Tag: 2023 Summer League

Kam Woods and David Akinyooye to coach the Thunder’s summer league roster

The Thunder are scheduled to play at least eight summer league games.

It’s going to be a hectic couple of weeks for Oklahoma City Thunder rookies Cason Wallace and Keyontae Johnson.

Following Saturday’s introductory press conference, the rookies will not get much time to get comfortable. Both will play their first summer league games for the Thunder in a week.

The Thunder are scheduled to play at least eight games from July 3-17 at Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Following the press conference, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault confirmed the head coaching duties will be split between G League coach Kam Woods and Thunder assistant David Akinyooye.

Woods completed his first season as the OKC Blue’s head coach this past season. He was an assistant for the Thunder and Blue from 2018 to 2022.

Akinyooye began his coaching career in 2012 and spent the last five years with the Thunder as an assistant.

Wallace and Johson will be joined by second-year players Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng and possibly Chet Holmgren. Several undrafted free agents the Thunder signed following Thursday’s draft will also be on the roster.

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OKC Thunder sign LSU’s KJ Williams to Exhibit 10 deal

The Thunder continue to stay active in undrafted free agency.

The Oklahoma City Thunder continues to add talent to their roster in undrafted free agency. The latest addition is LSU forward KJ Williams, who signed an Exhibit 10 deal, per his Instagram.

The 23-year-old played in five college seasons from 2018 to 2023, where he spent the first four seasons at Murray State. Williams transferred to LSU to play his final season there.

In 33 games last season, Williams averaged 17.7 points on 49% shooting, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He shot 41.1% from 3 on an average of 4.3 attempts.

Williams joins Justice Sueing, Tanner Groves, Caleb McConnell, Adam Flagler and Hunter Maldonado as undrafted free-agent signings by the Thunder. All are expected to play in summer league as they attempt to defy the odds of making OKC’s roster for the start of the season.

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Sam Presti gives update on Chet Holmgren’s summer league availability

While Sam Presti didn’t give a definitive answer, it’s sounding promising.

One of the biggest questions heading into the offseason was Chet Holmgren’s summer league availability.

During his end-of-season press conference, Thunder general manager Sam Presti left the door open on the possibility of Holmgren playing in summer league, which is right around the corner. The Thunder are scheduled to play games at Salt Lake City and Las Vegas from July 3-17.

When asked for an update in the rookie introductory press conference, Presti didn’t give a firm yes or no answer, but it’s sounding more likely than not that Holmgren will play his first game since last year’s summer league.

“It’s our hope he’ll be out there. It’s our expectation. … Chet’s doing great. He’s had a great offseason,” Presti said. “We’re excited for him, but I don’t think anybody is more excited than him.”

Holmgren missed the 2022-23 season recovering from a Lisfranc injury he suffered last year. The Thunder selected him with the No. 2 pick of the 2022 NBA draft.

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Chicago Bulls 2023 Summer League roster: Bulls announce full roster

As Summer League inches closer and closer, let’s take a look at who will be playing for the Chicago Bulls.

The NBA offseason is fully underway, as the 2023 NBA Draft has come and gone, and the Chicago Bulls even made some noise. They traded into the draft, adding a rookie with the 34th pick. Then, after the draft, they made some moves in undrafted free agency, adding to their roster even more.

While Bulls fans won’t get a chance to see those players in action alongside the likes of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan until October, Summer League will provide them an opportunity to show off their skills before then. Every year, Summer League breeds new potential stars, or, at the very least, fun storylines for fans to follow in the depths of July.

But who is playing for the Bulls’ Summer League team this year? Let’s take a look at their roster for Las Vegas this offseason.

Chicago Bulls 2023 summer league schedule and game times in Las Vegas

The Chicago Bulls have released their official 2023 Summer League schedule.

The Chicago Bulls aren’t the youngest team in the league. In fact, Arturas Karnisovas has made his intentions clear: He doesn’t want to rebuild.

They have some younger players on the roster, such as Patrick Williams and Coby White, but the core group in Chicago consists of veteran players looking to win now.

Chicago added some youth through the NBA draft this year. They traded into the second round, picking up Tennessee forward Julian Phillips with the 35th selection. After the draft, they signed UConn center Adama Sanogo to a two-way contract. Fans should get a first look at those guys during the summer leagues.

The Bulls unveiled their summer league schedule recently, listing the dates they will be playing in Las Vegas:

  • Game 1: vs. Toronto Raptors | July 7, 5:30 p.m. CT
  • Game 2: vs. Memphis Grizzlies | July 8, 6:00 p.m. CT
  • Game 3: vs. Sacramento Kings | July 11, 9:00 p.m. CT
  • Game 4: vs. Cleveland Cavaliers | July 13, 2:00 p.m. CT
  • Game  5: TBD | July 15-16, Time TBD

Phillips and Sanogo are expected to play for the Bulls’ summer league team, and it’s fairly safe to assume Dalen Terry will as well since he received very few minutes during his rookie season in Chicago.

