Summer league buzz: Bronny, Brunson and second-apron aftermath
The first week of NBA summer league in Las Vegas has been filled with exciting rookie debuts, young players looking to secure roster spots and plenty of chatter surrounding the biggest storylines.
From prospects dispelling the “bad draft class” moniker to second-round pick Bronny James hitting the court, the summer league start has had plenty of highlights.
Beyond draft narratives, plenty of other NBA storylines have unfolded. Our NBA insiders have been on site to talk to front office staff as well as scouts as the future of the league performs in Vegas.
Future contracts, the destination of a former MVP and the two-day draft concept were all discussed as the second week of summer league nears.
What was the talk of the tournament? Our insiders have you covered.
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Reed Sheppard hits the layup off the wrong foot
Reed Sheppard hits the layup off the wrong foot.
Worst NBA draft class ever? Not so fast
The lead-up to the 2024 NBA draft was filled with talk of a weak class, including some pundits calling it the worst of all time.
Although that thought was always viewed as a stretch in talking with league scouts who have closely evaluated this group, that notion has proved to be completely overblown based on what we’ve seen on the courts in Las Vegas.
“I was never in the group of people that thought this was a historically bad class,” one NBA executive told ESPN this week. “Young players nowadays are so specialized from an early age and so exposed to high-level training and competition against their peers and college and NBA players. … None of these guys are afraid of NBA players anymore because they’ve matched up against them in open gyms for years. The level of competition in college basketball and internationally is higher than it’s ever been.”
Many of the 2024 draft class hit the ground running on Friday’s Day 1, both in terms of younger prospects such as Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Reed Sheppard, Stephon Castle, Matas Buzelis and Bub Carrington, as well as the older rookies such as Dalton Knecht, Tristan da Silva and Terrence Shannon Jr. Even players viewed as more long-term projects — such as Tidjane Salaun, Cody Williams and Kel’el Ware — don’t look quite as far away as previously expected.
“It definitely makes me mad that people would say that,” Pistons rookie Ron Holland II said of the perception this is an underwhelming draft class. “But we go out here and play the game of basketball and just show everybody, show the whole world why we really want [to be] the best competitive class.”
Historically, there is a long way to go in figuring out how this group stacks up, and summer league productivity does not necessarily translate to immediate NBA output. However, it is difficult not to feel like there’s quite a bit of talent in this class, and the depth of this group was especially underrated.
“Reed Sheppard, for example, has blown me away with his feel for the game and confidence,” the executive said. “These guys are different players now than they were in March. Their bodies have gotten better. They are more explosive. And they’ve all been working on their game like crazy. This is going to be a fun group to follow. …
“We’re already seeing some real steals emerge here in Vegas.”
— Jonathan Givony and Ohm Youngmisuk
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Bronny James sinks game-tying 3-pointer
Bronny James hits a game-tying 3-pointer for the Lakers late in the fourth quarter.
Bronny under the bright lights
Lakers fans always show out for summer league in Las Vegas — the Strip is just a four-hour drive from Tinseltown — and the league leaned into that loyalty by scheduling L.A.’s first game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday against Houston Rockets and No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard.
While it ended up being a good crowd to see L.A. rookies Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, it was hardly the buzz that Lonzo Ball’s presence sparked after L.A. took him with the No. 2 pick in 2017. Not that the Lakers mind fewer eyeballs on James’ first wobbly steps as a professional.
“He is a development player,” Lakers coach JJ Redick told SiriusXM NBA Radio on Friday. “That’s how we’re looking at Bronny. He’s certainly going to spend time with the Lakers. He will spend time as well in the G League. As we sort of build out our player development program, he’s going to be an important part of that.”
One scout who works for an Eastern Conference team stated the obvious to ESPN after the Houston game, during which James shot 0-for-8 from 3. “He’s going to have to be a knockdown shooter,” the scout told ESPN before adding a compliment for the 55th pick out of USC. “He plays the right way though.”
Another scout who works for a Western Conference team said that James’ confidence has appeared to be an issue in summer league but was empathetic to the situation the 19-year-old guard faces. “No one can withstand the scrutiny he is under,” the scout told ESPN.
The Lakers have made efforts to limit James’ exposure, declining to have him participate in a circuit of interviews when the team arrived in Las Vegas and not making him available to reporters after the team’s practice on Sunday, but there’s a stage that comes with the NBA that can’t be avoided forever.
