Players I am Most Excited to See at Summer League

Who am I most excited to watch in Vegas this year?

Every Summer League tons of people are excited to look at all the top picks play in the Vegas competition, but every year the sicko in me is more excited for some random players, or some previous 2nd round picks who are coming back for another year. Who are those players this year?

Max Lewis - Lakers

Photo via Getty Images

This may be a bit self-indulgent for the Laker fan in me, but hear me out. I was incredibly excited about Lewis in last year’s draft, and I had him just outside of my top 30. I was excited when the Lakers snagged him in the 2nd, and the organization that has a good track record of development picking up an athlete like Lewis was fun. I probably tuned into too many South Bay Lakers games this year to watch Lewis, and I hope to see him take a leap this year so that his fun game can potentially be showcased on the big stage.

Leonard Miller and Jaylen Clark

Photo via Timberwolves

Both these guys have caused me too much excitement in their time as basketball players. I was huge on Lenny last draft cycle and had him inside my lottery, so I was devastated when he fell to the 2nd round, but I love his fit with the Wolves. Clark on the other hand is a UCLA product, and I grew up a UCLA hoops fan, so when he tore his Achilles in the final game of UCLA’s 2023 campaign where I had them pegged as my national title winner, I might’ve shed a tear or two. Clark was the PAC-12 DPOY, and his versatility as a 1-3 defender who is elite on or off the ball is a skillset I hope can stick in the NBA.

Jack Gohlke - OKC Thunder

Photo via Yahoo

This might be the most obvious pick of any pure entertainment factor in Summer League, and I am super excited to see Gohlke play basketball again. Gohlke was a complete unknown all season until he went and ripped Kentucky’s heart out, and had my board been a top 100 this year, there was an outside shot I had Gohlke on the back end of that because he is that good of a shooter. I’m not sure Gohlke will ever play an NBA game, but Matt Ryan earned an NBA contract, so anything is possible. Now here is Gohlke’s shot chart from last year:

The Entire Utah Jazz Roster

Photo via Utah Jazz

In the words of a friend of mine, “Logan, the Utah Jazz are the team you would build to tank.” And that is absolutely true. What if I told you 3 of the players in the above picture are playing in this Summer League for the Jazz? Yeah for some reason, Walker Kessler is going to be playing in Summer League. People who have known me for a while also know I am the leader of Taylor Hendricks Kingdom and have been since he was at UCF. If that frontcourt doesn’t do it for you, what about the backcourt of Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George? This is one of the backcourts of the future I am most excited for, as I think they fit perfectly together. Along the wing, we have 2023 first-round pick Brice Sensabaugh, who is a quality scorer with some size, a 2024 lottery pick in Cody Williams, and monster athlete Babacar Sane. There is also Kyle Filipowksi, who I imagine will start after Kessler proves he is too good for Summer League, and Kenneth Lofton down low. Max Abmas is also on this roster, and who doesn’t like watching him play basketball? This is my bet for the best team in summer league, along with having some of the best players from a developmental and fun standpoint this year. I’ll likely be tuning in to all of their games this year.