BBNBA: Summer League Recap and Takeaways
Another Summer League is in the books, as 14 former Kentucky players suited up in their attempt to make an NBA team or simply gain experience and improve.
Initially, all eyes were primarily on mystery man, Shaedon Sharpe, who was set to play competitive basketball for the first time in seemingly forever. Alas, onlookers only got to see five minutes and 33 seconds.
Sharpe sustained a small labral tear during the first quarter of his first game, sidelining him for the remainder of the Summer League. The Portland Trail Blazers did, however, go on to win the championship without him, so he will walk away from Vegas a winner, sporting a bright and shiny ring to prove it.
As for the other 13 former Kentucky players, it was a wide range of performances, but here are the key takeaways:
The first-round pick: TyTy Washington
Kentucky fans were much keener on watching the school’s other first-round draft pick, TyTy Washington, take the court. The Tyrese Maxey clone had an extremely steady and consistent performance across five games. Though he is capable of shooting the ball better than he did, he averaged 9.4 points and 3.8 assists and was active on the defensive end of the ball, coming away with 1.8 steals per game as well.
His coaching staff came away very pleased. Summer League head coach, Rick Higgins, called his play fantastic and added, “TyTy does everything we are trying to do to the best of his ability every second he is on the court.”
Washington fell way too far in the draft, coming off the board at #29 on a pick that eventually landed with the Houston Rockets after a series of trades. He should get plenty of opportunities to see the court during the regular season, as Houston looks to develop their young talent into a core capable of a making big run in a few years.
The NBA veteran: Nick Richards
Nick Richards is not in danger of missing the Charlotte Hornets’ opening day roster but played the Summer League to gain more in-game experience. Coaches expect guys Richards who have been around a few years to separate themselves from the pack of young hopefuls and solidify their standing as a tier above the rest. He did exactly that.
Would-be-6th-year-senior, Nick Richards, played only two games but dominated the paint for the Hornets on both sides of the ball. He averaged 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game to go along with 2.5 blocks. Richards led the G-League in blocks per game during the 2020-21 season and showed no signs of regression.
Richards also appears to be changing his number back to #4, the same one he wore during his time at Kentucky. Look for him to channel that same energy and crack the Hornets’ rotation more than he did last year under new head coach Steve Clifford.
The rising star: Isaiah Jackson
Isaiah Jackson of the Indiana Pacers established himself as a rising star. The man who led the Summer League last season in blocks accomplished that same feat again this year amongst players who participated in at least three games. Moreover, he shot over 50% from the field and averaged 10 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Oh, and he also nearly brought the arena down with a breakaway dunk:
Now that Deandre Ayton will be returning to the Phoenix Suns, who matched the Pacers’ four-year $133 million offer, Jackson should not have to worry about a new face coming to town and stealing his minutes. In the second half of last season when he was a solid part of the rotation, he averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 blocks per game, and the team will be expecting more of that.
He is another former Kentucky player whose coaching staff loves what he can do on the court.
“[Isaiah Jackson] is a very special player in my mind. He is not just a rim-runner and a rolling center. [Jackson] handles the ball [and] passes the ball extremely well. He has a really good natural feel and flow to the game. He’s unselfish, and his shooting is getting better and better.”
Indiana Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle on Isaiah Jackson
The human roller coaster: Brandon Boston Jr.
Brandon Boston Jr.’s Summer League performance was either feast or famine. Or, to use a more Kentucky basketball-appropriate analogy, either 2012 or 2021.
He had games where he was unquestionably the best player on the court and others where he simply thought he was the best player on the court, hoisting up shot after shot, making drive-after-drive to often come up empty.
No other former Kentucky player saw more time on the court than Boston, who averaged 27.6 minutes and played in all of the LA Clippers’ five games. He finished with 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game but shot a shaky 33% from the field and 32% from behind the arc.
A couple of very tough games drug those shooting percentages way down, however, Boston started strong and finished strong, which are the games that often make the biggest impression.
The biggest thing for Brandon Boston Jr. to improve upon is consistency. With a healthy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George suiting up for the Clippers, along with the Ali-like return of John Wall, minutes will be harder to come by. He’ll have to find that delicate balance of seizing his opportunities when presented without trying to play one-on-five, which was his tendency in the games where he struggled.
The scrappy journeyman: Mychal Mulder
When Mychal Mulder left Kentucky, no reasonable fan expected him to land with an NBA team. Fast forward three years and he has started at least one game for three different teams.
Mulder played last season with the Miami Heat, but they ultimately decided to waive him in favor of younger talent just before Summer League ended.
He started off on fire, posting a game-high 23 points on just 12 shots and 5-7 from deep. After that first game, however, his shooting tanked. He made just one of his next 13 3-pointers and did not record an assist. That slump likely cost him his spot with the Miami Heat, however, don’t count out Mulder just yet. He has been proving everyone wrong from the minute he began his professional career, so it wouldn’t surprise me if another team picked up the 28-year-old to fill out one of their two-way contract spots.
The beloved ex: Johnny Juzang
Johnny Juzang was the darling of March Madness 2021, making Wildcat fans a bit disgruntled he was wearing a UCLA jersey during that run instead of a Kentucky one. Juzang transferred away from Lexington after his freshman season and saw his points-per-game average immediately jump from 2.3 to 16.
