2025 NBA Summer League Notebook

  • By SportsEthos Staff

    Last Updated on July 8, 2025 2:20 pm by Keston Paul | Published: July 8, 2025

    Welcome to the 2025 NBA Summer League notebook! We’re going to keep it light and breezy with scattered thoughts from each day of action from a few SportsEthos mainstays. It’s important to remember that Summer League rarely gives us something meaningful for near-term fantasy purposes, but it’s just nice to have some — any — basketball action in the dog days of summer. Seeing actual games is a nice reprieve from the cap machinations that dominate the news this time of year and it’s always fun to see the stars of tomorrow make their first impressions.

    Before we get into the daily notes, a few things to keep in mind as you watch the games.

    Most rookies won’t matter in fantasy.

    It’s exciting to see them and you’ll end up with lots of crazy stat lines and highlights, but the performance in Vegas (or California or Utah) is not indicative of immediate success. Last season, there were no rookies in the top-125 of the 9-cat rankings when the dust settled. The two closest were Kel’el Ware (No. 126) and Zach Edey (No. 134) so beware the hype. If you want to make the argument that last year’s draft class was weak, that’s fair. In 2023, fantasy’s best rookies were Victor Wembanyama (No. 7 and obviously an anomaly), Brandon Miller (No. 116), Dereck Lively (No. 120) and Amen Thompson (No. 138). If you want to be charitable, Chet Holmgren finished at No. 20 after missing his entire first season due to injury. Outside the generational prospects or guys whose games have an obviously strong fantasy stat set, you shouldn’t be counting on a lot.

    Summer League results aren’t indicative of early success.

    Consider last season’s All-Summer League squads:

    First Team: GG Jackson, Jordan Miller, Reed Sheppard, Scotty Pippen Jr., Kel’el Ware
    Second Team: Bub Carrington, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jarace Walker, Jalen Wilson (the MVP), Donovan Clingan

    Ware, Pippen and Clingan were the only players to hit the top-175 and only Ware was inside the top-160. Carrington started more often than not but was limited by a thin stat set. Wilson was dynamite and generated some sleeper appeal thanks to Brooklyn’s incoming tank job, but that didn’t amount to anything. Sheppard and Miller weren’t even in their rotations. Jaquez and Walker were just bit parts.

    From 2023, you have:

    First Team: Keyonte George, Sam Merrill, Cam Whitmore (the MVP), Hunter Tyson, Orlando Robinson
    Second Team: Javon Freeman-Liberty, Max Christie, Xavier Moon, Emoni Bates, Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Wilson (again!)

    George had a strong second half but was build-dependent and Whitmore was limited to streaming value in injury spots. Smith was a top-90 guy but that’s about it. Robinson couldn’t supplant Thomas Bryant in the rotation. Bates couldn’t get out of the G League. Moon and Tyson never left their benches and Freeman-Liberty didn’t even break camp with the Bulls, ending up buried on the Raptors depth chart. A strong Summer League usually doesn’t mean a lick when the real games begin.

    Some things do matter.

    The most important thing to watch for in general is how second- and third-year players fare. They are expected to dominate in this setting. It’s a bit unfair in that anything short of impressive performances gets graded as a disappointment, but you really don’t want to see a veteran player look bad. If a guy with NBA experience is drowning in Vegas, they usually aren’t long for the league. A bad Summer League from a third-year player is a blaring red flag. That said…

    Remember the roles.

    Success doesn’t always look like you’d expect in Summer League. It’s a great environment for teams and players to try new things with low stakes and you’ll often see players wear different hats, so to speak. Way back in the day, Vegas was the proving ground for Pascal Siakam to take on lots of ball-handling and distribution responsibilities, and we know how that turned out. If a player’s stat line looks a little light, it’s worth watching the games to see exactly how they’re being deployed. Are they doing the things you’d expect to see them do alongside proven NBA talent? Are they being tasked with duties that they’ve never had before? It’s all part of development but it can obfuscate things for fantasy managers.

    Onto the notes!

    California Classic and Salt Lake City

    July 5

    VJ Edgecombe (28-10-4, one steal, two blocks, one triple) showed controlled use of his athleticism as he was rarely rushed, but still quick and explosive. Ball-handling wasn’t perfect, nor was his 3-point shot, but he did hit a couple good midrange looks too and was competing on defense as expected.

    Adem Bona dominated the Jazz frontcourt with his physicality, speed and leaping. He also had a couple nice pump fakes into straight-line drives and finishes. Hopefully he can secure the backup C spot for the Sixers.

    Ace Bailey let the game come to him in the first half, then forced some shots in the second half and was benched, but flashed the tools to potentially be good on defense in time.

    Walter Clayton Jr. moved the ball well when he had it and also spot up nicely from three off-ball.

    Ajay Mitchell got to the rim with ease (28 points) and he seemed a step ahead of everyone.

    Nikola Topic’s ability to get the rim stood out alongside his passing and defensive instincts in passing lanes. He also hit a couple threes (an area of uncertainty in his game). Nice to see him on the floor.

    July 6

    David Jones-Garcia, a big forward, got some ball-handling reps en route to 25 points and four triples for the Spurs and that was interesting.

    Warriors No. 56 pick Will Richard showed excellent active hands on defense (two steals) and was willing to fire away from deep (two threes), so there might be some interesting 3-and-D stuff there.

    July 7

    Nikola Topic’s ball-handling, changes of direction and pace are just too much for defenders to keep him in front. He made a ton of great reads and should have had more than five assists (some no-look dimes led to FTs and teammates missed open looks), but needs to hit more shots. The Thunder should definitely have space for him in the rotation so Topic is the rare Summer League guy who is worth watching closely.

    Ajay Mitchell did not shoot well from the field, but his driving got him to the line a ton and he cruised to a solid game in an easy win. He’s been a lot better than the level of competition so far.

    Johni Broome has hit two triples in each of his first two games for Philly (corner and wing 3s on Monday) and can run some DHOs, set hard screens and positions himself well to grab rebounds on both ends.

    Brice Sensabaugh broke the Salt Lake Summer League scoring record with 37 points (previous holder was a 35-point Jonathan Simmons game in 2016) and his shooting/microwave scoring ability have made him look head and shoulders above the competition so far (19 points, five threes on July 5 as well). Sensabaugh could be making a case to start at SF next season, pushing Lauri Markkanen to PF.

    Cody Williams has put on a little muscle, but most importantly, he looks a lot more decisive and a little more aggressive. He was very, very passive as a rookie and that led to empty lines when given minutes. He has had a 14-point and an 18-point game so far.

    Ace Bailey looked a lot more confident and played in the flow of the game on his way to 18-7-3 with three triples. Some of his shot-making skills (nice fadeway midrange bucket & a no-dip three) also stood out.

    Cam Spencer (recently got a two-year, $4.5 million fully-guaranteed deal with the Grizzlies) showed off his movement shooting and feel for space/linking the play as he put up 23-6-3, one steal, one block and seven triples. He may be one to monitor in deep leagues for his sophomore season if he can break into a rotation role off the bench.

    Vegas Summer League


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    July 8, 2025, 7:47 am