Tag: 2023 Summer League

FTW: 2 OKC Thunder summer league players who should get offered two-way deals

. @ForTheWin argues a pair of undrafted rookies the Thunder signed for summer league should receive two-way deals:

2023 summer league is officially in the books, which means the undrafted rookies and G Leaguer portion of the participants put in their final impressions before teams start to fill out their three two-way spots.

While the Las Vegas extravaganza is known for showcasing the top rookies in their first games with their new teams, the majority of players are there to keep their NBA hopes alive.

With the addition of a third two-way spot, the backend of NBA rosters grew to absorb 30 new players who are on the edge of being in and out of the league.

For The Win’s Bryan Kalbrosky decided to break down the 10 best undrafted rookies who should be offered a two-way spot. The Oklahoma City Thunder have a couple of familiar names in the rankings.

Perhaps the Thunder could offer one or both of these players a two-way spot as only second-round rookie Keyontae Johnson is under a two-way deal.

Hornets rookie Brandon Miller on Victor Wembanyama: ‘He’s like an animal’

No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller had big praise for Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama during a recent chat with Paul George.

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has already caught the attention of his future NBA advesaries after a brief but memorable stint at Las Vegas Summer League. The 19-year-old showcases his defensive prowess, though his offensive game left a little to be desired. Still, it left little doubt that Wembanyama is poised to be a force in the Association.

Charlotte Hornets rookie Brandon Miller said as such on a recent appearance on the show Podcast P with Paul George. The No. 2 overall pick explained what he saw when he matched up with Wembanyama during a Summer League game in early July. Miller had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Wembanyama dropped 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 blocks in a Spurs win.

Just seeing Wembanyama in the flesh was much more memorable than any stat line for Miller.

WATCH: All 14 summer league blocks from Chet Holmgren

Take a look at all 14 summer league blocks from Chet Holmgren in his four games:

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the highlight of their two-week 2023 summer league campaign centered around the return of Chet Holmgren.

The 2022 No. 2 pick returned to the court after missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a Lisfranc injury that required multiple foot surgeries.

In four summer league games spread across both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Holmgren averaged 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and a ludicrous 3.5 blocks. He totaled 14 blocks in his four games.

It’s safe to say Holmgren quickly reminded the league why he went second overall in his draft class with his elite rim protection — something the Thunder lacked last season despite a 40-win campaign.

Thanks to Twitter’s ThunderFocus, here are all 14 blocks from Holmgren in summer league. Expect more of the same in the regular season with highlight reels filled with swats:

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Thunder vs. Spurs summer league: How to watch, broadcast info for Sunday

Thunder vs. Spurs summer league: How to watch, broadcast information for Sunday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the San Antonio Spurs in their summer league finale on Sunday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (2-2) cap off their two-week slate of games in a matchup against the Spurs (2-2), with both teams expected to sit out several key players.

In their last game, the shorthanded Thunder suffered a lopsided loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday. With no Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng led the way with a 17-5-5 line.

Meanwhile, the Spurs couldn’t overcome Ausar Thompson and the Detroit Pistons in a loss.

PHOTOS: Best images from Cason Wallace’s and Keyontae Johnson’s photo shoot

The rookie duo posed for photos with their Thunder uniforms.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in Las Vegas as they play their slate of summer league contests.

The two-week event for the Thunder gives fans a chance to see their new rookies suit up for the first time since being drafted. For OKC, this means getting to see Cason Wallace and Keyontae Johnson in action.

Wallace was drafted with the No. 10 pick and Johnson was taken with the No. 50 pick of the 2023 NBA draft. The duo’s stay in Nevada also includes the opportunity to undergo their first official photo shoot with their new uniforms.

Let’s look at the best photos where Wallace and Johnson posed with their Thunder jerseys.

Player grades: Shorthanded Thunder suffer 105-89 summer league loss to Wizards

Ousmane Dieng highlighted the 16-point loss for the Thunder.

Camping at the top of the key, Ousmane Dieng splashed a catch-and-shoot 3 to highlight a robust third quarter.

The second-year forward headlined the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 105-89 blowout loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday. He finished with a 17-5-5 line. The Thunder played shorthanded as they sat out Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams in the penultimate summer league contest.

