California Classic Preview: Rosters, Rising Stars, and Predictions
- Owen Pannell
- Jul 5
- 6 min read
By Owen Pannell | KZA Sports
The San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, LA Lakers, and Golden State Warriors will participate in this year's California Classic Summer League. Each team will play 3 games in 4 days, and whoever has the best record at the end will be declared the winner. Let’s take a look at each team, find the most exciting players to watch, and make a prediction for the winner that will definitely not be right.
San Antonio Spurs
Roster
Dylan Harper – Guard – Rookie (2nd) – Active
Carter Bryant – Forward – Rookie (14th) – Active
Ibrahima Diallo – Center – 2nd year – Free Agent
Kyle Mangas – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent
Jameer Nelson Jr – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent
Dexter Dennis – Guard – 3rd year – Free Agent
Chibuzo Agbo – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
David Jones-Garcia – Forward – 2nd year – Free Agent
Osayi Osifo – Forward – 2nd year – Free Agent
Riley Minix – Forward – 2nd year – Two-Way
Omari Moore – Guard – 3rd year – Free Agent
Nathan Mensah – Center – 3rd year – Free Agent
Cam Carter – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Mouhamet Diouf – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Josh Uduje – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Jackson Moni – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Noah Farrakhan – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Harrison Ingram – Forward – 2nd year – Two-Way
Most Intriguing Players
Dylan Harper - Obviously, being the 2nd pick, a ton of eyes will be on him. The Spurs hope he dominates here, because theoretically, nobody should be as talented as him.
Harrison Ingram - Ingram needs to show he has taken a leap. Not great last year, barely got any playing time on a team that was tanking for half the year. He needs to earn minutes in the Summer League this year.
Carter Bryant - Bryant was one of the best athletes in this year’s draft class. He is still extremely raw, but he should show off his athleticism and get everyone hyped for his career.
What to Watch For
The Spurs have multiple talented players that will make their real roster, so we should see some good basketball from this team. They don’t necessarily have any super exciting free agents here, but you never know who will surprise you.
Miami Heat
Roster
Kel’el Ware – Center – 2nd year – Active
Pelle Larson – Wing – 2nd year – Active
Keshad Johnson – Forward – 2nd year – Active
Kasparas Jakucionis – Guard – Rookie (20th) – Active
Vladislav Goldin – Center – Rookie (UD) – Two-Way
Kira Lewis Jr – Guard – 5th year – Free Agent
Bryson Warren – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Marcus Williams – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
JC Butler – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Javonte Cook – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Erik Stevenson – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Steve Settle III – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Myron Gardner – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Dain Dainja – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Oumar Ballo – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Most Intriguing Players
Kasparas Jakucionis - The Heat’s first-round pick this year at pick 20, he was thought to be a lottery talent — so we’ll see if he looks like he belonged there.
Oumar Ballo - A very athletic big who went undrafted, he has potential to make an NBA roster one day. If he can play well in the SL, he might earn a spot this year.
Keshad Johnson - Johnson, going into his 2nd year in the NBA, played pretty well in the G League last year, but didn’t get much action in the actual NBA. If he took a jump this offseason, we could see him start to get some quality NBA minutes.
What to Watch For
Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larson are the two players who got a lot of run in the NBA last year, so it would be nice to see them play well here. If their two rookies, Jakucionis and Goldin, look good, then that would be very encouraging for the Heat. Lastly, undrafted rookies make a name for themselves in the Summer League, and the Heat have a lot of them on this roster — so be on the lookout for future talent.