James showed a glimpse of the perseverance he’ll need in this next chapter as the Lakers’ time in Vegas progressed. In the Lakers’ loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday, he hit a pull-up jumper on the baseline to beat the shot clock late in the fourth quarter after starting the game 0-for-4 from the floor. On Wednesday, with Knecht held out for rest against the Atlanta Hawks, James broke through with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting, going 2-for-5 from 3 — including one from deep to tie the score with 3:47 remaining in L.A.’s 87-86 win.
“Just trying to forget about all the shots I missed and forget about all the games we lost and come out and play my game and try to do my best,” James told ESPN’s Katie George after the game.
— Dave McMenamin
League execs left wondering what happened between LA and PG
One topic several executives and talent evaluators have been wondering about this offseason and at summer league is what the LA Clippers were thinking during contract negotiations with Paul George before the All-Star wing left for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
George and the Clippers were unable to come to terms on a contract extension during the season and LA was not willing to add a no-trade clause to the three-year, $150 million deal George said he wanted once he hit free agency. The Clippers also were not willing to offer the four-year, $212 million deal George ultimately got from the Sixers earlier this month.
Several execs wondered why the Clippers drew a line in contract talks at the three-year, $150 million deal that Kawhi Leonard signed as an extension in January. George said on “Podcast P with Paul George” that he would have taken the same offer that was given Leonard at that time, adding that the Clippers began talks with a low offer of two years, $60 million near the start of the season before slowly inching their way up as the season went on before ultimately tabling talks in February.
On Monday, Clippers president Lawrence Frank countered that George likely left out that first offer included his opt-in contract number at near $50 million to make the initial offer at three years and $110-million.
Frank explained the team’s thought process in negotiations was that it wanted to keep Leonard, George and James Harden but also target the 2026 and 2027 offseasons for max cap space to pursue other stars. Frank said re-signing George would have prevented the Clippers from not only adding or keeping help around the trio of stars but also building the team in the future due to the strict new CBA and the punitive terms for tax-paying teams.
As for making an opt-in trade to get something back in return for George, Frank said the Clippers wanted assets in young talent and draft picks and were not willing to take on unappealing contracts that would have compromised their future cap space and ability to build out the roster.
“If Paul would’ve stayed, we were going to be in the second apron, regardless of this upcoming season,” Frank said. “The following year in ’25, ’26, if Paul would’ve stayed with James, with Kawhi, we’d be out of the second apron. [But] we’d have to make different allowances at different parts of the roster.
“Team building is completely different when your best players are in their 30s and with the second apron. What happens is all the team-building tools are completely stripped away and you’re stuck.”
— Youngmisuk
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How Jalen Brunson’s extension helps the Knicks moving forward
Tim Bontemps details how Jalen Brunson’s four-year extension helps the Knicks financially moving forward.
Could Brunson’s unique contract extension become a trend?
A popular topic at summer league has been New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson‘s new four-year, $156.5 million extension, which is $113 million less than he could’ve gotten had he waited until next summer. Doing so will help keep New York’s core together, including Brunson’s former Villanova teammate Mikal Bridges, who is eligible for his own extension in October.
In the wake of Brunson’s surprising move, the question buzzing around Las Vegas has been whether this could be the start of a trend. Brunson is taking a significant pay cut, but he’s also now made well over $200 million in his career and could easily get another huge extension later in his career. Meanwhile, he gets to play with three college teammates — Bridges, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo — and is on a team that has a chance to contend atop the Eastern Conference for the next few seasons.
So as salaries continue to grow ahead of the league’s $76 billion television deal that kicks in for the 2025-26 season, league executives in Vegas have posited that some players could follow Brunson’s lead to help their teams navigate the restrictions of the new CBA while still signing massive contracts.
— Tim Bontemps
The silver lining of the second apron
The NBA’s new second luxury tax apron, introduced in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement and fully phased in this season, has become the league’s boogeyman. The Clippers alluded to the second apron in their statement explaining why they were not re-signing George, while its restrictions were a factor in the Golden State Warriors substantially reducing their payroll for next season.
Yet, an executive with an NBA team that has historically paid the tax made the case that the second apron has actually helped in contract negotiations. Before, the executive explained, the team’s free agents had been comfortable asking for large contracts because the impact of paying more to re-sign them was strictly financial in terms of hefty luxury tax bills. Now, the team could make the case that the second apron limited what they could offer.