“I thought it’s a good lesson for us that you can layer on as much as you want to layer but it always comes down to the foundation,” Thunder summer league coach Kam Woods said on what they could learn from their loss. “If the foundation is not good, none of the other stuff really matters.”

After an impressive win over the Indiana Pacers, the Thunder elected to sit out two of their best summer league participants. Their absence allowed Dieng and others to vacuum up extra possessions. Despite a slow start this game, the 2022 lottery pick strengthened his strong summer league campaign with another solid outing.

Two-way candidate Jared Butler was also another standout for the Thunder. He scored a game-high 22 points on efficient 8-of-14 shooting.

“I just tried to take what the defense was giving me and make simple decisions,” Butler said on his performance.

As a collective though, the Thunder struggled to generate quality offense. OKC shot 33-of-80 (41.2%) from the field but went 14-of-36 (38.9%) from 3. The offensive woes happened within the perimeter, as OKC went just 19-of-44 (43.1%) on 2-pointers without Holmgren and Williams.

The Thunder couldn’t keep up with the Wizards — both on the scoreboard and on the court. An 18-2 fastbreak advantage for the Wizards helped them quickly build a lead as large as 17 points. Washington rapidly created a 28-20 lead following the first quarter. A 27-19 fourth-quarter scoring advantage helped the Wizards seal the result.

Overall, Washington’s offense scored in flurries. The Wizards shot an efficient 36-of-67 (53.7%) from the field and went a sizzling 12-of-21 (57.1%) from 3. The Wizards took 13 fewer shots than the Thunder, but a 21-of-27 (77.8%) day from the free-throw line marginalized the shot-quantity difference.

The Wizards were led by their two most recent lottery picks. 2023 No. 7 pick Bilal Coulibaly had 19 points, three assists, four rebounds and four blocks. After a forgettable rookie season, 2022 No. 10 pick Johnny Davis dominated with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 4-of-8 from 3.

The Thunder dropped to 2-2 in the Las Vegas summer league with the 16-point loss to the Wizards. OKC is scheduled to play one more game against an unknown opponent.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

OKC Thunder add TyTy Washington Jr. to summer league roster

TyTy Washington Jr. will get a chance to play a couple of games with his new team.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder made a late addition to their summer league roster on Friday: TyTy Washington Jr.

The Thunder are scheduled to play two more summer league games, including the Washington Wizards later Friday.

The Thunder officially acquired Washington Jr. in a multi-player trade with the Atlanta Hawks that also landed OKC Usman Garuba, Rudy Gay and a 2026 second-round pick.

With the addition, Washington Jr. will get a couple of summer league games under his belt with his new team. The 21-year-old was drafted No. 29 in the 2022 NBA draft. In 31 games last season with the Houston Rockets, he averaged 4.7 points on 36.3% shooting, 1.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds.

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Thunder vs. Wizards summer league: How to watch, broadcast info for Friday

Thunder vs. Wizards summer league: How to watch, broadcast information for Friday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder play the Washington Wizards in summer league on Friday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Thunder (2-1) are coming off their most impressive performance as Chet Holmgren and Ousmane Dieng highlighted their win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Wizards (1-2) will play for the first time since Tuesday, when they lost to the San Antonio Spurs. Even though he didn’t get a chance to play against his former teammate in Victor Wembanyama, No. 7 pick Bilal Coulibaly had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

It’s unknown if notable Thunder players like Holmgren and Dieng will play this game but with just two summer league games remaining, it’s unlikely they will. Until an official ruling is announced though, they’ll stay in the probable starting lineups.

‘We’re going to have a good time’: Chet Holmgren excited to play with Josh Giddey

“It’s going to be super exciting.”

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After nearly a year, Chet Holmgren made his return to the court in summer league, playing a handful of games throughout the two-week event.

Holmgren quickly reminded folks why he was the 2022 No. 2 pick. In four games, he averaged 16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. Against the Indiana Pacers, he had his best outing yet with 25 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

Holmgren was a force inside of the paint against the Pacers, scoring 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting in that area with a mix of alley-oops, dunks, layups and second-chance points. He also generated a 7-of-8 night from the free-throw line due to his activity below the basket.

