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Earthquake to Aerosmith: 10 things that rocked NBA Summer League in Vegas
Beyond this block of Zion Williamson, Kevin Knox of the Knicks has had few stellar moments in NBA Summer League in Vegas. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Earthquake to Aerosmith: 10 things that rocked NBA Summer League in Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- NBA teams, reporters and fans descend on Sin City every year for Summer League, the "NBA Coachella.” It’s a multi-day festival in the desert, with multiple stages to see up-and-coming stars and scores of hipsters wearing throwback basketball jerseys. There’s always a lot of last-minute cancellations from stars, whether it’s Solange Knowles or Zion Williamson.  Last weekend, I braved the heat, casinos and throngs of analytics nerds to deliver this report on 10 things I learned at NBA Summer League. (Well, besides the biggest Vegas lesson: Don’t bet on Summer League games.)

1. Zion’s knees can cause seismic events

On the first night, Zion Wiliamson made his debut in a Pelicans uniform. Zion Fever led to the third sellout in Summer League history, the issuance of over 1,000 media credentials, and the first public appearance of LeBron James and Anthony Davis sitting courtside as an official Lakers couple. But after a few impressive dunks and one theft of Kevin Knox’s soul, Zion bumped knees with a defender, and promptly left the game. Then he left the Summer League entirely, as an injury precaution. Two quarters later, Vegas was rocked by the biggest earthquake since Danny Ocean robbed Willy Bank’s casino, the game was cancelled, and everyone went home. And then an even bigger earthquake hit the NBA landscape an hour later, with the news that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were going to the Clippers.  


Knicks draft pick RJ Barrett has struggled so far in Summer League. Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

2. The Knicks don’t look great 

Of the lottery picks who were playing this summer, RJ Barrett has been less than impressive. He’s shooting 30% from the field and under 20% from three-point range. It’s discouraging but not unique for a player to struggle in his first Summer League. The real concern is Kevin Knox, who as a second-year player should be dominating, especially on a loaded Knicks Vegas squad. In his first three games, he averaged 14.7 points and shot 11-for-37 from the field, though he did explode for 25 points Wednesday night. The bright spot has been second-year center Mitchell Robinson, who leads the Summer League in blocks.

3. Exciting free agency leads to a boring Summer League 

The frenzy of free-agent activity and draft-night trades had an unforeseen consequence: Many top prospects weren’t available for the beginning of Summer League, normally a showcase for the league’s best rookies. But many of those trades wouldn’t become official until July 6, meaning players couldn’t officially join their teams until two days of summer ball had passed. The Suns shut down all their rookies , the Timberwolves held No. 6 pick Jarrett Culver out, and No. 8 pick Jaxson Hayes didn’t start dunking on everyone until Day 4. Add that to Ja Morant, Darius Garland, Cam Reddish, P.J. Washington, and Romeo Langford held out for injury concerns, and Zion’s summer ending after nine minutes, and you had an opening weekend with only four of the 14 lottery picks playing. 


All hail Celtics draft pick Tacko Falls, a center of attention at Summer League. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

 4. Tacko Fall is a Summer League folk hero

Speaking of blocks, 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall electrifies the crowd every time he checks in. Although he’s playing limited minutes as a Celtics backup, Fall gets huge cheers every time he does anything, even just walking down to the scorer’s table to check in. But it’s not just fans delighting in the novelty of a freakishly tall player. Fall is blocking shots and doing Dream Shakes, which must delight the Celtics. When poor, 6-foot, 180-pound Brandon Goodwin tried to draw a charge, Fall knocked him into Carson City.

5. Fan signs need some seasoning 

The players aren’t the only ones getting into shape in Vegas. One poor fan kept hoisting his “HIGH ON ZION” sign during the Pelicans’ game with the Wizards, despite Williamson not playing. Another Pelicans game featured a giant sign with Anthony Davis’ face, reading “LEBRON’S NEW B!TCH HAS A UNIBROW.” As uncool as it is to display any sign during a game, Summer League is even worse, particularly because the program of games runs for more than 10 hours, meaning you must lug around your sign for a long time.

