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Salt Lake City Summer League Preview: Rosters, Players to Watch, and Predictions


By Owen Pannell | KZA Sports


The Salt Lake City Summer League will be great this year. Tons of talented young players from the Memphis Grizzlies, OKC Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, and Utah Jazz. This will be a 6-game, round-robin style league where whoever has the best record at the end of the 6 games will be declared the winner. Let’s take a look at all the teams, plus give a prediction on what will happen!


Memphis Grizzlies


Roster

Armando Bacot – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Ace Baldwin Jr – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Ante Brzovich – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Tyler Burton – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Cedric Coward – Wing – Rookie (11th) – Active

Aaron Estrada – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Phlandrous Fleming Jr – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Nate Hinton – Wing – 5th year – Free Agent

GG Jackson II – Wing – 3rd year – Active

Jeremy Jones – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Lawson Lovering – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Will Magnay – Center – 2nd year – Free Agent

Bo Montgomery – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Zyon Pullin – Guard – 2nd year – Two-Way

Efton Reid III – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Javon Small – Guard – Rookie (48th) – Two-Way

Cam Spencer – Guard – 2nd year – Active

Jaylen Wells – Wing – 2nd year – Active


Most Intriguing Players


Javon Small - A second-round pick in this year's draft, some folks (including me) thought he didn’t necessarily think he deserved to get drafted. Grizzlies fans hope that he shows out in the SL, and confirms that he deserved to be drafted.

Cedric Coward - Coward was great in the few games he played at Wazzu last year, but sadly an injury cut his season short. After trading up to pick 11 to draft him, Memphis really hopes that he pans out.

Armando Bacot - A once very highly touted recruit, Bacot stayed 5 years in college and ended up going undrafted. He is very talented, but will he be able to have a successful college career? We will start to find out here.


What to Watch For

The Grizzlies have some important players to their rotation in this year's SL. They need them to improve so they don’t get swept in the first round again. GG Jackson and Jaylen Wells should look like stars — they have played important minutes in the NBA. Cedric Coward should also look good, he was just the 11th pick and supposed to be a win-now prospect. They should have a good team, but anything can happen.


OKC Thunder


Roster

Zack Austin – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Brooks Barnhizer – Rookie (44th) – Two-Way

Ty Brewer – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Cameron Brown – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Brandon Carlson – Center – 2nd year – Two-Way

Alex Ducas – Wing – 2nd year – Two-Way

Cesare Edwards – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Jazian Gortman – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent

Viktor Lakhin – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Malevy Leons – Forward – 2nd year – Free Agen

tAjay Mitchell – Guard – 2nd year – Active

Erik Reynolds II – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Payton Sandfort – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Mady Sissoko – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Nikola Topic – Guard – Rookie (Last yr 12th) – Active

Kerwin Walton – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Hansen Ward – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Chris Youngblood – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent


Most Intriguing Players


Nikola Topic - Topic was widely considered a top 3–5 prospect before tearing his ACL before the draft last year. He ended up falling to OKC at 2, and we all remember how good Chet was after a year with the program before playing his first NBA minutes. Big things are expected from Topic, and Thunder fans hope to see big things in the Summer League.

Payton Sandfort - Sandfort definitely has a chance to earn a two-way for this team. The Thunder need shooting and that is exactly what Sandfort brings to the table. There are already rumors that OKC is considering giving him a contract, so he has to ball out to take (likely) Alex Ducas’ spot.

Brooks Barnhizer - The Thunder’s first-round pick Thomas Sorber unfortunately will not be healthy for this year's SL, but their second-round pick will be. Known to bring competitiveness and hustle, we hope to see Barnhizer bring those qualities to a basketball game that might not matter too much in the grand scheme of things.


What to Watch For

OKC has 3 two-way contracts to give out. One of them is taken by Barnhizer, another is all but taken by Carlson, so there is one more contract for someone to earn. The main two in contention are Sandfort and Ducas, but if someone else balls out they could definitely snag one. Nikola Topic will be very fun to watch for the first time, and Ajay Mitchell already got quality minutes in the NBA last season so he should be real good as well. This is a good Summer League team.