Holmgren dominating summer league is exciting in itself — what makes it even more exciting is the fact he’s done it without playing with OKC’s best players.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Lu Dort outgrew summer league and Jalen Williams appeared in just one game this year. This means Holmgren has played with mostly rookies and G League players.

This was evident on Wednesday, where several entry passes missed the mark on a rolling Holmgren, but due to his size, he was able to still catch the ball and finish plays. This likely won’t be as glaring of an issue in the regular season when he’s playing with the aforementioned group of players — especially Giddey.

Following the win, Holmgren was asked about playing with Giddey. Both players shared the court in last year’s summer league, but the third-year guard outgrew the summer event.

That didn’t stop Holmgren from showing his excitement about eventually playing with the tall point guard, stating Giddey makes everybody’s job easier with his superb passing/vision and playmaking abilities.

“It’s going to be super exciting,” Holmgren said. “He unlocks easy points for anybody he’s playing with. He’s got crazy vision. At that size, he can kinda pass over anybody and see over defenses. I’m excited to play with him and we’re going to have a good time.”

Holmgren showed the type of threat he could be in the pick-and-roll working with players like Jared Butler throughout summer league. It’s evident defenses will need to be honest with him as he’s a threat both on the roll and in the pop.

With playmakers such as Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander, the level of difficulty for defending OKC pick-and-rolls will increase tenfold. After years of playing without an actual offensive threat at center, Holmgren is going to dramatically change the dynamics of the Thunder offense.

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Player grades: Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng dominate in 98-87 summer league win over Pacers

The Thunder’s pair of 2022 lottery picks showed out against the Pacers.

Rolling to the basket, Chet Holmgren completed the alley-oop by throwing down a lob pass from Jared Butler early in the second quarter. This was the first of several dunks from the seven-footer in his best summer league performance of the year.

Holmgren’s dominant night highlighted the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 98-87 win over the Indiana Pacers. After sitting the first night of this back-to-back, the 2022 No. 2 pick showed out in what is likely his final summer league game.

“I think (we’re) doing a better job each game of not only competing but carrying some of the stuff over from film,” Thunder summer league coach Kam Woods said about the win.

After sitting out most of their notable players the night before, the Thunder elected to roll them out for what is likely one final time. The Thunder’s two 2022 lottery picks that played didn’t disappoint. Holmgren and Ousmane Dieng turned in their best summer league games. The duo combined for 47 points on 18-of-26 (69.2%) from the field as they steamrolled the Pacers.

“The chemistry was really good in the team. … It was just moving the ball … having fun on the court,” Dieng said about the team’s performance.

The Thunder led the entire night with a lead as large as 17 points. The Thunder entered halftime with a 50-39 lead and lost only two points of that lead by the end of the third quarter.

The Pacers made it interesting in the final frame. They cut OKC’s lead to eight points, but the Thunder answered every threat with mini-runs of their own to keep a healthy distance on the scoreboard.

With several prominent players returning, OKC’s offense returned to robust levels of production. The Thunder shot 40-of-76 (52.6%) from the field — an even more impressive number considering they shot an underwhelming 6-of-24 (25%) from 3.

Led by Holmgren, the Thunder dominated inside of the paint as they outscored the Pacers, 58-34. While the offense was pretty, the Thunder defense was also at its best by limiting Indiana.

The Pacers struggled to generate offense against Holmgren and company. Indiana shot 33-of-87 (37.9%) from the field and went 12-of-38 (31.6%) from 3. The Pacers also committed 11 turnovers to just 17 assists. They even struggled from the free-throw line, where they went an ugly 9-of-19 (47.4%).

“There’s definitely some chemistry and some confidence in my teammates to know I have their back down there by the rim,” Holmgren said. “It gives them more confidence to get up and pressure knowing that if they get beat, I got their back.”

Lottery rookie Jarace Walker stood out for the Pacers. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting and nine rebounds. Second-round rookie Isaiah Wong also had 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and four assists.

The Thunder improve to 2-1 in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Pacers suffered their first defeat and sit 2-1.

If this is truly the final summer league game for most of the notable Thunder players, then they went out with their most impressive performance — both as individuals and as a collective.

Following this 11-point win, the Thunder will play at least two more summer league games. OKC’s next contest will be against the Washington Wizards on Friday, July 14.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.