LAS VEGAS —It's Day 4 of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and it feels like we are on to Act II. The big stars all sat — no Dylan Harper, no Ace Bailey, no Khaman Maluach — and the focus is shifting to guys further down the bench. Here is some of what stood out to us on Sunday.
Collin Murray-Boyle makes his debut
A hamstring injury delayed the debut of No. 9 pick Collin Murray-Boyles, but the Raptors' latest addition at forward made his debut on Sunday.
"Was it worth the wait? Of course it is," Murray-Boyles said of finally getting to play. "Just to have the chance to be on the court, my first, I guess, NBA feel is amazing. Since my hamstring, that was probably my first time going in about... It's been a minute, probably a month and a half.
So, just to get back out there, get the feel out there again, it's amazing."
Boyles showed that the pre-draft scouting report on him was accurate. He showed off his handles with a nice spin move in transition. He had made a few strong defensive plays, including a block, one of which led to a putback dunk.
However, the concern about Murray-Boyles coming into the draft was his shot, and when he airballed his first two 3-point attempts that lived up to the hype, too.
"You're not going to make every 3, but obviously having the confidence to shoot the ball is something I've been working on," he said.
Murray-Boyles finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and eight personal fouls. He looked a bit rusty (as to be expected coming off an injury) but showed real potential. —Kurt Helin
Nets, Wizards many rookies
In a game that featured 10 players drafted in the first round over the last two seasons, none shone brighter than Drew Timme, the former Gonzaga star who went undrafted in 2023. He finished with 30 points and a handful of impressive highlights.
Did that dunk surprise you? Well, you weren't alone.
"I'm not gonna lie, I did not know I made it," Timme said with a laugh. "It's not really what I'm known for, but I get up every now and then."
Timme had 22 points on Thursday and has played well enough to earn consideration for a standard contract next season.
As far as the first-round picks in Brooklyn, all of them were impressive in their own way. Danny Wolf didn't score a ton, but he grabbed 10 rebounds and added three steals and four blocks while also hitting two three-pointers. There aren't many seven-footers who are this dynamic.
Egor Demin shot 4-of-10 on threes, which was a point of emphasis for him during the pre-draft process after he shot 27.3 percent from deep during his lone season at BYU. Denim is a special passer, and if he's able to shoot the ball consistently, he could be in for a big rookie season.
Alexandre Sarr wasn't great in Washington's first Summer League game, but he dominated against the Nets, nearly finishing with a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks. That improvement was something that Wizards coach J.J. Outlaw said they wanted to see from him.
"We wanted to see him be aggressive," Outlaw said. "We wanted to see him engaged. I think that you saw, you know, our guys really, really fed off of him. Anytime he's leading the way for us, we're going to have good nights."
Tre Johnson led the Wizards with 21 points and hit multiple tough shots. He's averaging 19.5 points while shooting 58.3 percent from the floor through two games. —Noah Rubin
Other notes from around Summer League
• Reed Sheppard's relatively rough day. Reed Sheppard once again led the way for the Rockets, finishing with 18 points in the loss to the Pistons. However, it certainly was a rougher performance for him than Friday night. A big reason for that was Daniss Jenkins. Most of Sheppard's points came when Jenkins was on the bench, and Sheppard finished with six turnovers while shooting 6-of-19 from the floor. That certainly isn't what Houston was hoping to see out of the third overall pick from 2024, but it speaks to the level of defense that Jenkins played. It wasn't a one-sided effort from Jenkins either; he led the Pistons with 23 points, and he dished out six dimes. —Rubin
• Orlando's Noah Penda shows promise. From the "guys I like Now that I've seen them file," Noah Penda, the French forward, impressed. The No. 32 pick last month, played more like a four than the wing he was advertised to be, but has a high IQ game and finished with nine points, 14 rebounds and some decent defense.
"He's just got a knack for where to be on the floor, his instincts are phenomenal. I thought his rebounding for us was huge today. His ability to pick up things on the fly," Magic coach Ameer Bahhur said. "We played him at the five today, which he had never done before. And so his ability to just kind of handle that and keep moving and jump right into it, I thought was phenomenal."
His shot is the question, he was 3-of-5 in the paint but 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Still, you can see the potential as a point four who could stretch the floor someday.
"His versatility allowed us to use him as another ball handler to relieve pressure and bring the ball up the court," Bahhur said. "And he did a great job, whether he was at the four, whether he was at the five, he got us into what we needed to do and he helped us run our offense." —Helin
• Celtics Baylor Scheierman looks ready for his chance. Baylor Scheierman was buried in the Celtics' depth chart as a rookie — that's a team where breaking through as a wing is hard. However, next season the former No. 30 pick may get his chance.
He looked ready to take advantage of that chance Sunday at Summer League.
He finished with 13 points, and seven rebounds and assists. —Helin
• Detroit's Ron Holland, Chaz Lanier look good. Ron Holland came into the league as an athletic defender, but he showcased the development in his game against Houston. He dished out three dimes and had a handful of other passes that led to clean shots for his teammates, and he also knocked down two three-pointers. He shot 23.8 percent from beyond the arc during his rookie season, so if he can improve that mark, he can make a huge impact for the Pistons next season.
Chaz Lanier knocked down four three-pointers in the game. He should help make up for Tim Hardaway Jr. signing with Denver and Malik Beasley under investigation for betting on NBA games. The second-round pick out of Tennessee has six triples in two Summer League games. —Rubin
• Pistons' Daniss Jenkins someone to watch. This is what Summer League is about — undrafted, unheralded players putting on a show and getting noticed by decision makers around the league. The Pistons' Daniss Jenkins is doing just that.
A year ago, Jenkins went undrafted out of Rick Pitino's St. John's, and he spent most of last season as the point guard of the Motor City Cruise of the G-League. He put up impressive numbers there — 18.5 points and 6.4 assists per game — and at Summer League, he has stood out. In the Pistons' first game, he had 18 points and hit 3-of-5 from 3 (shooting was a question mark), and on Sunday, he scored 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 3-of-4 from 3.
The Pistons have an open roster spot and an open two-way contract. Jenkins is a name to watch. —Helin
• Mavericks shut down Cooper Flagg. This shouldn't be a surprise, but after a 31-point outing in his second game, the Dallas Mavericks have shut down Cooper Flagg for the rest of Summer League.
This is the way of Summer League, for teams the risk of injury outweighs what a lot of these players can learn from the experience. Expect more stars to get shut down in the coming days. —Helin
• Knicks Pacome Dadiet is interesting. The Knicks used a late first-round pick (25th) a year ago on French wing Pacome Dadiet, who got in 18 games for them as a rookie who was seen as a project. Watch him play and you can see the draw, he is a fluid athlete. His shot is still a work in progress — he shot 3-of-11 in this one — but you can see the attraction. —Helin
