NBA Summer League: Top Rookies And Youngsters Show Their Stuff In Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Last week’s NBA Summer League in lovely Las Vegas hosted quite a few well-known players with NBA roster spots already pretty locked up for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, there were many more players playing in Sin City just hoping to show NBA general managers that they deserve a no-frills fully-unguaranteed training camp invite this fall.

I was on the scene throughout the entire 10-day affair, too, as I attempted to unearth some of the more unlikely stories happening in Sin City. And, even though nobody ever expected to see Adam Morrison earn MVP chants ever again, the most random standout from the second weekend of Summer League was the emergence of former Portland Pilots power forward Luke Sikma.

“Winning is always important to me,” Mathis told SB Nation. “Of course development is nearly equally as important, but I coach every game wanting to win.”

Mathis, serving his third stint as the head coach of the Mavericks’ Summer League squad as he continues to gain experience on the NBA bench, knows that every opportunity -- even in Vegas -- is important to the next step in his coaching career as he continues to spend time under the tutelage of head coach Rick Carlisle.

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA Summer League offered up plenty of quality players, and for the most part, we’ve already ran through them with features on the top NBA veterans, rookies that shined and even the free agents that may have earned themselves a roster spot.

Not everyone was outstanding in Sin City, though, and that’s understandable -- players that have never played in the NBA shouldn’t be counted on to tear up the exhibition schedule, especially considering they’re playing against older, more experienced players who are fighting for a roster spot whereas the players listed below are guaranteed to make money playing in the NBA next season regardless of what happened in Vegas.

LAS VEGAS -- There were plenty of known players that stood out at the NBA Summer League -- both as far as this year’s rookie class is concerned as well as the NBA veterans -- but that was sort of to be expected. The fun stuff happens when the random players nobody expects to make an impression stand out.

The majority of the players listed above will likely earn training camp invites if they like or, considering the amount of foreign scouts in attendance, at least earn very good salaries somewhere in Europe or Asia next season.

LAS VEGAS -- It’s truly unfortunate that the NBA Summer League only lasted 10 days, because although it isn’t against NBA-level competition, Vegas is still a fine place to project how well young players are going to be able to translate to the next level.

It’s pretty difficult to say exactly where each of the following players fit in this fold, but the starting five All-Rookie Summer League team is included below.

LAS VEGAS -- You know how they what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, while covering the NBA Summer League over the past 10 days, your’s truly realized that what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas by choice -- the city just allows for too many fun stories that a lot of them don’t quite make it home.

Those that chose to stick out the entire Vegas experience truly were treated to the best of times, the worst of times and -- unfortunately -- even a bit of the blurst of times. Some of the more memorable moments have been brought up below:

For more on the Orlando Pro Summer League and the Las Vegas Summer League, visit this StoryStream.

It’s peculiar that Morrison wasn’t named to the team after a standout week -- especially after garnering MVP chants during his final game on Sunday -- but Selby and Lillard are both worthy of the honor of being named the Most Valuable Player(s).

Selby had already wrapped up co-MVP honors prior to his final game of the week thanks to lighting it up from behind the three-point line. Through four games, the second-year guard had nailed 24 of his 34 attempts from beyond the arc (70.6 percent) while averaging 27.5 points and 2.5 steals prior to the final game of the Summer.

It was a busy Saturday at the Las Vegas Summer League with 14 teams in action. A few of the teams played their final game of Summer League as play from Las Vegas wraps up on Sunday.

Complete scores and stats from Saturday’s action can be found at NBA.com.

That won’t be a problem when the All-NBA Summer League team is concerned but, thankfully for the second-year guard, there’s much more on his his mind as he tries to make himself an integral part of the Grizzlies’ rotation. If his Summer League play is any indication -- he’s averaging 29 points through his team’s first three outings in large part to making 19 of his 26 three-point attempts -- he’s well on his way.

“First of all I just want to give thanks to God because he blessed me with the ability to shoot,” Selby said following Friday’s game. “I’ve just been out here working on my game and now it’s paying off out here.”

Every 2012 Las Vegas Summer League game can be watched on NBA TV or with a subscription to Summer League Broadband. Saturday’s complete schedule can be found below. All times are EDT.