6. The Charlotte Hornets may be worse than we thought

Things were already looking grim for the 2019-20 Charlotte Hornets, who lost Jeremy Lamb and replaced All-NBA guard Kemba Walker with Terry Rozier. But their game against China’s World Cup team was a bad omen, as the Hornets lost as a 25-point favorite to a Chinese team that had never beaten an NBA team. In fact, Miami had beaten them by 41 points just three days earlier. The atmosphere in Cox Pavilion felt like an NCAA Tournament game, with the crowd rallying behind a Cinderella team pulling an upset. Charlotte wasn’t playing Miles Bridges or Dwayne Bacon, so the result doesn’t really matter, but they still can’t feel confident facing the Brooklyn Nets when they couldn’t handle Rockets washout Zhou Qi.

7. The Summer Nets are also a super team

Kevin Durant is unlikely to play this season for Brooklyn, and Summer League is giving us a tantalizing glimpse at the young players who will be filling in for him while he rehabs. Guard-forward Dhazan Musa and forward Rodions Kurucs are lanky Euros who aren’t afraid to put the ball on the floor, drive to the basket, and make aggressive passes. Yes, those passes sometimes go into the stands, but you have to love guys standing 6-9 and 6-10 who aren’t afraid to try it. In their game against the Wizards, they both showed toughness -– Musa blocked a three-point attempt at the buzzer to ice the game, and Kurucs went after Mo Wagner so much after a hard foul to his teammate that they got double technicals. Plus, Jarrett Allen has played three games and blocked a lot of shots, as if he’s already auditioning for the starting job over DeAndre Jordan.


Pelicans pick Jaxson Hayes has shown a propensity to dunk in the Summer League in Las Vegas. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

8. Jaxson Hayes is going to get a lot of dunks

Jaxson Hayes had to wait until Monday for his Summer League experience to begin, but he made the most of it. He’s averaging 20.5 points in just 22 minutes per game and shoot 70% from the floor. When he wasn’t posterizing opponents, he was blocking shots and moving without the ball , something he’ll be richly rewarded for alongside Zion, Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball. He’s still raw, but the Pelicans must be pleased, especially with Frank Jackson delivering one dominant game and rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker racking up assists.

9. The Minnesota Timberwolves don’t care about Aerosmith

Thanks to NBA Summer Vacation chronicler Katie Heindl, I received backstage passes to see Aerosmith at the MGM Grand. Why did they invite sportswriters? Because rumor had it that members of the Minnesota Timberwolves would also attend, including coach Ryan Saunders. They didn’t show up, but Aerosmith did, with 71-year-old Steven Tyler displaying a great deal of explosiveness on his stage jumps, and his usual deft mic-stand-handling. Dude may look like a lady, but dude also looks like he could get buckets in a senior league game of pickup. On defense? Total rag doll. Meanwhile, Joe Perry showed energy and chops, though he’s probably a stretch five, considering the labored uphill walking he did during “Walk This Way.” Just like 14 of the last 15 NBA playoffs, the Timberwolves missed out.

10. The Warriors are reloading with some weird, fun players 


Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are gone, and Klay Thompson is out until February, but the Warriors should still be entertaining, if worse. First-round draft pick Jordan Poole displayed an impressive handle and nose for steals, along with an erratic jumper, and wore '80s-style short shorts in all his games. Serbian Alen Smailagic is a balding 18-year-old who fouled incessantly but displayed a nice touch from three-point range. After he gets a little stronger, and logs a few months of practice against Draymond Green, he’s going to be a real player. And while Jacob Evans had a forgettable, injury-filled rookie year in 2018-19, he acquitted himself decently in his audition at point guard, to the point where he might even get his third-year option picked up.

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