Spurs' Malaki Branham Ends NBA Summer League With Major Lesson

Spurs rookie Malaki Branham ended his first NBA Summer League on a high note, and received a key lesson along the way.

The San Antonio Spurs did not win often in NBA Summer League action, as they finished with a 1-4 record. With Jeremy Sochan sidelined for all five of their games, they got close look at their late first-round picks from the 2022 NBA Draft.

Malaki Branham, who was selected No. 20 overall in this year's NBA Draft, was impressive for the Summer Spurs. He averaged 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in five appearances. He shot 42.3 percent from beyond the arc on 5.2 attempts per game. 

In the Spurs' Summer League finale, Branham played his best basketball. He scored 18 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead his team to a 90-87 win over the Summer Grizzlies. Four of his five makes from beyond the arc occurred in the final 5:30 of regulation. A key difference? He became more aggressive as a scorer.

“[Branham] being decisive is going to be the key,” Johnson said, via the San Antonio Express-News. “He gets in between sometimes with, ‘Should I drive it? Should I shoot it?’ Or he’s thinking, ‘I missed the last one.’ When you are as versatile and as skilled as he is, you just need to play and be aggressive. ... That’s going to be one of his strengths (3-point shooting), so he needs to try to score.”

A common pattern from Branham was a display of impressive talent but some reluctance to be aggressive. After he converted on his first make from deep in the fourth quarter in the Summer Spurs' finale, Johnson made sure to add some motivational words — inspiring Branham to keep letting it fly.

“I hit one, and he was like, ‘You aren’t going to do it again,’” Branham said. “He just kept talking. It was fun out there. I like when people talk to me, so it’s cool.”

With the Spurs being in the early stage of a rebuilding effort, there is a significant opportunity for Branham to be aggressive and solidify himself going forward.

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