Philadelphia 76ers


Roster

Izan Almansa – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Keve Aluma – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Mark Armstrong – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Adem Bona – Forward – 2nd year – ActiveJohni Broome – Forward – Rookie (35th) – ActiveJack Clark – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

VJ Edgecombe – Guard – Rookie (3rd) – Active

Justin Edwards – Wing – 2nd year – Active

Andrew Funk – Guard – 2nd year – Free Agent

Jalen Hood-Schifino – Guard – 3rd year – Active

Judah Mintz – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Landers Nolley II – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Alex Reese – Center – 2nd year – Two-Way

Hunter Sallis – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Two-Way

Jalen Slawson – Wing – 2nd year – Free Agent

Caleb Stone-Carrawell – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Saint Thomas – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Stefan Todorovic – Forward – Rookie – Free Agent


Most Intriguing Players


VJ Edgecombe - The 3rd overall pick is obviously going to be very intriguing, but there is a debate on whether the 76ers made the right choice with this pick or not. Some think they should've traded the pick, or taken Ace Bailey, but Edgecombe is out to prove why he deserved to be taken #3 by Philly.

Hunter Sallis - I was a big Hunter Sallis guy going into the draft. I think he can be a great 3&D player one day, and the 76ers snagged him on a two-way. I love this move and I’m excited to see if he can play on the next level.

Johni Broome - Broome was a great college player, but questions about his athleticism and play style make people doubt if he will be able to be a good NBA player. He needs to start off strong in the SL to prove his game will translate.


What to Watch For

There are a lot of players to watch out for on this team. They will probably be pretty good, so it will definitely make for a lot of fun basketball. A fantastic mix of young guys such as VJ Edgecombe and older guys such as Jalen Hood-Schifino make this a great roster. The young guys will try to prove they belong, while the old guys try to prove they should stick around.


Utah Jazz

Roster

Max Abmas – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Ace Bailey – Forward – Rookie (5th) – Active

Walter Clayton Jr – Guard – Rookie (18th) – Active

Isaiah Collier – Guard – 2nd year – Active

Steve Crowl – Center – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Kyle Filipowski – Forward – 2nd year – Active

Jaylan Gainey – Forward – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Dane Goodwin – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Elijah Harkless – Wing – 2nd year – Two-Way

RJ Luis Jr – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Two-Way

Cam McGriff – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Selton Miguel – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

J’Wan Roberts – Wing – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent

Brice Sensabaugh – Wing – 3rd year – Active

Jaden Springer – Guard – 5th year – Active

John Tonje – Wing – Rookie (53rd) – Two-Way

Cody Williams – Wing – 2nd year – Active

JZ Zaher – Guard – Rookie (UD) – Free Agent


Most Intriguing Players


Cody Williams - Williams was terrible last season. He must take a big jump and we should see him play very well in this SL. He should be one of the best scorers in this whole thing, so it will be a big red flag and disappointment if he doesn’t play well.

Ace Bailey - Bailey allegedly didn’t even want to come to Utah. He is a fantastic scorer, which should be on display, but we need to see him develop chemistry with his teammates, because that is one huge knock on him.

RJ Luis Jr - A fantastic college player, it will be interesting to see how Luis does in the NBA. Hopefully he can carry it over and play well, because as an undrafted player the journey is never easy.


What to Watch For

This squad has a lot of current NBA players on it. The main thing for Jazz fans to be watching for is improvement in their guys. They were the worst team in the NBA last year and they need their young guys to take a step.


Best Players

  1. GG Jackson (Grizzlies)

  2. Jaylen Wells (Grizzlies)

  3. Ace Bailey (Jazz)

  4. VJ Edgecombe (76ers)

  5. Ajay Mitchell (Thunder)

  6. Nikola Topic (Thunder)

  7. Isaiah Collier (Jazz)

  8. Kyle Filipowski (Jazz)

  9. Cody Williams (Jazz)

  10. Justin Edwards (76ers)


Best Players Available

  1. Payton Sandfort (Thunder)

  2. Armando Bacot (Grizzlies)

  3. Viktor Lakhin (Thunder)

  4. Max Abmas (Jazz)

  5. Saint Thomas (76ers)

  6. Malevy Leons (Thunder)

  7. J’Wan Roberts (Jazz)

  8. Izan Almansa (76ers)

  9. Judah Mintz (76ers)

  10. Ace Baldwin Jr (Grizzlies)


Prediction

  1. Jazz 2–1

  2. Grizzlies 2–1

  3. Thunder 1–2

  4. 76ers 1–2


I predict the Jazz to finish with the best record of the SLC Summer League (tiebreaker: point differential) and Isaiah Collier bringing home the SLC MVP award. This prediction is probably terrible — it’s almost impossible to predict SL games (and I hope my Thunder can do a little better than 1–2!). Just sit back, relax, and enjoy (nearly) stress-free basketball!



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