There’s record-breaking triple-digit heat all over the country; today lucky me it will return to my area, too. In Las Vegas this time of year, that’s dog-bites-man level news. And so is the presence of NBA talent both on the court and in the stands. Yeppers, it’s the most wonderful time of year again for true hoopheads, as NBA.com Brian Martin reported:
Before the draft picks scatter from Brooklyn to their new homes around the country, they all have one destination on their agenda: participating in NBA Summer League from July 9-19 in Las Vegas, giving hoops-crazed fans a first glimpse at the future of the NBA. A total of 76 games will be played over 11 days in the desert.
But even that hasn’t been enough for the truly addicted among us. When there’s no college sports being played a platform like ESPNU needs fresh content, and even the mother ship has a few nights this time of year when the Savannah Bananas’ schedule has some off dates. So the past week has already seen a couple of somewhat less hell-temperatured venues play host to some of the rising stars and whetted fans’ appetites all the more. And where else but Salt Lake City, where no major league baseball jockeys for attention, and where a host team filled with freshman and second-year talent was just dying to showcase some of them in the hopes of selling a few tickets for the real games, could serve up such a tempting appetizer? SB Nation’s Grant Nielson paid homage:
Jazz fans could not have asked for anything more than what we have seen during the first two games of the Salt Lake City Summer League. On day one, Ace Bailey looked both huge and improved. On day two, Cody Williams flashed confidence and capabilities beyond what we have seen during his first two seasons. And on both days, Darryn Peterson has been electric – spectacular shotmaking and better than expected playmaking combine to paint the picture of the birth of a star.
And Nielson’s ebullience didn’t end there:
(Blake) Hinson began proving himself at the end of last year (to the extent that we couldn’t play him and accomplish our tanking-centric goals), and the Jazz have rewarded him with a two-way contract heading into the 2026-2027 season. That confidence has been rewarded thus far in Salt Lake City Summer League. While he’s not putting up double-take worthy numbers (11 points per game on pedestrian efficiency), he has popped off the screen during his playing time. Reports that he has lost weight and gained muscle over the summer appear accurate, and he’s moving around the court with pace and force. I attended the Jazz game on Saturday versus the Hawks, and my friend, introduced to Hinson’s game for the first time, gave him the nickname of “the trebuchet”, for two reasons – his confidence from downtown, and the reckless abandon that he threw himself into the action while fighting for rebounds. While the nickname may not have much staying power, Blake Hinson might.
And over the actual holiday weekend there was a reminder that there’s still another league franchise within the five New York City boroughs capable of generating clicks. THE NEW YORK POST’ Jake Nisse was hungry enough to devote a substantial part of his BEYOND THE BACK PAGE newsletter this morning to those desperately seeking relevance:
The California Classic summer league kicked off last week, and the Nets quietly have a lot to be pleased with. For one, 2025 lottery pick Egor Dëmin has looked head and shoulders better than his summer league competition. The Russian guard — who has bulked up in a big way since his rookie season — has scored 23 points and grabbed at least seven rebounds in both games thus far. More importantly, he’s getting to the rim with far more ease than before. Dëmin had a promising debut season, averaging 10.3 points and shooting 38.5 percent from 3, but his ceiling needs to be re-evaluated if he can consistently play-make and get downhill, rather than just being a shooter.
The former BYU star is likely to be joined in the lineup by No. 6 overall draft pick Mikel Brown Jr. — who looked tremendous in his debut on Monday. The former Louisville guard, who hadn’t played since Feb. 28, showed impressive bounce and shot creation, including one ridiculous drive, spin and wrap-around assist to fellow rookie Tyler Bilodeau (who has shot the ball well).
During this fortnight raw statistics pretty much take a back seat–the games themselves are often blowouts and the commentary is more typically split-screened with visiting executives and recent free agent signees getting the chance to scout a few of their newscomers. Nevertheless, there are a few upcoming games of note on the two courts that the 76 Vegas games will be spread out among that Martin deemed significant enough to be worthy of shoutouts:
We don’t have to wait long to see one of the marquee matchups of the entire Summer League, as the top two picks in the 2026 NBA Draft — Washington’s AJ Dybantsa and Utah’s Darryn Peterson — will meet in primetime on the opening night of the competition.
This will be our first look at Dybantsa with the Wizards after the 6-foot-9 wing led the NCAA in scoring (25.5 ppg) during his lone season at BYU. Meanwhile, Peterson has already appeared in two games for the Jazz in the Salt Lake City Summer League… posting 28 points in his debut, followed by 25 points and 12 assists in his second game.
And the following night, making their summer league schedule debut, media rookie of the year franchise Prime Video gets a pretty attractive tilt, especially for those in North Carolina sweltering through a major league-less summer:
While the Bulls and Grizzlies do not have a storied NBA rivalry, Duke and North Carolina are a different story. Those schools produced this year’s No. 3 and No. 4 picks in the draft with Duke’s Cameron Boozer going third to Memphis and UNC’s Caleb Wilson going fourth to Chicago. Now, they’ll renew that matchup in Summer League….This matchup will be our first look at Wilson with the Bulls, while Boozer has already appeared in two games for the Grizzlies at Salt Lake City Summer League. His offensive versatility has been on full display, with averages of 16.5 points on 65% shooting (62.5% from 3-point range), 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
The sports void will be especially filled next week while baseball is on its All-Star break and MLS is still on its own World Cup sojourn. The only scores you will be seeing on your bottom line will be the WNBA’s and these. You’ll be able to tell the difference because these will often involve significantly smaller numbers. There’s a lot of talent that will be out there that devoid of a learning curve and against more experienced competition can’t shoot a lick.
But savor it anyway, because once this fortnight is done NBA hoops goes dark until early October when the equally meaningless pre-season tips off. And what happened in Vegas–not to mention Salt Lake City and San Francisco–will have been long forgotten.
Courage…