played great basketball in Las Vegas for the Bulls’ summer league team. | Mike Kirschbaum/NBAE/Getty Images

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Chicago BullsCleveland CavaliersLos Angeles LakersMinnesota TimberwolvesDetroit Pistons

The NBA’s annual Summer League exhibition games are taking place in Las Vegas this week. It’s a welcome dose of basketball for those who have been wanting since the end of the NBA Finals in June, as well as a first look at the year’s draft prospects who are looking to change their team’s fortunes once the season officially starts in October.

With how many games are being played and the wide variety of players each team’s roster houses, it can be difficult to keep track of the goings-on in Vegas. To help with that effort, let’s break down some of the best players from 2026 Summer League.

Caleb Wilson, Chicago Bulls

Highly-drafted lottery picks like Wilson are in something of a lose-lose situation when it comes to Summer League. If they play well, it goes largely under the radar because, well, that’s what they’re supposed to do as the top prospects that year’s draft had to offer. If they don’t, it’s the first time they get slapped with the “bust” label by hordes of fans who are always waiting for that opportunity.

Wilson obviously belongs in the former category if he’s on this list. He has been tremendous over three games for the Bulls. But what’s been most impressive is how he’s played well.

Through three Summer League games, Wilson is averaging 24.3 points per game on 50.9% shooting to go with 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. The athleticism on display when the lanky wing takes the floor was overwhelming in college and proved to be equally so against NBA hopefuls in Las Vegas. Wilson can jump through the roof, is a terror in the open floor and the agility is eye-popping from a player his size. Defensively his instincts have been very impressive when combined with those traits, as evidenced by the block numbers. He is rightfully energizing the Chicago fan base in proving he is just as much an outlier an athlete in the pros as he was at UNC to start.

But Wilson, quite unexpectedly, has also been a willing and deadeye shooter from three. With the Tarheels he shot 25.9% from beyond the arc and took 27 attempts in 24 games. It was identified as his big swing skill entering the NBA—and the Summer League returns are incredibly positive. Wilson took 25 threes over the first three Bulls games in Las Vegas and drained 12 of those attempts. As a result he’s quickly become the most entertaining Summer League player to watch. Wilson is flying up and down the court, draining and swatting shots in nearly equal measure with poster dunks to boot.

Wilson won’t shoot 48% from three as a rookie and he won’t make his minutes look nearly as effortless against proven NBA talent. But Chicago couldn’t have hoped for a better showcase of skills from the franchise’s new young star.

Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thomas is this year’s biggest surprise at Las Vegas Summer League. A second-round pick out of Arkansas who represented the Cavaliers’ only selection from the 2026 NBA draft, Thomas averaged 15.6 points per game as a freshman while sharing touches with eventual lottery pick Darius Acuff Jr. There was some reason to believe there was untapped potential but it wasn’t obvious enough for him to go in the first round so he went 34th to Cleveland.

Then he walked onto the court in Summer League and staked his claim as one of the best scorers in Sin City this month. Thomas started with a strong 20-point outing before leveling up to 30 points in his second game, finally exploding for 35 points in his third and most recent contest. He leads all players in Vegas with 28.3 points per game with absurd shooting splits—50% from the field, 46% from three and a clean 100% from the charity stripe. On top of that, he’s adding 2.3 steals per game on the other end.

It’s been a tremendous display of bucket-getting. The best we’ve seen in 2026 Summer League. And while Thomas won’t average 30 points per game in the regular season he’s shown enough skill in Vegas to rightfully think Cleveland might have something here.

Arthur Kaluma, Los Angeles Lakers

Kaluma is a remarkable athlete who spent last season playing with the Lakers’ G League team. In Vegas, he started to show signs of putting things together. He went 5-for-5 from the field to total 18 points in Los Angeles’s first Summer League game before dropping 34 in the second, showcasing an impressive combination of size, skill and touch. Even in his third game, which saw underwhelming scoring numbers, Kaluma hit three of his six three-point attempts.

Kaluma was part of the 2025 draft class but went undrafted after spending his college years at Creighton, Kansas State and Texas. The 25-year-old’s athleticism was never in doubt but he never really managed to translate it to production. With the South Bay Lakers last year he played 26.4 minutes a night and scored 14.6 points. If he can prove he can reliably hit shots and hold his own defensively, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him play with the big league club at some point next year.

Zyon Pullin, Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zyon Pullin shoots the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Zyon Pullin has mostly played in the G League since entering the pros, but could be putting himself on the map during Summer League. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Pullin is averaging over 20 points per game while leading Summer League in assists, which is a tricky balance to strike. Coaches usually try to spread responsibility around the roster in an effort to find out what their players can and cannot do. Great success for those players is oftentimes excelling in one role. But Pullin has been great as both a scorer and a distributor for the Timberwolves in Las Vegas.

The 25-year-old has spent the last two years bouncing around the G League after a successful collegiate career at UC Riverside and Florida. Pullin has played a lot of basketball to this point and it’s shown with Minnesota; he’s averaging 8.3 assists to only 2.3 turnovers. The assist number leads all Summer League players and the turnover number is outstanding considering the sloppy play most Summer League games display, as well as the desperation fringe players such as Pullin feel to show what they can do. Scoring 21.3 points per game isn’t too bad, either, even if the efficiency isn’t that great.

It’s an advantage to be an experienced hand in the chaos of Summer League but it still isn’t easy to rack up the assist numbers Pullin has.

Chaz Lanier, Detroit Pistons

There is exactly one player in Summer League so far averaging double-digit three-point attempts per game. There is also exactly one player who has played more than one game and is averaging at least five three-pointers made per game. That player? Chaz Lanier.

The Pistons’ guard is the hottest flamethrower in Las Vegas this week. He’s taking an even 10 attempts per contest behind the arc and shooting over 50% on those tries, with 5.3 made threes per game. It’s arguably even more remarkable that this production has mostly come in the span of two games. Lanier made one three on six attempts in Detroit’s Summer League opener and proceeded to go on an ludicrous heater, sinking seven treys on Sunday against Cleveland before knocking down eight against New York the following night.

Hot shooting from three isn’t a phenomenon in Summer League, but 15 made three-pointers in a two-game span is the sort of thing only the best shooters in the NBA do. Lanier is doing his best Splash Brothers impression and it’s been an absolute blast to watch.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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