Brunson’s discount, for example, will mainly help the Knicks by delaying their entry into second apron territory. That wasn’t exactly the idea behind the league pushing for the apron, which was mostly designed to rein in spending for wealthy teams such as the Clippers, Knicks and Warriors. Yet it may work to their benefit by making every dollar matter in a way that wasn’t previously the case.
— Kevin Pelton
What’s next for Westbrook?
Several team personnel at summer league wondered what would happen with Russell Westbrook. With George now in Philadelphia, Westbrook will likely be playing for another team next season despite opting into his $4 million contract last month with the Clippers.
Frank said on Monday that the Clippers have been in contact with Westbrook’s agent to figure out the best path for the former MVP guard, who began the 2023-24 season as the starter before the Harden trade forced him into a sixth man role.
“Russ is a tremendous f—ing player. Hall of Fame player. He’s one of one for what he’s accomplished. Last year was a different role than he’s ever played before,” Frank said. “Since the time he’s opted in and with PG leaving as well, we’ve kind of worked with his agent to see where there’s the best fit for Russ.
“But we got great respect for Russ. He did a terrific job while he was here and we’ll continue to work through his agent to see what the best next steps are.”
The Denver Nuggets are a team that is interested, especially if Westbrook is waived, several league sources told ESPN at summer league. The Nuggets can use a veteran backup point guard who can provide energy and defend after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson left in free agency.
“I think we need some help in the backcourt,” Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth told Altitude TV on Tuesday. “We are going to try to continue to identify that and survey the market. We have a roster spot left and I think if we can add a high-level guard, we will be happy with that.”
— Youngmisuk
The two-day draft gets rave reviews in Vegas
Despite considerable initial consternation from a group of NBA executives, last month’s tweak to a two-day draft format was very well-received, per numerous conversations with league executives in Las Vegas, indicating that the change is here to stay:
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“Having the ability to regroup after the first night and then meet most of the following day created a great process for our group in determining our next moves. We batted around dozens of trade scenarios, had time to watch a considerable amount of film and conduct additional background calls, map out strategies with agents of two-way and stash candidates we were interested in and ultimately come to a consensus in our group. We executed multiple trades and landed on several players we’re excited to have now on our extended roster. There’s no way we could have accomplished all that in the chaotic fog of a late night second round with just two minutes between picks.”
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“This is how billion-dollar businesses like ours should be operated. Especially in this new world of staring down the second apron with tens of millions of dollars in potential luxury tax implications on the line. The second-round exception creates some real stakes for getting these picks right. Our fan bases realize that and expect us to draft the right players. Some of the people in our front office didn’t like how much this second day helps the disorganized teams who typically wing it and can be taken advantage of from a strategy standpoint. But the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to better drafting and decision-making. There were a ton of trades and I think next year you’ll see some real creativity now that we have a better idea for how the evening looks.”
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“We didn’t need a second day, we just needed a longer second round with more time between picks. But the reset between days was helpful for all of us and allowed us to have better internal and external conversations and a much sounder process. I was in favor of this move and it ultimately went even better than I expected. The Bronny stuff even created some tension that kept the casual fans engaged which was a plus also despite the awkward timing due to the presidential debate.”
— Givony
DaRon Holmes injury creates setback for Nuggets
A somber scene unfolded inside Cox Pavilion on Friday night after Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes II, the 22nd overall pick in June’s draft, limped to the bench toward the end of the game following a noncontact injury. Medical staff determined postgame that Holmes had torn an Achilles, an injury that’s expected to sideline him for the 2024-25 season. News of the diagnosis broke shortly afterward and circulated around the arena in Vegas, the type of bad break that left rival teams sympathetic.
Holmes, 21, was a player Denver coveted in the pre-draft process, with most rival teams believing the Nuggets were the team for which he chose to cancel his workouts early. The Nuggets ultimately wanted him badly enough to move up six spots from No. 28, dealing the 56th pick and future second-round picks to the Suns on draft night.
The injury comes with implications in the Western Conference race, as Denver has been willing to lean on rookies for major minutes on their contending roster in recent seasons. Holmes, who averaged 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds at Dayton and made 38.5% of his 3s last season, was viewed by the Nuggets as a potential immediate contributor, according to sources.
The Nuggets have other frontcourt depth options behind Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, including third-year forward Peyton Watson, veterans Dario Saric and DeAndre Jordan and fifth-year forward Zeke Nnaji. Still, Holmes’ ability to space the floor, rebound and provide additional rim protection at power forward and center offered unique potential lineup optionality.
— Jeremy Woo
