SLCSL2019

Angie Treasure

If you’ve seen any Utah Jazz summer league action, you know forward Jarrell Brantley has a rare mix of strength and athleticism, and a motor that doesn’t seem to quit. But in the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel, he needed to be a little faster.

“Too slow!” Justin Wright-Foreman said as Brantley tried to swipe the hat off of the head of his teammate’s Utah Jazz draft pick.

Then Wright-Foreman took an upward swipe of his own and the two bantered.

“You gonna get my bags?” Brantley said with a smirk.

“I gotta get away from him,” Wright-Foreman said.

The two youngsters, along with fellow second-round draft pick Miye Oni, have quickly become teammates, friends and each other’s biggest supporters since being drafted by the Jazz last month.

“We’re rooting for each other,” Brantley said. “We’re all mid-major guys. Now we get a chance to sit back and root for each other and play with each other.”

There have been highs and lows for the trio as they’ve navigated their first NBA summer league action. But they have been there for each other, each step of the way.

“They all seem to have a really good relationship with each other,” said Lamar Skeeter, who coached the Jazz during the Salt Lake Summer League. “Rookies that come in at the same time kind of form this bond a lot of times. They all get along. They all like each other. They’re all competitive. It helps each one of them. They feed off each other on offense, on defense, in practice. And it’s contagious. You see it with all of our guys.”

Jazz assistant coach Vince Legarza agreed.

“Our group has been really connected,” he said. “We preach for them to be unselfish and play hard and have fun. It’s fun to see those guys having jelling and celebrating one another’s successes.”

Brantley averaged 13.5 points and 5 rebounds in two Salt Lake City Summer League appearances before being slowed by hamstring tightness in Las Vegas. Wright-Foreman has averaged 11.7 points and 3.5 assists in four summer league games, while trying to navigate playing a new position against pro talent.

“It’s a learning process,” Wright-Foreman said. “I’m just trying to learn from the guys here. … It’s been going great. My teammates have really been helping me.”

Brantley and Wright-Foreman forged a friendship earlier this year, when they teamed up to win 3x3U National Championship–and a $100,000 prize.

But the two quickly embraced Oni and have been some of his biggest fans along the way, watching the Yale wing break out offensively in Salt Lake City and, later, coming up with a game-saving block against Portland’s Anfernee Simons this week in Vegas.

“Those are my guys,” Oni said. “It’s good to see each of us kind of breaking out of shells a little bit. … We just all keep feeding off each other’s energy.”

“It’s a great story,” added Brantley. “I’m sure good things will happen for all three of us.”

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Jazz draft picks Brantley, Oni and Wright-Foreman rooting for each other through the highs and lows of NBA summer league

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Lookin' Live: SLC Summer League

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Highlights: Miye Oni—17 points, 4 3pm

Summer League Highlights: Jazz 84 | Spurs 81

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On Monday the Jazz were ice cold and lost. On Tuesday they were lukewarm and won.

And on Wednesday they were on fire (in the first quarter, at least), jumping out to a quick 16-point lead and holding on for an 84-81 victory over the San Antonio Spurs to cap off the 2019 Salt Lake City Summer League.

San Antonio had a chance to tie it at the end, but an off-balance 3-point attempt by Lonnie Walker IV banked harmlessly off the backboard as the final buzzer sounded.

Miye Oni (17 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block) and Jarrell Brantley (16 points, six rebounds, one steal)—two of Utah's three second round picks—led the way for the Jazz, while center Willie Reed added 14 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in the win.

Oni made his first five shots—four threes and a coast-to-coast layup—while Brantley drove into the lane for a vicious left-handed dunk and then hit nothing but net on a corner three.

Walker IV scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a pull-up three that cut the deficit to three midway through the final period. Reed, though, answered with a layup in traffic and then a putback dunk to push Utah's lead back to seven.

Spurs center Drew Eubanks added 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Both teams finished the week with a 2-1 record, and both are headed to Las Vegas to participate in the NBA Summer League, which begins on Friday.

Stanton Kidd (11 points) and Austin Hollins (11 points, three 3-pointers) also scored in double figures for the Jazz. ... San Antonio's two first round draft picks—Luka Samanic (No. 19 pick) and Keldon Johnson (No. 29 pick)—did not play. ... Jazz point guard Jairus Lyles suffered a sprained foot late in the first half and did not return to the game. ... Utah's Tony Bradley and Justin Wright-Foreman (rest) did not play. ... Utah outrebounded San Antonio 44-38. ... The Jazz shot 11-for-31 (35.5 percent) from beyond the arc. The Spurs shot 7-for-17 (41.2 percent). ... Quinndary Weatherspoon (13 points) and Thomas Robinson (12 points, nine rebounds, two steals) also scored in double figures for San Antonio.