LA Lakers
Roster
Dalton Knecht – Guard – 2nd year – Active
Bronny James – Guard – 2nd year – Active
RJ Davis – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
DJ Steward – Guard – 5th year – Free Agent
Sam Mennenga – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Augustas Marciulionis – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Darius Bazley – Forward – 7th year – Free Agent
TY Johnson – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Sir’Jabari Rice – Guard – 3rd year – Free Agent
Cole Swider – Forward – 4th year – Free Agent
Eric Dixon – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Two-Way
DaJuan Gordon – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent
Julian Reese – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Ethan Taylor – Guard – Rookie – Free Agent
Trey Jemison III – Center – 3rd year – Two-Way
Arthur Kaluma – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Most Intriguing Players
Augustas Marciulionis - A very talented player, I think Marciulionis can definitely be a good backup PG one day. It will be interesting to see if he could earn himself a two-way somewhere by playing well in the SL.
Bronny James - Some folks think Bronny can be a real solid NBA player — he has shown a couple flashes of being that. However, he needs to show everyone that he has improved since last season.
Eric Dixon - The NCAA leading scorer last year, he will come into the Summer League and try to prove that he can score in the NBA as well. He ended up going undrafted, but he landed a two-way contract with the Lakers already. Just has to show that he deserves it.
What to Watch For
This Lakers roster is actually one of my favorite SL rosters. They have a great mix of returning players trying to improve and rookies trying to prove they belong in the league. I expect Knecht to be one of, if not the best, players in the California Classic, and there are even vets like Darius Bazley trying to get one last shot in the NBA. This is a very cool team and I will be tuning in as much as possible.
Golden State Warriors
Roster
Taran Armstrong – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Two-Way
Will Richard – Guard – Rookie (56th) – Two-Way
Jules Bernard – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent
Leopold Delaunay – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Marques Bolden – Center – 4th year – Free Agent
Bez Mbeng – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Alex Toohey – Forward – Rookie (52nd) – Two-Way
Chance McMillian – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Blake Hinson – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Alex Higgins-Titsha – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Donta Scott – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Isaiah Mobley – Forward – 4th year – Free Agent
Chris Manon – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
LJ Cryer – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Jackson Rowe – Forward – 2nd year – Two-Way
Jaden Shackleford – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Coleman Hawkins – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Ja’Vier Francis – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Gabe Madsen – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent
Most Intriguing Players
Alex Toohey - An Aussie with a lot of potential, the Warriors got Toohey in the 2nd round, which could end up being a steal if he develops nicely. We will see how he does against NBA comp.
Coleman Hawkins - Hawkins was a great college player. A 3&D stretch four could be very valuable for a team, and he is currently a free agent after going undrafted. It will be interesting to watch how he does in the SL.
Isaiah Mobley - The younger brother of DPOY Evan Mobley, Isaiah hasn’t hit his full potential. He is likely running out of chances, so he has to go ball out this summer to earn another contract.
What to Watch For
The Warriors have a roster full of players who have not proven themselves to be good, so this team is a wild card. This team is either going to be really good or really bad. We’ll see if they found any diamonds in the rough.
Best Players
Dylan Harper (Spurs)
Dalton Knecht (Lakers)
Kel’el Ware (Heat)
Kasparas Jakucionis (Heat)
Pelle Larson (Heat)
Carter Bryant (Spurs)
Bronny James (Lakers)
Keshad Johnson (Heat)
Eric Dixon (Lakers)
Augustas Marciulionis (Lakers)
Best Available Players
Augustas Marciulionis (Lakers)
Coleman Hawkins (Warriors)
Oumar Ballo (Heat)
Dain Dainja (Heat)
LJ Cryer (Warriors)
RJ Davis (Lakers)
Arthur Kaluma (Lakers)
Ibrahima Diallo (Spurs)
Isaiah Mobley (Warriors)
Kira Lewis Jr (Heat)
Prediction
Lakers – 2–1
Heat – 2–1
Spurs – 2–1
Warriors – 0–3
I predict that the Heat, Lakers, and Spurs all go 2–1, while the Warriors go 0–3. I think the Lakers will have the tiebreaker (point differential), with Dalton Knecht winning the MVP (if they did that). Obviously, take this with a grain of salt — Summer League games are nearly impossible to predict. Enjoy summer basketball!
You can find Owen Pannell on X here.
Shop the Official NBA Store here.
Comments