Cooper Flagg, Johnny Furphy's dunk and other 2025 NBA Summer League standouts

New York Times

23-07-2025

LAS VEGAS — Summer league, baby! It's the NBA's big convention, the place where you can see fans take selfies with Scott Foster, watch the 'Ricky Davis rule' in action and get a sell-out crowd for a game that would draw 100 people in Oshkosh, Wis., this December with the same players.
With so much going on in Vegas, sometimes it's hard to remember that there was also basketball. So much of it, in fact, that teams rarely let their best prospects play the whole thing. (As a league, the NBA might want to talk about that.)
Advertisement
So, what are we supposed to take away from what happened on the court? The conventional wisdom is that everything you see in Vegas is a mirage that means virtually nothing once teams reconvene to play real basketball this fall. While elements of that statement are true, it's not entirely true. In particular, summer-league evaluations can be much more useful if you manage to blind yourself to makes and misses and just focus on some of the big-picture characteristics you see.
Statistically, virtually nothing translates to the regular season convincingly except stuff that already correlates heavily with height and position (i.e., blocks, assists and rebounds). What you're looking for instead is a lot of the soft stuff — size, functional athleticism, IQ and, especially, non-scoring impact.
As a result, it's hard to tell you who 'starred' in summer league in a way that isn't just drunk on shooting variance, but let me try.
I was excited to see what Indiana's second-year pro could do heading into his second season, and his greatest hits at summer league certainly didn't disappoint. Chief among them, of course, was his detonation on Chicago Bulls rookie Noa Essengue, a finish that came after a coast-to-coast dribbling sequence that included a sweet between-the-legs change of direction to free up his assault on the rim.
😳😳😳
Johnny Furphy just dropped the best dunk at @NBASummerLeague. pic.twitter.com/6XIwlcqVYn
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) July 14, 2025
That said, the Summer of Furph still left us wanting more at times. There were too many moments of passivity or where he took a back seat to lesser players (he finished eighth on the Pacers in usage rate). When he tried to make plays, mixed in with the spectacular positives were far too many turnovers. Furphy has an open path to rotation minutes in a gap year in Indiana, but he'll need to do more than tease us to claim them.
Advertisement
With six seconds left in overtime between the Rockets and Atlanta Hawks and Houston trailing by one, we had a rare basketball Olimpico on a sideline out-of-bounds play, as Samuels' attempted alley-oop pass for Great Osobor instead went directly into the basket.
While you can't commit offensive interference on an inbound play, you also can't score directly from out of bounds. So unfortunately, this was a violation that gave the ball back to Atlanta.
In a game between Brooklyn and Oklahoma City on the first day of play, Reynolds won possession of a jump ball in his own end … and immediately turned and shot it into his own basket.
Thunder guard Erik Reynolds accidentally scored on his own basket 😅
🎥 @espn | H/T @KingCharge pic.twitter.com/aMyhMoLU3Y
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) July 10, 2025
This, you may be surprised to hear, did not count as two points for the Nets but rather as a violation that resulted in Brooklyn getting the ball out of bounds. It's the so-called Ricky Davis rule that makes it illegal for a player to shoot at his own basket (Davis once famously banked a shot off his own rim so he could rebound it and get a triple-double), memorialized as Rule 5.1.e in the official rulebook.
Literally and figuratively, the 7-foot-1 Yang was a big deal in Vegas. He was neither the best nor the worst player at summer league, but he definitely garnered the most attention as a mystery man from overseas. (The Chinese network Tencent dedicated a production crew just to broadcast his games — not something it typically does for summer league.)
Yang also produced some unintentional comedy due to his total lack of familiarity with the defensive-three-seconds rule. Early in his second game, the baseline official could be heard yelling, 'Get out!' five times before finally relenting and calling the violation on Yang. That came after the league seemingly avoided enforcing the rule entirely during the first set of games for each team, producing some hilarious sequences where Yang was in the lane for much of the shot clock.