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Jazz lead from tip to buzzer, finish SLC Summer League with win over Spurs

The Grizzlies tipped off Day 3 of the Salt Lake City Summer League with a wire-to-wire 81-68 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Memphis outscored Cleveland in each quarter en route to the 13-point win.

Keenan Evans caught fire off the bench for the Grizzlies, scoring a game-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting (including 3-for-4 from three). The 22-year-old guard, who played for the NBA G League's Delaware Blue Coats (Philadelphia 76ers affiliate) last season, added three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 18 minutes.

Yuta Watanabe (12 points, nine rebounds), John Konchar (11 points, eight rebounds) and Julian Washburn (10 points, two 3-pointers) also scored in double figures in the win.

Naz Mitrou-Long, who played 14 games for the Jazz and 32 games for the SLC Stars last season, led the Cavaliers with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Long was Cleveland's leading scorer this week, averaging 15.0 points over three games.

Jalen Hudson (10 points) was the only other Cleveland player to score in double figures.

Memphis went 2-1 this week, while Cleveland dropped all three of its games. Both teams are scheduled to play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which begins this Friday.

Memphis outscored Cleveland 38-20 in the paint. ... Memphis shot 41.9 percent. Cleveland shot 36.7 percent. ... The Grizzlies outrebounded the Cavaliers 47-29. ... Both teams made 10 3-pointers.

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Grizzlies notch wire-to-wire win over Cavs at the SLC Summer League

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SLC Summer League - Day 2 Gallery

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For all of the great games Justin Wright-Foreman had in college, it was one of his worst performances that stands out to former NBA guard Speedy Claxton.

Hofstra lost at Northeastern. Wright-Foreman had an off night. And the team got back to campus at about 1 a.m.

“Justin went straight to the gym,” said Claxton, now an assistant coach at Hofstra. “The kid is a worker.”

So no one who knows Wright-Foreman well was worried after the Utah Jazz guard’s 3-for-14 debut at the Salt Lake City Summer League. Wright-Foreman got things on track with a 20-point game in Tuesday’s 86-71 win over the Cavaliers.

“Yesterday was a subpar day for me,” Wright-Foreman said. “Definitely had some nerves. It was my first game. I had to get adjusted to the NBA speed and NBA length. Today I felt way more comfortable.”

Wright-Foreman got himself going with a second-quarter alley-oop, catching a lob from teammate Tanner McGrew, and throwing down a left-handed slam. From there, the second-round draft pick showed off some of the offensive arsenal — floaters, threes and pull-ups — that helped him average 27 points a game last season.

“He’s the ultimate scorer,” Claxton said. “The kid has a knack for scoring the ball.”

That’s what drew Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich during a Las Vegas AAU tournament five years ago. The coach had a flight to catch and didn’t know if he’d see enough of the young guard. By the time Mihalich left for the airport after the third quarter, he was prepared to offer Wright-Foreman a scholarship. The guard had scored 39 points.

“He will do something once a game that you just can’t believe,” Mihalich said.

Wright-Foreman’s offensive skill set is what got him drafted by the Jazz with the 53rd pick last month. That night, the 21-year-old put his head in his hands and cried tears of joy. After Monday night’s game, Wright-Foreman was experiencing a different emotion.

 “The first game is hard,” Jazz Summer League coach Lamar Skeeter said. “You have to get some of those jitters out. For him, he’s such a competitive kid that he was probably a little hard on himself last night and he shouldn’t have been.”

But the young guard knew he would bounce back.

At shootaround on Tuesday morning, Wright-Foreman’s shot was falling and he felt a renewed confidence.

 “He’s a good player,” Skeeter said. “With good players, the game is going to come to him and he’ll figure it out.”

And by the time the final buzzer sounded Tuesday night, Wright-Foreman had gone for 20 points (8-of-13 shooting) to go with four assists and a rebound.

“My confidence is going to be a lot higher now,” he said.

“He works so hard every day,” Mihalich said. “You can’t get him out of the gym. You can’t get him out. He’ll be in there at 11:30 at night after a game. It’s why he’s great and it’s why he’s going to keep getting better.”

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Utah Jazz draft pick Justin Wright-Foreman showcases offensive arsenal in second Summer League game

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