BBNBA in July: Summer League play begins this weekend

Folks, I’ve got good news and bad news. I’ll give them to you both in that order.

Good news: Basketball is back and will be on your television essentially every day through July 22, July 11 being the only break in the NBA Summer League schedule. It’ll be your chance to see Kentucky’s most recent draft class of Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards and Tre Mitchell suiting up for their new teams, along with a few familiar faces returning to compete in the annual event.

Bad news: Most teams don’t suit up until the NBA 2K25 Las Vegas Summer League, which doesn’t start until July 12. The California Classic Summer League runs from July 6-10 while the Salt Lake City Summer League goes from July 8-10. Then following a one-day break on July 11, the Vegas Summer League goes from July 12-22. That’s typically where the heavy hitters suit up, namely Sheppard and Dillingham in this case.

So patience will be necessary building up to the main act a week from today, especially with former Kentucky guys. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy what we’ve got as it comes here in the dog days of summer, right? Basketball is basketball, and it starts back up Saturday afternoon in California.

Let’s run through the rosters of the 2024 California Classic Summer League, which features the Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs. Of those six squads, only one former Wildcat is scheduled to participate: Kevin Knox, who is playing for Golden State this summer.

Charlotte Hornets

• Brandon Miller – Alabama
• James Banks III – Georgia Tech
• RaeQuan Battle – West Virginia
• Leaky Black – North Carolina
• Pedro Bradshaw – Bellarmine
• Kevin Cross Jr. – Tulane
• Marcus Garrett – Kansas
• Mouhamadou Gueye – Pittsburgh
• Malik Hall – Michigan State
• Caleb McConnell – Rutgers
• Bryce McGowens – Nebraska
• Matt Morgan – Cornell
• Drew Pember – UNC Asheville
• Charles Pride – St. Bonaventure
• Tidjane Salaün – France
• Zavier Simpson – Michigan
• KJ Simpson – Colorado
• Brandon Slater – Villanova
• Nick Smith Jr. – Arkansas
• Jake Stephens – UT Chattanooga

Golden State Warriors

• Reece Beekman – Virginia
• Marques Bolden – Duke
• Yuri Collins – Saint Louis
• Allen Flanigan – Ole Miss
• Trayce Jackson-Davis – Indiana
• Kevin Knox II – Kentucky
• Daeqwon Plowden – Bowling Green State
• Brandin Podziemski – Santa Clara
• Jackson Rowe – Cal State Fullerton
• Mantas Rubštavičius – New Zealand Breakers
• Gui Santos – Minas (Brazil)
• Roman Sorkin – Oregon
• Pat Spencer – Northwestern
• Christian Terrell – Sacramento State
• Ethan Thompson – Oregon State
• Santiago Vescovi – Tennessee
• Jimmy Whitt – Arkansas

Los Angeles Lakers

• Bronny James – USC
• Dalton Knecht – Tennessee
• Maxwell Lewis – Pepperdine
• Tommy Kuhse – Saint Mary’s
• Kyle Mangas – Indiana Wesleyan
• Grayson Murphy – Belmont
• Quincy Olivari – Xavier
• Mohammed Diarra – NC State
• Sean East II – Missouri
• Colin Castleton – Florida
• Blake Hinson – Pittsburgh
• Armel Traore – ADA Blois (France)
• Vincent Valerio-Bodon – Sopron KC (Hungary)

Miami Heat

• Gabe Brown – Michigan State
• JC Butler – UC Irvine
• Josh Christopher – Arizona State
• Caleb Daniels – Villanova
• Keshad Johnson – Arizona
• Pelle Larsson – Arizona
• Zyon Pullin – Florida
• Neal Sako – Cholet (France)
• Isaiah Stevens – Colorado State
• Cole Swider – Syracuse
• Kel’el Ware – Indiana
• Bryson Warren – Overtime Elite
• Warren Washington – Texas Tech
• Alondes Williams – Wake Forest

Sacramento Kings

• Fardaws Aimaq – Cal-Berkeley
• Adonis Arms – Texas Tech
• Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. – Baylor
• TJ Bickerstaff – James Madison
• Kenan Blackshear – Nevada
• Ahmad Caver – Old Dominion
• Lucas Dufeal – JA Vichy (France)
• Isaiah Crawford – Louisiana Tech
• Antoine Davis – Detroit Mercy
• Boogie Ellis – USC
• Keon Ellis – Alabama
• Jordan Ford – Saint Mary’s
• Dane Goodwin – Notre Dame
• Sehmus Hazer – Fenerbahçe S.K. (Turkey)
• D’Moi Hodge – Missouri
• Colby Jones – Xavier
• Isaac Jones – Washington State
• Mason Jones – Arkansas
• Jay Nagle – Idaho Statae
• Melwin Pantzar – Surne Bilbao Basket (Spain)
• Yves Pons – Tennessee
• Xavier Sneed – Kansas State
• Drew Timme – Gonzaga
• Hason Ward – Iowa State

