Welcome back everyone! After just over two weeks, the NBA Summer League has concluded. This year’s was by far one of the most entertaining on record.
Bronny James, son of the all time great Lebron James (no way, Bronny is Bron’s son??), had all eyes on him, despite being drafted with the 55th pick overall (out of 58) by the Los Angeles Lakers. Bronny started out VERY slow, shooting 7/31 overall, with an 0/15 mark from the 3pt line, but was able to turn it around with some performances in his final two games, shooting 10/21 from overall and 3/8 from downtown. The media was all over Bronny, to no one’s surprise, but one other overhyped player PERHAPS deserved a bit more attention.
Alex Sarr, the #2 overall pick selected by the Washington Wizards, had an awful start to his NBA career. He shot 9/47 all together, averaging just 5.5 ppg and 11% from 3. He even produced a terrible 0/15 shooting night against the Portland Trailblazers, getting thoroughly handled by another lottery pick named Donavan Clingan. Chalk it up to being under developed physically and struggling with the chaos of summer league, but the Wizards certainly have work to do before their future star is ready to dominate.
Now for the Cougs!
Mouhamed Gueye, the 39th pick of the 2023 draft, continued his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks, but came in with a noticeably different demeanor and attitude for year two of Summer League. Big Mo had become one of the leaders of the team, and seemed to be the floor general guiding rookies where to go from end to end. His confidence wasn’t the only thing improved upon, as he showed even greater shooting ability, knocking down threes and fadeaway jumpers with a high degree of difficulty, making it look easy. Sadly, his showing was cut short in his 3rd game against the Lakers, where he was undercut and fouled hard by a reckless Lakers rookie. He left the game with a hip contusion and did not return. HOWEVER, he looks to be developing quickly and I think will surely see minutes on the big stage this next year. Go Mo!
Isaac Jones, an undrafted Coug, signed a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings shortly after this year’s draft. He played in multiple games this summer for the Kings, becoming a starter in the rotation once it began. Isaac logged some awesome performances in many of his games, frequently throwing down haymakers, meeting a foe at the summit for a “not so polite” rejection, blocking a bloke from behind to erase a silly layup attempt, recording a DOUBLE DOUBLE, and swishing some surprisingly smooth 3s (Unfortunately not seen during his Wazzu tenure)! Often playing alongside aggressive scorers, Isaac capitalized on his chances efficiently and often without showing any emotion, as per usual. Really hoping to see a larger contract come out for him sometime soon, however he will most likely see significant time in the G-League, as the Kings are nearly primed for a deep playoff run already with the stars they have.
Jaylen Wells, also drafted 39th overall (like Big Mo the year prior), went to the Memphis Grizzlies and signed a 4 year, $7.9 million contract with the first two years guaranteed. He was joined by two other picks in this year’s draft, one being 7-foot Zach Edey and an NCAA champ named Cam Spencer. Jaylen started just a little off in his Summer League debut with the team, but flipped a switch in the second game without Zach Edey, dropping in a halftime buzzer beater, a 4 point play (sound familiar Cougs?), an IMPOSSIBLE and-1, and a game winning tear dropper to beat the clock yet again to finish with a game-high 27 points. Just an absurd performance— One Coug fans have been blessed with before, and knew that they would see again. That time came in the semi-finals game last Sunday, where the undefeated Grizzlies needed a BIG night from someone, that someone being Jaylen Bucket (not his actual middle name) Wells. He was practically unstoppable, shooting 9/12 from the floor and hitting SIX out of SEVEN threes, with 4 made without missing. He added 4/4 from the free throw line to complete a masterful performance on the second biggest stage in Summer League.
His final game in the championship game unfortunately didn’t go as well, most likely due to the Miami Heat gameplanning to keep the ball out of Jaylen’s hands. He only got up 8 shots, and was subjected to multiple instances of NBA style foul-baiting. Despite that, Jaylen still had some big moments, namely hitting ANOTHER 4 point play, which I found quite disrespectful to Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson (landed on top of Jaylen that day) who were subjected to that on Neon Night and surely relive it every evening (as do I). He also took an extremely high IQ charge with 4 seconds to go to force Miami to go into overtime with the Grizzlies, which I will say is even MORE impressive, considering he had 5 out of 6 fouls already. Unfortunately, it was just not his night, as Pelle Larsson baited Jaylen into a quick foul and he was forced out of the game prematurely in OT.
The Grizzlies have a phenomenal player development program, so I believe Jaylen will see real minutes at the next level, which is just unbelievable to imagine. Mentioned by his Sanoma State head coach, Jaylen has the ability to learn everything from everyone, and just absorb all the knowledge he can at every level— One of the reasons why I really do see him being a special player!
ALRIGHT, that’s all from me yapping away about our young Cougs this week. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week and GO COUGS!