Top 50 players to watch at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas

Every July, all 30 teams cram into two gyms in Las Vegas and we collectively overreact to basketball games that will be forgotten by Halloween. And yet, Summer League matters because it’s the one place where every fanbase, from the contenders to the doomed, gets to squint at a 19-year-old and think, “Hey, he’s gonna be a guy for us!”

Here are the 50 players I’ll be watching, including one player from every team. Some are star rookies. Others are second-year guys who need to show something. A handful are just fighting for a chance in the league.

1. Darryn Peterson, Jazz rookie guard

Peterson’s lone Kansas season was a medical drama with a hamstring strain, mysterious cramps, and 11 frustrating absences. So naturally, he showed up in Salt Lake City and reminded everyone why he was still the second pick: 28 in his debut against Atlanta, including a 3 to answer a fourth-quarter push and another to break a tie in overtime. Two days later, 25 points and 12 assists against Memphis. The guy with the cramps appears gone. The high school phenom has returned.

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

In high school, he was a dynamic playmaker who used his burst to get into the teeth of defenses and generate buckets for himself and his teammates, while also showing off the kind of shot-making that draws comparisons to Hall of Famers. At Kansas, he thrived in an off-ball role, stroking jumpers out of movement actions and showing he can scale up or down depending on what a roster needs. With Utah, he appears to be combining both of those skills to so far look like the star of the summer. Will this run continue? On Thursday night, he’ll face off against the one player drafted ahead of him.

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2. AJ Dybantsa, Wizards rookie forward

Dybantsa could become one of the NBA’s most unstoppable shot-creators, but he’s already under pressure entering his Summer League debut on Thursday with a matchup against Darryn Peterson, who is looking like a superstar for Utah, and with the third pick, Grizzlies forward Cameron Boozer, resembling a veteran All-Star.

But for Wizards fans feeling panicked, just remember who Dybantsa…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/top-50-players-to-watch-at-nba-summer-league-in-las-vegas-021549727.html

Author : Kevin O'Connor

Publish date : 2026-07-09 02:15:00

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