The 2018 NBA Las Vegas Summer League has finally come to a close. How did the 7 former Louisville basketball stars participating perform?
For three weeks in the early part of July, fans who need more than crazy free agency and player movement news, get to settle in on the couch and dive head first into live basketball for several hours a day. With that comes quick judgement, and hot takes on players that usually are far from accurate, but because of the lack of sporting events and news, these take center stage in the sports world.
For the last two weeks, the 2018 NBA Las Vegas Summer League has provided plenty of highlights, story lines, and fun (depending on who you ask) basketball to watch, with several names we all know. Of the 30 teams participating, six of them included former Louisville Cardinals.
Heading into the summer league, I had many thoughts about these former players and a few things to watch for. Would Chinanu Onuaku be ready to take the next step and become a rotation player? Would Ray Spalding be able to play his way onto the Dallas Mavericks roster after being selected in the 2018 NBA Draft? Would any undrafted players like Trey Lewis, Mangok Mathiang, or Jaylen Johnson prove to be capable of playing at the level needed to be on an NBA roster?
We have answers to all of those questions now, as each player played in at least three games for their respective teams, giving us something to breakdown. Let’s take a look at each of their performances and had out some grades.
Thunder: (11 minutes) 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Heat: (10 minutes) 0 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Celtics: DNP-CD
Warriors: (10 minutes) 4 points, 2 rebounds
Raptors: (28 minutes) 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
Suns: (11 minutes) 9 points, 6 rebounds
Bucks: (15 minutes) 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 block
Warriors: (19 minutes) 9 points, 9 rebounds
Bulls: (21 minutes) 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Wizards: (16 minutes) 6 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Warriors: (2 minutes) 0 points
Kings: DNP-CD
Rockets: (1 minute) 0 points
Wizards: (16 minutes) 6 points, 4 rebounds
Lakers: (15 minutes) 2 points, 4 rebounds
Hawks: (18 minutes) 15 points, r rebounds
Hawks: (8 minutes) 4 points
Jazz: (3 minutes) 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block
Spurs: (3 minutes) 0 points, 1 rebound
Pistons: DNP-CD
Magic: (8 minutes) 0 points, 1 block
Kings: (1 minute) 0 points
Thunder: DNP-CD
Jazz: DNP-CD
76ers: (6 minutes) 0 points, 1 block
Blazers: DNP-CD
Pacers: (10 minutes), 6 points, 6 rebounds
Warriors: (15 minutes) 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
Clippers: (16 minutes) 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Nets: (5 minutes) 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 block
Cavaliers: DNP-CD
Spurs: (8 minutes) 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 turnovers
Grizzlies: DNP-Injured
Hawks: (16 minutes) 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers
Blazers: (16 minutes) 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers
Knicks: (14 minutes) 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Heat: (22 minutes) 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers
Grizzlies: (20 minutes) 16 points, 1 rebound
Magic: DNP-CD
Pacers: (2 minutes) 0 points, 1 rebound
Warriors: DNP-CD
Clippers: (22 minutes) 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers
Nets: (28 minutes) 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover
Cavaliers: (32 minutes) 9 point, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Finding the right situation on the right team is as big of a part of the NBA Summer League as your performance on the floor. Guys like Anas Mahmoud, Mangok Mathiang, Jaylen Johnson, and Chinanu Onuaku didn’t get the opportunity to display their skills with their respective teams, which ultimately could have a large impact on them making an NBA roster. While guys like Trey Lewis and Deng Adel, who joined teams with needs at their positions, could end up getting a chance to go to training camp, and at least catch on with an NBA G League team.
Typically you walk away from the LSVL not really “learning” anything about a team or certain players, as there are so many things that could happen over the next few months of the NBA offseason that will dictate who has open roster spots. While there’s nothing guaranteed for any of the guys we’ve talked about, it seems that at least a few could make NBA rosters while others could go on to earn lucrative overseas contracts and continue on in their professional career.
With our sports tanks a little past E, I can say that better days are ahead. We are less than 50 days away from real Louisville sports starting back up.
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