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NBA Summer League Day 2 Recap: Rookie Class Continues To Impress

Day 2 of NBA Summer League out in Las Vegas, Nevada took place on Friday, July 9. Here is everything that happened in the seven games that were played.

Brett Siegel

NBA Summer League Day 2 Recap: Rookie Class Continues To Impress
NBA Summer League Day 2 Recap: Rookie Class Continues To Impress /

With seven games on the slate, Day 2 of the 2022 NBA Las Vegas Summer League delivered in some big ways.

Not only did the day begin with an overtime thriller between the Chicago Bulls and the Dallas Mavericks, but throughout the course of the seven-game schedule, rookies began to make their mark left and right.

Some second-year players in Moses Moody (Golden State Warriors), Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets) and Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks) really stood out and proved why they should be a part of their team’s rotations heading into the 2022-23 season, but the 2022 draft class continued to impress following the debuts of Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr., Jaden Ivey and others on Thursday night.

Jaden Hardy, Benedict Mathurin, Blake Wesley, Bryce McGowens and Josh Minott are just some of the rookies that were in action and all of them had impressive showings in their first Summer League games.

Here is a game-by-game breakdown of what occurred during Day 2 of Las Vegas Summer League, as well as who the “big winner” of the day was.

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Chicago Bulls 100, Dallas Mavericks 99 F/OT

Starting the day off in Thomas & Mack Center, the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks delivered the thousands of fans on hand with arguably the best game of Summer League through two days.

Rookie Jaden Hardy ended up finishing the game with 28 points on 9-19 shooting, 8-11 from the free-throw line, and he also had 4 rebounds. A 6’4” guard with a “score-first” mentality, Jaden Hardy definitely raised a lot of eyebrows in his first performance with the Mavs.

While the rookie was impressive, so was his teammate A.J. Lawson, who recently played for the Guelph Nighthawks in Canada. Lawson also finished the game with 28 points and was 6-11 from three-point range.

Outscoring the Bulls by 18 points in the second quarter, it looked like Dallas was going to run away with this game, but Chicago hung around in the second-half thanks to Malcolm Hill and Marko Simonovic.

Hill finished the game with 18 points and 6 rebounds, as Simonovic truly carried the Bulls to a win in overtime with 27 points and 13 rebounds, 6 of which came on the offensive-end of the floor. In fact, Marko Simonovic had the game-tying dunk with just over 20 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and then proceeded to hit the game-winning free-throw in overtime.

With the Bulls still searching for frontcourt depth behind All-Star Nikola Vucevic, Simonovic definitely made a case to be the team’s true backup center this upcoming year.

Cleveland Cavaliers 99, San Antonio Spurs 90

The San Antonio Spurs have hit the “reset” button as a franchise and the youth movement for one of the league’s most historic franchises continues. Taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers, this young Spurs team actually played well.

Second-year guard Joshua Primo was the obvious leader on the floor, finishing the game with 20 points on 5-7 shooting from three-point land, and rookie Blake Wesley looked very comfortable in his No. 2 role alongside Primo, also scoring 20 points for the Spurs.

Wesley showcased his scoring abilities, going 7-16 from the floor and 3-4 from three-point range, as well as his passing abilities, dishing out a total of 5 assists.

San Antonio played well, but it was not enough to get past the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were led by second-year guard RJ Nembhard.

Playing last season on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, Nembhard came into Summer League with a chip on his shoulder and he played well on Friday, scoring a team-high 20 points and racking up 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Rookie Ochai Agbaji looked confident out on the perimeter, hitting 4 out of the 9 shots he took from deep and scoring a total of 16 points, and Amar Sylla, an undrafted forward out of Senegal, finished with 19 points on a perfect 7-7 shooting and 8 rebounds.

Seeing Agbaji confident with the ball in his hands was key for the Cavaliers, as they look to better themselves offensively heading into the 2022-23 season. Expect to see the 14th overall pick be integrated into their system immediately.

Indiana Pacers 96, Charlotte Hornets 84

The Charlotte Hornets top draft pick in Mark Williams only played in 19 minutes on Friday, finishing the game with 5 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, but it was second-round pick Bryce McGowens who stole the show for Charlotte.

