BBNBA: Brandon Boston struggles on a quiet Summer League day

On paper, it looked like Wednesday could have shaped up for a big NBA Summer League night for former Kentucky Wildcats. Nine players who donned the blue and white at one point in their college career were set to play, however, only five guys saw the floor. For those players, including Brandon Boston, it was a sub-par evening of basketball.

Summer League is kind of like Tubby Smith in that it can be rife with odd substitution patterns. Every team approaches it differently, but coaches will bench a player the entire game for a variety of reasons. Most of the time, guys will sit to give another player an opportunity to prove himself. In other cases, the staff has seen enough to make a judgment one way or another on a player’s future with the team.

Either way, to the average fan, it can seem random. And on Wednesday, Nick Richards, Mychal Mulder, Ashton Hagans, and Kahlil Whitney were all saddled with a “Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision” designation.

Don’t read too much into it. Like I said, Summer League can be weird like that. But the guys who did play did not put up much better numbers than those who sat out.

Brandon Boston struggles on back-to-back nights

Tuesday night saw an aggressive Brandon Boston shoot poorly from the field but pad his scoring tally at the free throw line. The referees on Wednesday night, however, were not so generous with their whistle.

Boston finished 3-15 from the field, including 2-6 from behind the arc, and he did not shoot a free throw in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. He scored just eight points, one more than his impressively-high seven fouls on the evening.

Maybe his wrist is still bothering him.

In all seriousness, it would be great to see Brandon Boston find some consistency. As frustrating as it may have been watching him play at Kentucky during the year most fans wish they had a Men In Black-style memory-erasing neutralizer device, you have to feel for the kid.

After dominating the AAU circuit and entering college as a sure-fire star, nothing seemed to go right from day one. A Covid-plagued season helped make everything awful including Kentucky’s record, and his draft stock plummeted. Then, as if his college basketball dreams collapsing wasn’t enough, his best friend died tragically just minutes after he saw him.

On the court, Boston has shown flashes of brilliance but has often followed it up with a string of stinkers. Most notably, after dropping 27 against the Boston Celtics last season, he shot just 28% over the next 10 games.

This year’s Summer League has followed a similar pattern. After an efficient 15 points on 4-8 shooting in his first game out, he shot just 6-27 over his next two games for 22%.

Everything feels like an uphill climb for this kid despite how much effort he appears to put in. Let’s hope he can find the consistency he is desperately searching for, and we know he is capable of producing.

Other former Wildcats post modest numbers

Despite his struggles, Brandon Boston actually led all former Kentucky players in scoring Wednesday night. Johnny Juzang had six points on a night he was wired for sound. Kellen Grady and Davion Mintz each had four points on very few shots, and Nate Sestina chipped in three points of his own.

He, Mintz, and Juzang all made a 3-pointer, though, so that helped. However, the best shooter in that group, Kellen Grady, did not even attempt a deep ball during his 12 minutes on the court.

All of these guys will have at least one more game to make an impression before the Summer League playoffs begin this weekend.

juZANG gettin' things started#TakeNote | @johnnyjuzang pic.twitter.com/lZlyuSiHrj

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 13, 2022

Statistical Summary

PLAYER	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Boston	29	3-15	2-7	0-0	7	0	0	0	2	8
Johnny Juzang	24	2-9	2-6	0-0	5	0	0	0	0	6
Kellen Grady	12	2-4	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	4
Davion Mintz	12	1-2	1-2	1-2	0	1	1	0	0	4
Nate Sestina	12	1-3	1-1	0-0	3	0	0	1	0	3
Kahlil Whitney – DNP	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mychal Mulder – DNP	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Richards – DNP	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ashton Hagans – DNP	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Tonight in NBA Summer League

• Charlotte Hornets (Richards) vs. Chicago Bulls – 5:00 p.m. EST
• Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Hagans) – 5:30 p.m. EST
• Minnesota Timberwolves (Whitney) vs. Brooklyn Nets – 9:00 p.m. EST
• Houston Rockets (Washington) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (Sharpe) – 9:30 p.m. EST