July 6, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James Jr. (9) versus Sacramento Kings guard Dane Goode throughout the third quarter at Chase Heart Dane Goodwin (33) holds the ball. Necessary Credit score: Kelley L. Cox-USA TODAY Sports activities NBA commissioner Adam Silver appears to be fascinated with innovation on a regular basis.
Silver has not been shy about shaking up the league’s panorama, most notably by incorporating in-season tournaments into the schedule to offer groups some competitors because the common season approaches the halfway level.
Gamers and followers alike have benefited from Silver’s NBA, which has been fiercely aggressive for a lot of the previous 11 seasons, producing eight totally different champions throughout that span.
Nevertheless, the NBA Summer time League has been receiving a chilly reception.
For the common fan, summer time league video games might not be on the radar in any respect. It is simple to know why. Taking a ship out to the lake to chill off from the summer time warmth sounds loads higher than stopping in entrance of the TV within the afternoon to observe prospects and low-end position gamers battle one another.
If the second choice does attraction to you, be aware that the Miami Warmth and Dallas Mavericks will tip off Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Nonetheless, the NBA should discover a manner to attract consideration to Summer time League and display its deserves.
Victor Wembanyama dominated the 2023 NBA Summer time League. Supply: Getty Pictures We all know this as a result of final 12 months’s Las Vegas Summer time League drew a variety of consideration, with San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama thrust into the highlight earlier than his rookie season started. .
Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder large man Chet Holmgren and Houston Rockets ahead Jabari Smith Jr. are additionally among the many favorites to go to Las Vegas in 2023.
However in 2024, except for the Bronny James storyline, there’s actually no cause to observe.
The primary offender was a particularly lackluster draft class, nevertheless it would not be the final time a bunch of rising prospects did not have some star-studded names on the verge of formally getting into the professional ranks.
The NBA has been dealt a nasty hand on this draft. The league has a accountability to make its product price watching, even when it is simply summer time league basketball.
Hats off to gamers like Reid Shepard, Jordan Miller and Julian Strawther who’ve completed their greatest to offer us one thing thrilling this summer time. Shepard, the third total decide on this 12 months’s draft, has been probably the most spectacular rookies up to now, averaging 22.5 factors, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two video games with the Rockets.
Miller and Strawther are each getting into their second seasons within the NBA, having scored 57 factors in two video games with the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets respectively.
If Silver desires to take advantage of summer time league, he’ll use it as a testing laboratory for adjustments the NBA would possibly at some point implement. Apart from the truth that the subsequent large concept might come from Las Vegas, followers shall be extra keen to observe as a result of they get an opportunity to see one thing that did not come out throughout the common season.
Giving younger gamers a style {of professional} basketball is the first aim of summer time league, however why not push the envelope?
Perhaps which means an NCAA tournament-style bracket the place the final surviving staff will get some extra cash. In different phrases, the Summer time League MVP will certainly get a spot.
On the finish of the day, nobody goes to make a fuss about whether or not summer time league is enjoyable. However we’re definitely not towards some significant NBA basketball motion in July, and what we’re placing on the desk now definitely is not going to chop it.
