Five reasons to tune in to the Summer Dubs.
It's been three weeks since the Warriors celebrated their second consecutive NBA Championship with a parade through downtown Oakland, so you know what that means...
It's time to get back to basketball.
Wait, really? Already?
If the first month of the NBA's so-called 'offseason' has you hankering for some quality on-court competition, you're in luck. The wait is over, as the Warriors open up Summer League play later tonight.
California ClassicJuly 2-5Sacramento, CAMGM Resorts NBA Summer LeagueJuly 6-17Las Vegas, NV
Golden State's Summer League slate will be composed of two separate tournaments. First, the Warriors will participate in the inaugural California Classic Summer League, a four-team, three-day event (July 2, 3 and 5), which will be hosted by the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center. It's the first time the Warriors will appear in a summer league outside of Las Vegas since participating in the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2008, and the first time the Dubs will play a summer league game within the state of California since 2004 when they participated in the Summer Pro League in Long Beach.
Following the California Classic, the Warriors will then head to Las Vegas to participate in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018, where they will play in as few as five and as many as eight contests from July 6 through July 17. This year represents the first time ever that all 30 NBA teams will field a squad in the Summer League in Las Vegas. Teams will compete in three preliminary round games from July 6-10 before being seeded in a tournament running through the Championship Game on July 17. It's the sixth year of the tournament format, after Golden State won the inaugural championship in 2013.
In both Sacramento and Las Vegas, the Warriors will be under the helm of current Warriors Assistant Coach/Player development Willie Green, who will serve as Head Coach for both Summer League entries. Filling out the coaching staff will be current Golden State assistant coaches Bruce Fraser and Chris DeMarco, as well as Santa Cruz Warriors Head Coach Aaron Miles.
Those coaches won't have the benefit of throwing multiple current NBA superstars out on the court simultaneously, but what they do have at their disposal is an intriguing roster replete with players with accomplished backgrounds and interesting backstories. The Warriors' Summer League roster has several names you might recognize, as well as some you probably won't, so here are five reasons to tune in to the Summer Dubs over the next two-plus weeks:
The New Guy
Jacob Evans is the newest member of the Golden State Warriors, and Summer League will present the first opportunity for Warriors fans to see their shiny new toy in action. The rookie guard/forward signed his contract earlier today, and will wear #10 for the Dubs. Selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Evans represents the highest Warriors draft pick since Harrison Barnes was selected 7th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft. He's coming off a junior season at Cincinnati in which he earned 2017-18 American Athletic Conference First Team honors and helped the Bearcats match a school record with 31 wins while leading the team in points (13.0) and assists (3.1). For an in-depth scouting report of Evans, click here.
Familiar Faces
Evans won't be the only member of the Golden State Warriors participating in Summer League. The rookie will be joined by two of the other youngest members of the big club in Jordan Bell and Damian Jones, who should combine to form one of the most athletic frontcourt tandems in either Sacramento or Las Vegas. Bell and Jones have 57 and 25 career NBA games played, respectively, but they're not the only ones on the Summer League roster with some NBA experience. Josh Maggette (18), Gian Clavell (7) and Omari Johnson (4) got time with the Hawks, Mavericks and Grizzlies this past season.
And then there's Elijah Brown, who puts the family in familiar. The son of Golden State Warriors Assistant Coach Mike Brown, he just completed his collegiate career at the University of Oregon, where he set the school's single-season free throw percentage record (80-of-86, .930), which led the Pac-12.
International Flavor
The Warriors' Summer League roster features players from all over the globe, and one in particular might have the 'best name' award already sewn up. That individual would be Abudushalamu Abudurexiti, or "Abu" or "Slam" for short. Abudurexiti comes to the Summer Dubs by way of China, where he was regarded as one of the top young forwards in Asia in 2017 by FIBA.com. Abu, 22, has played for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association each of the last three years, but didn't begin practicing regularly and playing basketball competitively until the age of 16. He learned English by watching HBO's Game of Thrones, of course.
Abu isn't the only one providing some international flavor to the Summer Dubs. Clavell and Johnson are originally from Puerto Rico and Jamaica, respectively, while guard/forward Xavier Cooks hails from Australia, and forward Nuni Omot (formerly of Baylor University) was born in Nairobi, Kenya.
Scoring Guards
If you like guards that can light up the scoreboard, then you won't want to miss the Warriors in Summer League action. The Dubs possess several accomplished guards on the roster, but two in particular have a penchant for piling on the points. One of those players is Jordan Howard, who scored 880 points for Central Arkansas during the 2017-18 collegiate season, which led the entire country. He was the 2017-18 Southland Player of the Year after ranking third in the nation in points per game (25.1), second in field goals made (280), ninth in free throws made (207), 12th in three-pointers made (113; a school single-season record) and 21st in free throw percentage.
The two NCAA players that averaged more points per game than Howard last season? One is Trae Young, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. The other is Kendrick Nunn, who also happens to be on the Warriors' Summer League roster. As a senior at Oakland University, Nunn led the NCAA in 30-point games (11) and three-pointers made per game (4.47), and ranked second in the country in three-pointers made (134) and scoring average (25.9 points per game). The reigning Horizon League Player of the Year played his first three collegiate seasons at the University of Illinois before transferring to Oakland, and when he gets hot, look out. The same goes for Howard.
Everyone Else
Some of the players (like Bell, Jones and Evans) participating in the summer leagues in Sacramento and Las Vegas have NBA contracts, meaning they're currently on NBA rosters. However, the vast majority of players participating in those tournaments do not have NBA contracts, so they're eligible to be picked up and signed by any of the 30 NBA teams. Summer League offers a great opportunity for these players to show what they are made of in a competitive setting, while simultaneously providing NBA teams a chance to evaluate them. If a player performs well enough, they just might get picked up by an NBA team, but not necessarily the one they are playing for in Summer League.
As such, while you're watching the Warriors in Summer League, keep an eye out for anyone else that stands out. Who knows, they might be making their way to a NBA court near you in the future, perhaps even for Golden State.