Summer Basketball Starts Monday Night With 5 Games in Sacramento, Salt Lake City

Several NBA first-round draft picks start to get their first taste of NBA basketball this week, with summer leagues starting in Sacramento and Salt Lake City on Monday night. There are also games on Wednesday and Thursday before the huge 76-game Las Vegas summer league takes center stage from July 7-17.

Updated Tuesday, July 4, 2023 at 7:05 a.m. ET

Just like that, we've got more NBA basketball to watch. Two weeks of summer league action gets underway on Monday night, with three games in Sacramento, Calif., and two more in Salt Lake City, Utah, with all of them televised nationally.

Summer leagues games are played with 10-minute quarters, limited timeouts and modified rules, including increased personal and team foul limits.

There are six teams playing in Sacramento, with tripleheaders on Monday and Wednesday night. Participating teams are Sacramento, San Antonio, Golden State, Miami, Charlotte and the Los Angeles Lakers.

No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama is not a part of San Antonio's team in Sacramento, but he is expected to play later in the week when all 30 NBA teams gather for at last five games in Las Vegas from July 7-17. No 2 overall pick Brandon Miller from Alabama is on Charlotte's roster for the Sacramento games. 

Charlotte also boasts rookie Nick Smith Jr., Amari Bailey and James Nnaji on their roster. Lakers draft picks Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana) and Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine) are playing, as are Golden State's two picks, guard Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara) and forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana). Also making their pro debuts are Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA) for the Heat,  Sidy Cissoko for the Spurs, and Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson for the Kings.

Some second-year players are competing as well, including Sacramento’s Keegan Murray of Iowa, who was the MVP of last year's summer league in Las Vegas. Other second-year players competing are Max Christie and Scotty Pippen Jr. from the Lakers, Blake Wesley from the Spurs, Nikola Jovic for the Heat, and Mark Williams, Kai Jones and Bryce McGowens for the Hornets.

In Salt Lake City, the four teams there — Utah, Philadelphia, Memphis and Oklahoma City — will play a round robin over three nights.

For Oklahoma City, former Gonzaga star Chet Holmgren – the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft – will play this week. He suffered a foot injury last summer that ended his rookie season before it started. Jalen Williams, a 2022-23 All-Rookie First Team selection, will also play for the Thunder.

The Jazz have all three of their first-round picks playing at home this week. Local fans will be able to see No. 9 overall picks Taylor Hendricks, No. 16 Keyonte George and No. 28 Brice Sensabaugh of Ohio State. 

Here's the schedule for the Sacramento and Salt Lake City games:

Golden 1 Center, Sacramento

• MONDAY'S RESULTS
• Miami Heat 107, Los Angeles Lakers 90
• San Antonio Spurs 98, Charlotte Hornets 77
• Sacramento Kings 100, Golden State Warriors 94  

• WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
• Golden State Warriors vs. Charlotte Hornets, 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2 
• San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN 
• Miami Heat vs. Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

Delta Center, Salt Lake City

• MONDAY'S RESULTS
• Memphis Grizzlies 94, Philadelphia 76ers 92 
• Oklahoma City Thunder 95, Utah Jazz 85 

• WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
• Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7 p.m. ET. TV: NBA-TV
• Philadelphia 76ers vs. Utah Jazz, 9 p.m. ET. TV: NBA-TV.

• THURSDAY'SGAMES 
• Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2
• Memphis Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz, 9 p.m. ET. TV: NBA-TV