San Antonio Spurs

• Luke Avdalovic – Austin
• Jamaree Bouyea – San Francisco
• Stephon Castle – UConn
• Sidy Cissoko – G League Ignite
• David Duke – Providence
• RaiQuan Gray – Florida State
• Darin Green – Florida State
• DJ Horne – NC State
• Harrison Ingram – UNC
• Yauhen Massalski – San Francisco
• Nathan Mensah – San Diego State
• Seth Millner – Toledo
• Riley Minix – Morehead State
• Jameer Nelson Jr. – TCU
• Tyrece Radford – Texas A&M
• Tyson Ward – North Dakota State

Knox and the Warriors will suit up against the Heat on Saturday, July 6 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, followed by Bronny and the Lakers on July 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV. From there, he’ll wrap things up in California on July 10 against the Kings at 10 p.m. ET on NBA TV.

Thrilling, right?

Things will ramp up a bit in Salt Lake City from July 8-10 when the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder suit up — former Cats taking the floor for the latter two. Edwards is set to make his debut with his hometown Sixers while Tre Mitchell will play for the Thunder.

They’ll start in Salt Lake City, then make their way to Las Vegas for another four games.

Justin Edwards – Philadelphia 76ers

• Mon. 7/8 vs. Oklahoma City at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Tue. 7/9 vs. Memphis at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Wed. 7/10 vs. Utah at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Sat. 7/13 vs. Detroit at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Mon. 7/15 vs. Portland at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBATV
• Tue. 7/16 vs. Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Fri. 7/19 vs. San Antonio at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBATV

Tre Mitchell – Oklahoma City Thunder

• Mon. 7/8 vs. Philadelphia at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Tue. 7/9 vs. Utah at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Wed. 7/10 vs. Memphis at 7 p.m. ET on NBATV
• Sat. 7/13 vs. Toronto at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBATV
• Mon. 7/15 vs. Miami at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• Wed. 7/17 vs. Phoenix at 8 p.m. ET on NBATV
• Fri. 7/19 vs. Golden State at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBATV

The final rosters have not been released for many of the teams outside the 2024 California Classic Summer League, but we do have a few confirmed names on the squads with former Wildcats:

Philadelphia 76ers

• Adem Bona – UCLA
• Justin Edwards – Kentucky
• Max Fiedler – Rice
• David Jones – Memphis
• Romeo Langford – Indiana
• Jared McCain – Duke
• Judah Mintz – Syracuse
• Justin Powell – Washington State
• RJ Hampton – New Zealand Breakers
• Jaylen Sims – UNC Wilmington
• Keve Aluma – Virginia Tech
• Tony Bradley – North Carolina
• Ricky Council IV – Arkansas
• Darius Days – LSU
• Jordan Tucker – Butler

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Tre Mitchell – Kentucky
• Jack Gohlke – Oakland
• Clarence Daniels – New Hampshire
• Alex Ducas – St. Mary’s
• Dillon Jones – Weber St.
• Malevy Leons – Bradley
• Ajay Mitchell – UC Santa Barbara
• Adam Flagler – Baylor

Indiana Pacers

• Oscar Tshiebwe – Kentucky
• Jarace Walker – Houston
• Tristen Newton – UConn
• Keisei Tominaga – Nebraska
• Josiah-Jordan James – Tennessee
• Johnny Furphy – Kansas
• Enrique Freeman – Akron
• Ben Sheppard – Belmont

Houston Rockets

• Reed Sheppard – Kentucky
• AJ Griffin – Duke
• N’Faly Dante – Oregon
• Cam Whitmore – Villanova
• Shahada Wells – McNeese State

Minnesota Timberwolves

• Rob Dillingham – Kentucky
• Terrence Shannon – Illinois
• Leonard Miller – G League Ignite
• James Bishop – George Washington
• Jesse Edwards – West Virginia
• Jaedon LeDee – San Diego State
• Daishen Nix – G League Ignite
• Tyler Wahl – Wisconsin

New Orleans Pelicans

• Antonio Reeves – Kentucky
• Yves Missi – Baylor
• Josh Oduro – Providence
• Kevin Obanor – Texas Tech
• Malcolm Hill – Illinois

We’ll have those complete rosters and the full schedule next week as we turn our attention to Las Vegas. Until then, we’ll enjoy the ride in California and Salt Lake City for some summer hoops.