Reviewing the WCC guys at Summer League

Bye, bye, Vegas! Photo: Dietmar Rabich on Wikimedia Commons

With Summer League now in the rear view mirror — well, it’s technically still happening but none of the players below are in tonight’s championship game — it’s now time to take a look at how the WCC products performed in Sacramento, Salt Lake City and most importantly, Las Vegas.

Some players who were expected to put together standout performances delivered on expectations (Chet, Nembhard, Williams) while other intriguing prospects (Bouyea, Ford) were similarly impressive without the same level of expectation.

A couple of draft picks, on the other hand, were considerably underwhelming, for whatever that’s worth. When it comes to Summer League, living up to or exceeding expectation is more telling than failing to do so.

Not included below are former BYU player Frank Bartley nor is former USF player Souley Boum, as both players transferred out of the league long before they graduated — but cool for Bartley, now pushing 30 years old, for getting a look.

Players are listed by their college, both alphabetically, below.

Gonzaga

• Joel Ayayi, free agent
  Played in just two of the Grizzlies’ five games, averaging just under 14 minutes and only four points. Shot the ball very well (57.1% FG, 66.7% 3FG) when given the chance.
• Chet Holmgren, guaranteed contract (Thunder)
  Played in just two games, but was featured in both averaging 29.9 minutes per game. Put up nearly 20 and 10 in Vegas and swatted 14 shots over four games in both Salt Lake and Vegas. Getting buzz as a potential Rookie of the Year contender.
• Andrew Nembhard, guaranteed contract (Pacers)
  Played in just two games, as he is already a known product for the Pacers. Not sure why they even made him play in Vegas after his rookie year performance. Averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 assists.
• Filip Petrusev, signed (Sixers)
  Played just two games and averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. The Sixers have had Petrusev’s rights since drafting him in the second round in 2021. They’ve had his rights for the past two seasons, during which he was playing in EuroLeague. Signed by the Sixers on Monday.
• Malachi Smith, Exhibit 10 (Blazers)
  Played in just two games, averaged 9.5 minutes and totaled one point. Signed an Exhibit 10 contract prior to Summer League. The Blazers are bringing a new G-League team (to the Chiles Center!) this season. That combined with Smith’s Exhibit 10 status made him a potential two-way player, but his lack of productivity and run in Vegas is a worrisome development. Teams can get out of an Exhibit 10 contract with ease.
• Julian Strawther, guaranteed contract (Nuggets)
  Played in five games, averaging 29 minutes and 18.2 points per game. Shooting was streaky (40% FG, 34% 3FG) but he got his shots up (14 FGA, 9.3 3FGA per game). The Nuggets’ first round pick was a featured player, as expected. Good start to his NBA journey.
• Drew Timme, Exhibit 10 (Bucks)
  Played in four of the Bucks’ five games, but only averaged only 9.3 minutes and 4.3 points. Over his Gonzaga career, Timme attempted a three about once every other game. In under 10 minutes per game with the Bucks, he took almost one shot from deep a game. Going to be interesting to see how long the Bucks keep him on his Exhibit 10.

San Francisco

• Jamaree Bouyea, two-way contract (Heat)
  A highlight-reel regular across six games between Sacramento and Vegas, Bouyea put on a show for Miami after signing another two-way contract with the club just before the start of Summer League. Seven-to-two assist-to-turnover ratio and showed great burst attacking the paint. Wouldn’t be surprised to see his two-way converted to a standard contract sooner than later.
• Frankie Ferrari, free agent
  Averaged 13.6 minutes across five games for Memphis. Shot the ball well (54% FG, 38% 3FG) but didn’t get many opportunities (just 3.8 ppg). Had a few impressive and fun moments and was sporting a solid mustache. About what you would expect from a 27 year old overseas journeyman.
• Yauhen Massalski, free agent
  Was a DNP — Coach’s Decision in eight games for the Jazz in Salt Lake and Vegas. Only Jazz player to receive the DNP — CD distinction in each game the team played. In this case, CD should have a double meaning: coach’s decision but also coach’s dumb. It’s Summer League, you can’t let the guy get a little run just once? Come on, man.
• Nate Renfro, free agent
  Played in three games for the Clippers, averaging 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game. Got in a nice highlight in the final game. His age (26) and underwhelming showing means its likely back to Europe, rather than a return to the G-League where he spent his first two professional seasons.

Santa Clara

• Keshawn Justice, free agent
  Made just one appearance for the Jazz in Salt Lake before appearing in five games for the Jazz in Vegas, where he averaged 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds over 23.4 minutes per game. Impressive considering the sharpshooter hit just 26% from deep.
• Brandin Podziemski, guaranteed contract (Warriors)
  A featured player for the Warriors, as you would expect for a top-20 pick, but really struggled to find his shot (26.3% FG, 21.7% 3FG). Took enough shots to average 8.6 points, though. Solid with 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Much better shooting (47.8% FG, 33.3% 3FG) in two games in Sacramento.
• Jalen Williams, guaranteed contract (Thunder)
  After an all-rookie team showing for OKC last season, there really wasn’t any reason for Williams to take part in Summer League. Ultimately, he barely took part at all. Williams played in the Thunder’s first game in Salt Lake (21 points in 21 minutes on a 57/60/67 shooting split).

Pepperdine

• Kessler Edwards, on contract (Kings)
  The Kings exercised their team option on Edwards before the start of Summer League, locking him back into their roster for the upcoming season. He played in six of seven games between Sacramento and Las Vegas, averaged roughly 10 points in 26 minutes in those games.
• Maxwell Lewis, guaranteed contract (Lakers)
  Played in all seven games in Sacramento and Vegas for the Lakers. Plenty of run (20 mpg) but nothing to show for it in the scoring department (3.5 ppg in Sacramento, 5.4 ppg in Vegas). Low 30s shooting and low 10s from deep. Far from an ideal start for the №40 overall pick.
• Colbey Ross, free agent
  Played in all eight games for the Jazz in Salt Lake and Vegas, averaging 26 minutes and 12.2 points per game in their five contests in Vegas. Went for a team-high 20 points in the finale. Averaged 5 assists to 2.6 turnovers in Vegas. Played well enough to get a training camp look in the league.

Saint Mary’s

• Jordan Ford, free agent
  Averaged 10 points in 22 minutes on great shooting splits (54/43/100) in two games in Sacramento before upping that to 16.3 points in 30.5 minutes over four games in Vegas. Without question one of the Kings’ best players and was a healthy scratch for the team’s final game, which means they’d likely seen more than enough from him. Ford spent last season with the Kings’ G-League affiliate and could well have played his way into a two-way spot.
• Logan Johnson, free agent
  Played in just one game for the Spurs in Sacramento (5.4 minutes, 4 points) and just one more for the team in Vegas (9.4 minutes, 3 points). Certainly not the kind of performance that led San Antonio to sign his former Gael teammate Tommy Kuhse after Summer League last year.