Advertisement
He'll figure out the rule soon enough. As far as basketball, it was a mixed bag. Yang is huge, willingly physical and has some sizzle as a passer from the top of the key; it also looks like he can make enough 3s to keep defenses honest. Despite all the social media clips, however, his overall numbers were pretty pedestrian. He disappointed on the glass and may struggle changing ends and guarding in space. His ultimate success may depend on whether he can mash in the paint well enough to dissuade opponents from covering him with smalls.
Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks: Forget that he made 5 of 21 in his first summer-league game; summer shooting percentages are basically worthless. Flagg passed the eye test with flying colors, roaring down the lane for giant dunks, handling the ball like a point guard despite nominally being a 6-8 power forward and showing comfort shooting pull-ups off the dribble. A nitpicker would have wanted to see more activity on the glass, but Flagg was unsurprisingly the best rookie in Vegas.
VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers: Edgecombe only played two summer games, and only one of them came in Vegas, where he made 4 of 14 against Washington. Nonetheless, Edgecombe also passed the eye test with his burst and athleticism and filled the stat sheet with 15 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocks in his 60 summer-league minutes. Shooting will be a swing skill for him, but he showed he can contribute in enough ways to survive cold snaps from the perimeter.
Nique Clifford, Sacramento Kings: Clifford played in all six of the Kings' summer games as they went to the final before losing, and the 24th pick of the NBA Draft was consistently productive in them all. While his 11-of-24 mark on 3s in his Vegas stint might be an outlier, Clifford stood out as a plus defender and rebounder (12.5 percent rebound rate) who also posted 25 assists in his six games. For somebody who profiles as a glue-guy role player, he looked the part.
Brooks Barnhizer, Thunder: The best second-round pick in Vegas was this guy, a rugged wing from Northwestern who somehow played in eight summer-league games without being shut down. His activity stats were off the charts, with 27 'stocks' (steals + blocks) in his eight games and a 12.5 percent rebound rate despite standing 6-5. Shooting questions dogged Barnhizer his whole career and will likely determine whether he makes it, but the 44th pick in the draft showed enough to be an interesting energy guy at worst.
Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets: World champs! Knueppel started his summer with a 1-for-8 stinker against the Utah Jazz but built up from there, leading the Hornets to the summer crown with a 21-point effort in the title game. What stood out about Knueppel was nearly half his shots were 2s; he doesn't need to play as a perimeter specialist. He also sprinkled in 19 assists in his five games, showing nice functionality as a secondary creator.
Kyle Filipowski, Utah Jazz: Though abetted somewhat by summer league's more liberal foul-out rules (he finished with eight personals in two different games, because in Vegas you get 10 before fouling out), Filipowski, who was named summer-league MVP on Monday, was probably the best second-year player I saw. He dropped a 32-6-5 line on Charlotte and 35 points and 11 rebounds on San Antonio before Utah shut him down. His launch rate from 3 (23 attempts in his final three games) is an encouraging sign that he'll lean harder into his stretch capability for the regular season.
Advertisement
Terrence Shannon Jr., Minnesota Timberwolves: Shannon got in three summer games before the Wolves shut him down, scoring 68 points in 88 minutes and standing out athletically. Of note is how often he launched from 3, taking 26 of his 42 attempts from beyond the arc. If Shannon can become a reliable volume 3-point shooter, it's much easier to see him filling the wing minutes vacated in Minnesota by Nickeil Alexander-Walker's departure.
Ron Holland Jr., Detroit Pistons: The 7-for-15 shooting from 3 may or may not be a small-sample fluke, but the rest of his stat sheet was men-among-boys stuff. Holland poked 12 steals and garnered 26 free-throw attempts in just three games for a fun, spicy Detroit outfit.
Ajay Mitchell, Thunder: OKC's second-year pro showed a lot of encouraging signs as he was usually the best player on the court during his six summer games. Mitchell created offense with ease and had high rates of rebounds and defensive events to go with a smoother-looking stroke than he showed a year ago. Nitpickers will point out a turnover rate that was still too high.
Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyson wasn't dominant because he didn't shoot particularly well, but the second-year wing flashed some serious point forward potential by issuing 20 assists in just three games. As a secondary shot creator on the wing, he could have an opening for minutes with the departure of Ty Jerome. This is now his second straight strong summer league; perhaps he can convert that into more regular-season action on a stacked Cavs roster.
