Week 5 of the offseason presented a couple of extensions and some activity in signing players. Along with this NBA 2k24 Summer League is nearing its end and Team USA played 3 exhibition games this past week as well.
On the News side of the NBA saw a couple of free agents off the board. The market is a little slow right now considering Lauri Markkanen still has yet to be traded and many of the guys that have waited right now could still be looking to get the most from their current value.
Monday, July 15th
Cam Payne signed a 1 year 3.1 million dollar deal to join the New York Knicks. He’ll be able to play with the second unit and give them some more ball handling. Payne will help increase the pace of the Knicks as he is usually pretty quick getting up and down the floor.
Seth Curry signed a 1 year deal with the Hornets. He’ll return and provide a veteran presence in the locker room for a young team.
Tuesday July 16th
Gary Trent Jr signs a 1 year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Bucks make their biggest move of the offseason so far getting a really good shooter in Trent on a friendly deal to keep the Bucks under the apron levels.
Kris Middleton had arthroscopic surgery on both ankles. He’ll be ready for the start of the season. His past injuries are starting to pile up and he needs to stay healthy if the Bucks want to compete for another championship.
Thursday July 18th
Russell Westbrook, second round pick, and cash were sent to the Jazz for Kris Dunn in a trade between the Clippers and Jazz. The Jazz will waive Westbrook for a second time and the expectation is that the Denver Nuggets will pick up the former MVP.
Saturday July 20th
Evan Mobley signed a 5 year 224 million dollar rookie extension with the Cavaliers. He’s a cornerstone of the franchise right now. He’ll need to improve his perimeter game if the Cavs want to improve on this past season.
Sunday July 21st
Sam Hauser signs a 4 year 45 million dollar deal with the Celtics. It’s clear the Celtics aren’t concerned as other franchises with the second apron consequences. The move puts the 2025-2026 roster at a current committed salary of 225 million dollars. Until the official cap, first, and second apron are announced it’s unclear where the Celtics will fall with the expectation of the cap growing 10% each of the next couple of seasons.
Summer League Standouts and Concerning performances
Jalen Wilson had 27 points 8/16 fg and 5/10 from 3. He’s played extremely well this summer league and can see the game slowing down for the second year player from Kansas.
Jordan Miller put together some solid performances this week with 36, 21, and 23 points on efficient shooting numbers. The Clippers are currently 3-0 and if they continued to win he could be the MVP frontrunner.
AJ Johnson had 22 points 9/18 FG 3/5 from 3. He’s a younger player that still needs to develop in order to help the Bucks right now. He’s a good down hill driver, but still needs to learn more about reading the pick and roll.
Julian Strawther had 32 points on 10/21 FG and 6/12 from 3. He’s been playing well and shown he can fill into the thin Denver bench and help them.
Tyler Kolek
He’s played extremely well the entire summer league making super advanced reads out of the pick and roll and putting passes on the money. He’s shown more scoring than he did at Marquette and an ability to create space.
GG Jackson/Scotty Pippen Jr.
Both have been dynamite for the Grizzlies who are 4-0. They’ve played with a ferocious pace and energy. Jackson has shot the ball really well and Pippen has controlled the offense extremely well too.
Jaylon Tyson
The Cavs rookie has been arguably the best rookie from this year’s class. He’s been extremely efficient shooting the ball and creating space. He’s a wide body that the Cavs are hoping can slide to the wing for them.
Matt Morgan/DJ Steward
Both these guys had stellar performances this past week each went for 30+ points and have been playing extremely well for their respective teams. Morgan notably went 11-11 from the field and 7-7 3pt as he scored 36 points against the Trailblazers in just 23 minutes off the bench.
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Early Summer League Concerns
Alex Sarr
Anytime someone goes 0/15 from the field it’s never good. I understand some people are going to say it's summer league, but his shooting has been concerning. The game right now looks a little fast for him, but obviously the flashes are still there. He’s getting his feet wet now, however it’s concerning seeing how poor he’s played as the number 2 overall pick.
Jordan Hawkins
Hawkins played a lot early on last season while the Pelicans were dealing with some injuries, but eventually was out of the rotations. He’s struggled getting his shooting going and his playmaking has been very poor. His turnovers are concerning out of the pick and roll and other hand off actions.
Gradey Dick
He’s struggled a lot during summer league and he even got benched in a game the other day. He’s looked a little slow and hasn’t gotten his shooting going. He hasn’t been asked to handle the ball a whole lot for the Raptors which fits his role so it’s a little disappointing he hasn’t shown more flashes in other parts of his game. His defense has also looked a step slow too.
Rob Dillingham
The rookie has struggled getting going. He’s a little undersized for an NBA guard, something he’ll need to learn to play through. Overall, he hasn’t looked great as a primary ball handler. His reads out of the pick and roll have looked a little slow and he’s struggled with his shot creation against longer defenders. I’m confident he’ll get it going, but as for now it’s been a little rough.
Team USA Week Summary
Derrick white joined the team in Abu Dhabi on Monday. He did not play as he started to practice with the team. Kevin Durant returned to practice on Saturday for the USA, but did not play against South Sudan in London on Saturday.
Monday vs Australia
The starters for the game against Australia were Curry, James, Tatum, Edwards and Embiid. USA started out very fast and was their best start to a game. The second unit then came in and played extremely well. The turnovers are still a big issue for the Americans. They’re still in the feeling out stage, but cleaning up the turnovers needs to happen sooner rather than later. The USA won 98-92. The game wasn’t as close as the score makes it seem, but Team USA had a 24 point lead vanish rather quickly due to the Australian pressure. Haliburton, Booker, and Davis made some big plays and shots down the home stretch to win the game for the USA.
Wednesday vs Serbia
This was the USA’s best performance from start to finish. The Americans battled early on as Jokic started to dominate Embiid in the paint and he picked up a couple early fouls. However, once Davis and Adebayo checked into the game the script flipped completely. USA made life very hard for Serbia on the offensive end and it seems they got their movements down on the offensive end. The second unit was very impressive again. Curry got going as he hit 6 threes and had his best game throughout the exhibition tour. USA won 105-79 their size and speed overwhelmed the Serbians as they shot poorly from three.
Saturday vs South Sudan
USA came in as 43.5 point favorites against South Sudan, but it was a poor showing from the USA. The Americans got out to a 12-2 lead and everything looked like it was going well until South Sudan started making some shots. They torched the USA with their transition offense and really hurt the USA from 3. The USA also looks very out of sorts on offense again. They constantly turned the ball over and this led to South Sudan getting their offense going. They were able to get a lot of dribble drives and really spread the USA out, forcing help side rotations. It was concerning to see this because it wasn’t really an issue for the Americans in the previous three games. The USA was down 56-42 at halftime until they erupted for 37 points in the third quarter. The starters for the game were Curry, Holiday, James, Booker, and Embiid. Embiid also looked a little rough again and did not pass well out of double teams leading to a couple of turnovers. The bench unit started the second and got the USA going offensively. Lebron James was by far the best player for the USA as he controlled the entire second half with his playmaking and size. His leadership and energy seemed to show as directed the offense and picked apart any mismatch the USA had. His layup with 8 seconds left turned out to be the deciding basket in the 101-100 win as the USA escaped a potential historical upset. The trio of Davis, Adebayo, and Edwards has been the best group for the USA throughout the exhibition tour.
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