As for its schedule, Chicago will have a chance to take a look at some prized  rookies around the league. Among them will be Gradey Dick of the Raptors, GG Jackson of the Grizzlies, Colby Jones of the Kings and Emoni Bates of the Cavaliers.

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Report: Thunder sign Justice Sueing to summer league roster

The Thunder’s summer league roster continues to grow.

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to add players. Following the 2023 NBA draft, they’ve made several undrafted players signings.

One recent addition is Ohio State forward Justice Sueing, per Draft Express’ Jon Chepkevich. The 24-year-old joins the Thunder’s summer league roster, which will play games July 3-17.

Sueing worked out for the Thunder in a pre-draft visit. He played five college seasons — the first two at California and the final three at Ohio State. In 35 games this past college season, he averaged 12.3 points on 42.4% shooting, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He also shot 28.9% from 3 on 2.8 attempts.

Sueing joins Tanner Groves, Caleb McConnell, Adam Flagler and Hunter Maldonado as undrafted free agent signings by the Thunder following their two-player draft haul of Cason Wallace and Keyontae Johnson.

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Report: Thunder sign Hunter Maldonado to summer league roster

Hunter Maldonado spent six college seasons at Wyoming.

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to add undrafted players following the 2023 NBA draft. The latest addition is Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado.

The Thunder signed Maldonado to their summer league roster, per Draft Express’ Jon Chepkevich. He conducted a pre-draft workout for the Thunder.

The 24-year-old spent six college seasons at Wyoming (2017-2023). In 29 games last season, Maldonado averaged 15.6 points on 48.1% shooting, 4.8 rebounds and four assists. He also shot 33.8% from 3 on an average of 2.4 attempts.

Maldonado joins Caleb McConnell and Adam Flagler as undrafted free agent signings by the Thunder following their two-player draft haul of Cason Wallace and Keyontae Johnson.

The Thunder are set to play summer league games July 3-17 at Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

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OKC Thunder’s 2023 Las Vegas Summer League schedule revealed

The first four Las Vegas summer league games for the Thunder were revealed:

The 2023 NBA draft wrapped up on Thursday night, which means teams will get their first shot at seeing their new rookies play in a matter of weeks.

The league announced the schedule for the Las Vegas Summer League on Friday, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing at least five games. The event will take place July 7-17.

Only four games were announced for the Thunder, as their last — and potentially more — games will be played either in the playoffs or in a final fifth game that will be announced based on the results of the first four games.

The Thunder’s four known summer league games include:

  • vs. Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, July 8 at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2
  • vs. Houston Rockets on Tuesday, July 11 at 5:30 p.m. CT on NBA TV
  • vs. Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBA TV
  • vs. Washington Wizards on Friday, July 14 at 4 p.m. CT on ESPNU

These four games will likely include rookies Cason Wallace and Keyontae Johnson and second-year players Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng. It could also mark the return of Chet Holmgren following his season-ending foot injury last year.

The Thunder are participating in the Salt Lake City Summer League from July 3-6, where they will play three consecutive games.

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OKC Thunder’s 2023 Salt Lake City Summer League schedule revealed

The Thunder’s full SLC summer league schedule was revealed:

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play summer league games in the first half of July, with the first batch scheduled to be played in Utah.

The Thunder’s Salt Lake City Summer League schedule was revealed on Sunday: Three games were announced. This will be the second consecutive year the Thunder participate in Utah’s summer league.

Unlike the Las Vegas Summer League, the Utah version consists of only four teams: the Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz. Each team will play each other once.

The Thunder will play the other three teams on the following dates:

  • July 3, 8 p.m. CT — vs. Jazz
  • July 5, 6 p.m. CT — vs. Grizzlies
  • July 6, 6 p.m. CT — vs. 76ers

This trio of games will be the first time fans will be able to watch the Thunder’s newest lottery rookie and possibly Chet Holmgren’s first game back from multiple foot surgeries. Ousmane Dieng and Jalen Williams also confirmed they plan to play in the summer league.

The entire Salt Lake City summer league schedule can be read below:

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After the three games, the Thunder will travel to Las Vegas to play from July 7 to 17.

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Report: Jalen Williams to play in 2023 summer league

Jalen Williams plans to play in Summer League, per @BasketballGuruD

In surprising news, Jalen Williams told BSO’s Daniel Bell that he plans on playing in summer league this year — at least the Salt Lake City version that consists of four teams from July 3 to July 6.

The four teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies.

This will be the second consecutive season the Thunder participated in Utah’s summer league. Thunder general manager Sam Presti confirmed OKC’s attendance during his end-of-season press conference.

Williams is in the midst of being a league media correspondent throughout the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.

The 22-year-old wrapped up an impressive rookie campaign, where he averaged 14.1 points on 52.1% shooting, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 75 games and finished No. 2 in Rookie of the Year voting.

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