For more on the Orlando Pro Summer League and the Las Vegas Summer League, visit this StoryStream.

The 2012 NBA Summer League continues from Las Vegas on Friday with seven contests, including one featuring the NBA champions’ Summer League team against the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed’s Summer League team.

Every 2012 Las Vegas Summer League game can be watched on NBA TV or with a subscription to Summer League Broadband. Friday’s complete schedule can be found below. All times are Eastern.

With the news coming down shortly before their game, and not yet official, it led to the following awkward incident near the locker room tunnel:

That same conversation then happened with Williams and, following their conversations with the team’s head coach, they left the arena. Johnson was nowhere to be found as far as I could tell, so perhaps he had an early heads up.

That upside showed through when he made his Summer League debut on Wednesday afternoon inside the Cox Pavilion. The 6’11 power forward scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in what was obviously a solid showing for his first professional basketball game.

The most reasoned recap came from under the SB Nation umbrella as our own Brew Hoop posted the following regarding Henson’s offensive game during his NBA Summer League debut.

The 2012 NBA Summer League continues from Las Vegas with seven more games on Thursday. Plenty of big names will be in action, including four of the top six picks from the 2012 NBA draft.

Every 2012 Las Vegas Summer League game can be watched on NBA TV or with a subscription to Summer League Broadband. Thursday’s complete schedule can be found below. All times are Eastern.

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA Summer League is officially at its midpoint, at least in terms of days, meaning those following along have a pretty good idea of what to expect over the remaining five days. Players will play hard, the basketball will be excitingly-sloppy and a few random players will explode with some huge point totals.

Which players are going to go off depends on the team, however, as scouts in the stands -- and even moreso, the agents all over the place -- have noticed that different teams are built to accomplish different things as they play on the campus of UNLV.

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA Summer League features a lot of undrafted free agents and rookies hoping for an opportunity along with the retreads looking for another chance, but the top players thus far this week in Las Vegas have been the second-year players.

Six of the top 10 scorers through the first five days of Summer League were selected in last season’s draft but, due to the lockout, were forced to miss out on playing at the Thomas & Mack Center in 2011. They seem to be making up for lost time just fine, though, and it isn’t surprising anyone.

The 2012 NBA Summer League continues Wednesday, and you should be sure to check out the action, whether to see your team play or get a first look at the 2012 crop of rookies

Here is the full schedule for Wednesday’s Summer League games on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. All times are Eastern.

In other action:

For more on the Orlando Pro Summer League and the Las Vegas Summer League, visit this StoryStream.

The game was called soon after, with the Blazers losing 99-88.

For more on Portland, visit Blazer’s Edge.

Unfortunately, the majority remembers him for all of the wrong reasons.

The 7-foot center out of Colorado, who turns 30 in August, looks like an NBA player due to his blend of skills, size and considerable talents in the low post. That’s a combination very few players possess outside of the NBA, but one that Harrison currently finds himself in, while averaging a rather pedestrian 16 minutes, six points (6-of-8 from the field), five fouls and three rebounds through his current team’s first two games in Vegas.

LAS VEGAS -- NBA Summer League is full of bad basketball but, amidst all of the ugly, there are some players that have shown to be a cut above the rest of the pack. In some cases it was expected -- second-year pros showing improvement and top picks playing as such -- but not everyone starring through Sunday had the resumes that suggested they’d do as they’ve done.

The majority of rosters aren’t conducive to that, either, considering most NBA teams are hoping to give players already under contract a chance to shine as they find out what they can do. The following players have been pretty impressive, though, as they look for a spot in training camps.

The 2012 NBA Summer League continues Monday afternoon at the COX Pavilion and the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Summer League is a great way to see rookies and players trying to make their way onto NBA rosters, including No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis.

NBA Summer League Schedule For Monday, July 16 (all times Eastern)

Ross’ combination of athleticism and ball-handling ability at 6’7 200 allows him to always get a shot off; he’ll just need to work on his recognition of what is and is not a good shot for him.

None of the three could get a shot as easily as Ross, but all showed the type of polish you would want to see from guys with NBA experience in this setting.