Juzang went undrafted, but the Utah Jazz were quick to pick him up as a free agent. He did not post a remarkable field goal percentage, shooting just 26.1% in the Summer League, but the Jazz felt like he played well enough to sign him to a two-way contract.
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Juzang will likely spend most of his time this upcoming season in the G-League, where it will be up to him to recapture the play-making spirit that earned him so much praise during the NCAA tournament two seasons ago.
I made this comparison in the BBNBA recap of Sunday’s games, but it bears repeating: it is good to see former Kentucky players live out their dream and make it to the NBA. It is kind of like seeing your ex prosper in their career long after you’ve broken up. You’re happy for them, even though your name isn’t beside theirs on any formal documentation.
The ex with a new look: Sacha Killeya-Jones
To stay on the ex metaphor for just another minute, we all have that former beau who we see a few years later and looks nothing like they did when we were together. For Kentucky basketball, that ex is Sacha Killeya-Jones.
Killeya-Jones spent two seasons in Lexington before transferring to NC State (where he never played). Kentucky fans probably remember him as a mostly clean-shaven lanky guy with short hair. Well, sort of like scrolling through Facebook and having to do a double-take on that aforementioned ex, that is no longer the case.
Sacha has let his hair grow long, grown a beard, and looks to have photoshopped his arms in real life to twice the size they were in college.
In terms of basketball skills, Killeya-Jones appears to have changed those up as well. Using his new NBA-ready body, he played a healthy chunk of minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, who seem to be giving him serious consideration.
Killeya-Jones finished his four games with 6.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He also drained a 3-pointer, something he only attempted once during his two-year stint at Kentucky.
Killeya-Jones last played in Poland for MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza where he averaged 19 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He also plays for the Great Britain International Team, where he competed in the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket qualifiers.
He now looks to latch onto an NBA team as an agile and newly muscular big man capable of draining an outside shot.
Kentucky’s other NBA hopefuls: Olivier Sarr, Kellen Grady, Davion Mintz, Kahlil Whitney, Nate Sestina, and Ashton Hagans
The next tier of former Kentucky players vying to make an NBA roster will likely have to continue that effort in the G-League or overseas.
The player who I thought had the best chance of making the roster of the team for which he played was Olivier Sarr, who suited up for the Phoenix Suns this summer. However, with Deandre Ayton returning and no Kevin Durrant trade on the horizon that would have freed up more roster spots, there likely will be no room for Kentucky’s favorite fighting Frenchman in the Valley.
Of this group, though, he likely has the best chance of getting picked up. He averaged eight points and eight rebounds per game this summer in just over 14 minutes of action, finishing over 50% from the field. He played for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season and it wouldn’t surprise me if another team scooped him up.
For Kellen Grady, Davion Mintz, Ashton Hagans, Nate Sestina, and Kahlil Whitney, it would have taken a tremendous Summer League performance in order for them to turn heads, and unfortunately, that did not happen.
Kellen Grady appears to still be experiencing the same shooting yips he suffered at the end of last season with the ‘Cats. Mintz served as a solid role player for the Wizards, but that likely won’t be enough to make the primary roster. Nate Sestina is better than you remember, but likely not up to NBA standards quite yet. Ashton Hagans is still a pest on defense but was not able to get his offense going. And Kahlil Whitney is still trying to find a rhythm in his pro career.
Best of luck to all of these former ‘Cats no matter where they land next basketball season.
Summer League Statistics
| PLAYER | GP | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 2 | 23.7 | 62.5% | 0% | 75% | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 14.5 |
| Brandon Boston (LAC) | 5 | 27.6 | 33% | 32% | 70.4% | 5.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 13.4 |
| Mychal Mulder (MIA) | 3 | 22.3 | 39.3% | 40% | 75% | 2.7 | 0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 12 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 3 | 21.9 | 54.2 | 50% | 50% | 8.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 10 |
| TyTy Washington (HOU) | 5 | 26.5 | 37.% | 30% | 62.5% | 3.6 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 9.4 |
| Johnny Juzang (UTA) | 5 | 24.1 | 26.1% | 32.3% | 81.1% | 4.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 8.6 |
| Olivier Sarr (PHX) | 3 | 14.2 | 53.3% | 0% | 80% | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1.7 | 1 | 8 |
| Sacha Killeya-Jones (LAL) | 4 | 21.3 | 44.8 | 33.3% | 0% | 6.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| Kellen Grady (DEN) | 4 | 15.7 | 34.5% | 14.3% | 0% | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Davion Mintz (WAS) | 3 | 10.4 | 44% | 42.9% | 50% | 0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0 | 0.7 | 4.3 |
| Kahlil Whitney (MIN) | 2 | 11.7 | 33% | 0% | 100% | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Nate Sestina (SAC) | 5 | 15.2 | 43.8% | 37.5% | 50% | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 3.8 |
| Ashton Hagans (CLE) | 4 | 15.5 | 13.3% | 0% | 75% | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
| Shaedon Sharpe (POR) | 1 | 5.6 | 33% | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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