🏀 New Kids On The Strip

Good morning, y’all! To everyone watching this year’s Summer League from home, we hope you’re enjoying it. As for everyone watching live from Las Vegas, please send Sphere pics. We’re here to break down the first weekend of SL, so let’s get to it.

Today’s Lineup

Summer League Swing: Who’s making a good first impression in Vegas?

The NBA Cup: An in-season tournament is happening…how do you feel?

Wemby Is Here: How did the #1 pick look in his first (kind of) NBA action?

Referral Program

Wow. In the end, it looks like Dillon was trying to help Draymond out…and we’re trying to help you out by telling you about the EB Referral Program!

All you have to do is share your custom link at the bottom of your email with someone who would enjoy it and get rewarded!

Track your progress by signing into your account and navigating to “Referrals.” It’s really that simple.

Summer Standouts

Putting too much stock into how a player performs at Summer League is never a good idea. For many players, these games are more of a “get a feel for the game back” experience than anything. With that being said, you do still want to see your team’s draft picks perform well in any context. Here are a few guys who did just that:

Jordan Walsh

At Arkansas, Walsh was one of the best defenders in the nation. What he’s capable of on the offensive end may determine his role in the league, and his first impression was about as promising as possible.

Cason Wallace 

Drafting a University of Kentucky point guard in the past few years has overwhelmingly yielded pretty, pretty, pretty good results. De’Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey, and Immanuel Quickley have all found their places in the league: Cason Wallace is going to try and fit in with that group, and if he makes six threes every game, it probably won’t take too long. Especially if he can pull up from 50 feet away.

Keyonte George

Is there a more obvious candidate among this rookie class for a guy we look at in five years and say, “How did he fall out of the lottery?” than Keyonte George? We’re not making this comparison, but it’s hard not to see some Jamal Murray in George’s game.

SL Quick Hits

Jarace Walker looks dominant on the defensive end, Anthony Black showed off some impressive creation ability, Scoot Henderson was electric in his debut before leaving with an injury, and Victor Wembanyama followed up a rough first outing with a stunning second game.

The NBA Cup

It’s official, folks. After what felt like years of speculation, the NBA officially announced that an In-Season Tournament will begin during the 2023-24 season. Here’s Richard Jefferson to explain what exactly the tourney will entail:

The news was met with…mixed results. Many fans are wondering what exactly the point of this tournament is and, crucially, whether teams will truly be motivated to compete for a trophy that’s not the Larry O’Brien.

On the flip side, the tournament could end up being a lot of fun. It provides some stakes for regular season games that otherwise would blend in with all the other regular season games, and it feels like every team realistically has a chance to win the NBA Cup. Just get hot at the right time, and you could end up in a Finals…not the Finals, but still, pretty cool!

Frozen Moments

• Maybe everyone except Jarace Walker had a late night in Vegas? 😅 

• Kai Jones with an extremely un-warm welcome for Wemby 🫢 

• He’s not the biggest name on the Spurs SL roster, but Julian Champagnie is impressive 👀 

What We’re Enjoying

The Criterion Collection: Yes, in the year 2023, we’re recommending physical DVDs. The Criterion Collection gives physical releases to some of the greatest movies ever made. From old B&W films to modern classics, Criterion adds tons of behind-the-scenes content, director and actor commentaries, and information about the creation of the movie. A perfect gift for any movie lover (or if you want to start a collection of your own.)

Signing Off

That wraps things up for today, folks. Tell a friend of yours that you appreciate them this week. It’ll go farther than you realize. Talk soon!

-Quinn Everts

Trivia Answer: A bit of a surprise here, but Anthony Morrow once scored 47 in a SL game 🤨 

Before you go…