Tolu Smith, Pistons: Smith is a pretty mobile defender for a big and showed enough skill as an offensive player to seem functional at the NBA level. He had a 19.5 percent rebound rate and 8 percent block rate at summer league, both among the best figures in Vegas. The Mississippi State product is on a two-way contract with Detroit after being one of the best players in the G League last season. The Pistons are well-stocked at center, but file this name away for later in the season or next year if he changes teams. He's an NBA player.
Nae'Qwan Tomlin, Cavaliers: Is this anything? The Cavs' two-way was one of the best players on the floor in Vegas, finishing with a sizzling 31.2 PER highlighted by five offensive rebounds a game, tallying 15 'stocks' in 131 minutes and launching six 3s a game as a stretch four. Coming off a strong rookie season in the G League, the 24-year-old Tomlin might finally be harnessing the talent that had folks at Kansas State and Memphis so excited about his upside, especially if he can keep letting it rip from 3.
Drew Timme, Brooklyn Nets: The undersized center finished last year as a roster player in Brooklyn and put up several solid games while the Nets tanked to the finish. He's still under contract on a non-guaranteed deal. Based on his summer, the Nets should figure out a way to keep him.
Advertisement
Timme suffered the unfortunate fate of being hit in the head by a pass from teammate Danny Wolf during his first game but recovered nicely from there, including a 30-point game against the Washington Wizards' Alex Sarr and a 24-point, 10-rebound outing against the New York Knicks. Perhaps most impressively, for a guy who had the ball in his hands a ton, Timme had just five turnovers playing 92 minutes.
Curtis Jones, Denver Nuggets (signed with the Nuggets on Saturday): Jones was the best undrafted player at summer league, finishing his five-game stint with a 29.7 PER that was more than just outlier shooting percentage; he also averaged two assists for every turnover, scored at a high rate and posted an 11.3 percent rebound rate as a 6-3 guard. The Nuggets have had a pretty successful player development program over the past few years and could use help in the backcourt; I'm interested to see if they can turn him into something rotationally useful by season's end.
P.J. Hall, Hornets (signed with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday): Hall was the best performer on Charlotte's title-winning team but couldn't play in the final because the Grizzlies scooped him up on a two-way deal. He played in Denver last year on a two-way, but the Nuggets opted not to bring him back. While undersized for the center position and perhaps not skilled enough for power forward, Hall put up big-guy stats in Vegas that stood out. He had the second-highest block rate and fifth-highest rebound rate of any player this summer. Given that he also had a strong G League season last year, Hall should help Memphis.
Daniss Jenkins, Pistons: Jenkins played on a two-way with Detroit last year and has a qualifying offer to return. He showed why the Pistons should want him back with a strong summer campaign highlighted by his harassing full-court defense, most notably in a matchup against Houston's 2024 lottery pick Reed Sheppard. The other part that stood out was 27 assists against eight turnovers. For a guy trying to stick as a third point guard, that's the type of ratio that could get him into a roster contract.
Antonio Reeves, New Orleans Pelicans: Reeves was waived from his guaranteed contract by New Orleans for reasons that aren't entirely clear, but he was still on their summer roster. As only can happen with the Pelicans, he was also clearly their best player, posting a 23.0 PER in five games despite struggling in his usual specialty of 3-point shooting. Reeves made only 5 of 16 from 3 but was efficient everywhere else. He had only three turnovers for the summer and shot 17 of 17 from the line. Reeves, 24, has athletic limitations, but he also shot 39.5 percent from 3 in his rookie season and didn't look overmatched in his minutes. He's still two-way eligible, and I'm very interested to see where he lands.
Jordan Miller, LA Clippers: Another one in the awkward 'unceremoniously waived but still on the summer team' category, Miller is probably too good for a two-way but could end up back on one to start the season in Los Angeles. As a third-year player, he's supposed to kick everyone's butt at summer league, and that he did, to the tune of a 25.2 PER, a 13.1 percent rebound rate and a mammoth free-throw rate. Call him Vegas DeRozan; over the last two summer leagues, he's earned 80 trips to the line in just 10 games.
(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; photos: Garrett Ellwood, Ryan Stetz / Getty Images)