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NBA Announces Summer League Accolades And Awards

On Monday, July 18, the NBA announced the recipient of the Summer League MVP award, as well as the All-Summer League First and Second Teams.

Brett Siegel

NBA Announces Summer League Accolades And Awards
NBA Announces Summer League Accolades And Awards /

NBA Summer League in Las Vegas has become one of the biggest events on the NBA calendar each and every year and it is the perfect spectacle for every fan of basketball worldwide.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people travel out to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch Summer League in person and it has truly turned into much more than just sitting and watching the games itself.

From NBA legends taking pictures with fans out on the concourse to current stars of the game showing up to watch their team’s young cores, NBA Summer League is just a fun, laid back event that truly captures the feeling of what it means to love the game of basketball.

This year, the Portland Trail Blazers came away as the champions of Summer League, finishing with a 4-1 record and defeating the New York Knicks in the 85-77 final.

First overall pick Paolo Banchero showed out for the Orlando Magic, second overall pick Chet Holmgren captivated the crowd every night for the Oklahoma City Thunder, fourth overall pick Keegan Murray gave Sacramento Kings fans something to cheer about for once and so many other storylines came out of Las Vegas over the last two weeks of action.

With Summer League wrapping up play on Sunday, July 17, the league recently announced the recipients of this year’s Summer League honors, starting with the Most Valuable Player.

Sacramento Kings rookie Keegan Murray was named the Most Valuable Player of NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022 and rightfully so.

Over the course of four games in Las Vegas, Murray averaged 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 50.0% from the field and 40.0% from three-point range.

No matter who was guarding him or where he was on the floor, Keegan Murray did his job and proved that he could very well end up being the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year, possibly helping take the Kings back to the playoffs for the first-time since 2006 in the process!

As for the All-Summer League First Team, Keegan Murray was obviously on this list, as were Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks), Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets), Tari Eason (Houston Rockets) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (Milwaukee Bucks).

Grimes is heading into his second season in the league after being drafted 25th overall last year by the New York Knicks and he showcased his scoring abilities, averaging 22.6 points per game, the fifth-best mark in Summer League this year. Thomas, the 27th overall pick last year, finished second in scoring.

Eason, drafted 17th overall this year, averaged 17.2 points per game and he averaged 10.4 rebounds per game, being one of five players to average double-digit rebounds in Summer League this year. Mamukelashvili was drafted in the second-round last year and continues to grow into a versatile big man who can do a lot of things on both ends for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The All-Summer League Second Team included: Lindell Wigginton (Milwaukee Bucks), Benedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies), Trendon Watford (Portland Trail Blazers) and Marko Simonovic (Chicago Bulls).

Wigginton was one of the better scorers in Las Vegas, averaging 18.2 points per game and Mathurin was one of the rookie standouts. Benedict Mathurin only played in three games, but he averaged 19.3 points and shot 48.8% from the floor, proving that he could be the next big thing for the Indiana Pacers.

Aldama played in four games for the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 16.8 points per game and he scored 31 points in one of these games. Watford helped lead the Portland Trail Blazers to the Summer League Championship and after winning this game, he was named the Championship Game MVP. Simonovic, the 44th pick in 2020, averaged 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Chicago Bulls.

Another successful Summer League has come and gone, which means things will quiet down in the NBA for a little bit as teams around the league fill the back-halves of their roster with minimum contract players.

We will still be dealing with trade rumors pertaining to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell over the next several weeks, but every team now is on a straight-line trajectory for preseason mini-camp ahead of the start of the 2022-23 season! 

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Brett Siegel
BRETT SIEGEL

Brett Siegel worked with Fastbreak on FanNation until May 2023 as a credentialed NBA journalist after previously covering the NBA for NBA Analysis Network and working with Louisville Basketball. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.

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