McGowens, who recently signed a two-way contract with the team, scored 17 points in his Summer League debut and he also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Big man Nick Richards, who is fighting for a roster spot, had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks and LJ Figueroa was also impressive, scoring 16 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting off-the-bench.

On the other side of things, the Indiana Pacers took Game 3 on Day 2 of Summer League thanks to the combo of Bennedict Mathurin and Chris Duarte.

Mathurin closed out his first Summer League game with 23 points on 9-16 shooting and Duarte scored 16 points, 9 of which came from the free-throw line. The Pacers are rebuilding right now, even though they may claim that they are not, and seeing their young guys lead the charge against the Hornets is definitely impressive.

Coming out of Arizona, Mathurin was pegged as one of the top prospects in the 2022 draft class, but many have had questions about his ability to create for himself offensively. He not only looked solid shooting from three-point range, but Bennedict Mathurin was able to convert at the rim and in the paint on five different occasions in this game.

Andrew Nembhard, the No. 31 overall pick in this year’s draft, finished the game with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, as Kendall Brown, the No. 48 overall pick, finished the game with 9 points and 3 steals off-the-bench for Indiana.

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Milwaukee Bucks 94, Brooklyn Nets 90

Having no draft picks in this year’s draft, the Brooklyn Nets have shown up to Summer League with a plethora of second-year talents in Cam Thomas, Kessler Edwards, Day’Ron Sharpe and David Duke Jr.

Edwards struggled to get anything going offensively in this game, but Thomas (31 points) and Duke (22 points) picked up the slack for the Nets. Entering his second-year in the league, Cam Thomas really has a chance to have a massive impact in Brooklyn this upcoming year.

Who knows what will happen with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but no matter if they are on the team or not at the beginning of the year, the Nets are going to be looking to find production from their bench on the offensive-end of the floor.

Thomas had a good showing in Summer League last year and with an even better showing this year, he could truly end up being one of the league’s most improved players, similar to the leap Desmond Bane made with the Memphis Grizzlies after his performances in the 2021 Summer League.

Brooklyn ultimately fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in this one even though they staged a late second-half comeback, outscoring the Bucks 35-22 in the fourth quarter.

Sandro Mamukelashvili and Lindell Wigginton each scored a team-high 17 points and rookie MarJon Beauchamp was fairly impressive, scoring 16 points on 3-6 shooting from three-point range. Beauchamp’s defensive instincts showed in this game, as there were multiple occasions that he rotated correctly, and he was in the right spot as a help defender more times than not. 

Addressing his biggest question mark in regards to three-point shooting, Beauchamp shot well from deep in this game.

An overall solid showing for the rookie, MarJon Beauchamp has a chance to be a sneaky good rotational player for the Milwaukee Bucks out on the perimeter this year. However, he is definitely not a finished product yet and still has a lot of work to do in regards to developing into a more well-rounded player.

New York Knicks 101, Golden State Warriors 88

After the season they just had, at least fans of the New York Knicks can celebrate a Summer League victory!

Finding depth and guys who can contribute off-the-bench will be essential for the Knicks heading into next season and in their first Summer League game, Quentin Grimes, Feron Hunt and Jericho Sims all impressed.

Grimes ended up with a team-high 24 points on 4-14 shooting from three-point range and he also had 8 assists. Hunt finished the game with 17 points and 7 steals, as Sims recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Releasing Taj Gibson on Friday and recently agreeing to a new deal with Jericho Sims, the second-year big man definitely has a chance to see minutes in the Knicks rotations behind both Mitchell Robinson and newly signed Isaiah Hartenstein.

The Knicks’ second-round pick in Trevor Keels really did not get anything going in terms of scoring, as he had just 3 points on 1-8 shooting, but he found other ways to impact the game. Keels ended up with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals in the win.

This Summer League for the Golden State Warriors is all about getting their young guys some more reps, as Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and possibly rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. will all see time off-the-bench during the 2022-23 season with the Warriors look to defend their title.

Damion Lee, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica, Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II are all gone, opening the door for plenty of minutes to be had in Golden State’s second-unit.

Kuminga went just 2-10 from the floor and did not find his rhythm at all in this game against the Knicks, but Moses Moody scored 34 points on 8-13 shooting, 15-17 from the free-throw line. His 34 points are the most points any player has scored in Las Vegas so far!

Jordan Poole really stepped up for the Warriors during this past season and Moses Moody could very well be the next best young talent to rise up and take on a bigger role in The Bay.

Both James Wiseman and Patrick Baldwin Jr. did not play for the Warriors in this game.

Minnesota Timberwolves 85, Denver Nuggets 78

It is going to be very interesting to see how the Minnesota Timberwolves look during the 2022-23 season with their double big man starting lineup consisting of All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.

However, this team’s biggest question mark right now is depth, as the Timberwolves traded away virtually their entire bench to acquire Gobert from the Utah Jazz.

Finding some hidden gems in Summer League is exactly what new President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly intends on doing and against his former franchise on Friday, Connelly and the Timberwolves may have found the steal of this year’s draft.

Josh Minott was a big question mark entering the 2022 NBA Draft and he was being labeled as a very raw talent that has a lot of work to do on both ends of the floor in order to be a factor.

Against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Minott scored a game-high 22 points on 8-15 shooting, 2-3 from three-point range, and also had 10 rebounds. A near 6-foot-9 forward with about a 7-0 wingspan, Josh Minott simply took over this game and was able to get to the basket time-and-time again.

Not having Jarred Vanderbilt anymore at the power-forward spot, Minnesota’s rookie could very well see minutes early on in his career should he have another performance like this in Las Vegas.

For Denver, finding more shooting depth and finding more impactful defenders around MVP Nikola Jokic is key and rookie Christian Braun answered this call on Friday. Braun not only held his own defensively, but he had a team-high 18 points on 8-17 shooting.

In just 16 minutes, second-round pick Ismael Kamagate had a nice showing as well, scoring 6 points and grabbing 7 rebounds off-the-bench. Collin Gillespie, who signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets following the 2022 NBA Draft, also had an all-around solid game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

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Phoenix Suns 104, Los Angeles Lakers 84

The final game of Day 2 had a lot of fans at it and that is because this game featured the Los Angeles Lakers!

During the 2021-22 regular season, the Lakers got swept by the Phoenix Suns in four games and they lost to them yet again in Summer League. Louis King was the leading scorer for the Suns with 20 points and current Suns wing Ishmail Wainright scored 17 points on 5-9 shooting from three-point range.

For the Lakers, Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 19 points and Cole Swider continued to show his worth as a perimeter scorer, finishing the game with 11 points on 3-7 shooting from outside.

Max Christie, Los Angeles’ second-round pick and lone draft pick this year was quiet in his first true Summer League game, scoring just 9 points on 1-6 shooting, 7-8 from the free-throw line.

Day 2’s Biggest Winner: Josh Minott - Minnesota Timberwolves

There were so many great performances during Day 2 of the 2022 NBA Las Vegas Summer League, but given the question marks surrounding him and the fact that he was a second-round pick this year, it is hard not to say that Josh Minott was the biggest winner of the day.

As mentioned earlier, Minott had 22 points on 8-15 shooting and 10 rebounds in Minnesota’s win over Denver. Being able to put the ball on the floor and create for himself is what really stood out about Minott’s game, suddenly making him a key talent to watch the rest of Summer League.

With his size and ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor should he put things together, Josh Minott could very well end up being one of the biggest steals in the 2022 NBA Draft.

This is just one Summer League game though and in regards to his overall development, Minott is still only 19-years-old. Minnesota is definitely pleased with what they saw from their rookie on Friday and now establishing himself as a primary option on the Timberwolves in Las Vegas, it is going to be very interesting to see if this was truly just a “one-hit-wonder” or if Josh Minott is a name many NBA fans will soon know.

So many players made the most of their opportunities during Day 2’s action and it is worth mentioning Cam Thomas, Moses Moody, Marko Simonovic and Jaden Hardy as the day’s top performers as well. In fact, let’s just go ahead and name all four of these guys, along with Josh Minott, to the “All-Summer League Day 2 Team.”

Published
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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