The Portland Trail Blazers trip to Las Vegas to take on the Summer League is official. Here’s who the Blazers will play en route to defending their title.
Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers took the NBA Summer League by storm, going undefeated and besting the No. 1 seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the championship game. With a final score of 91-73, the Blazers hold the largest ever margin of victory in a Summer League championship game.
K.J. McDaniels earned Championship MVP honors that year, and could possibly make a return to the team after being waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Portland Trail Blazers are no strangers to this pre-season success, considering Damian Lillard won a share of the Summer League MVP award in 2012.
Although Zach Collins is not expected to participate in this year’s festivities, the core of Anfernee Simons, Gary Trent Jr, Nassir Little, Jake Layman and Skal Labissiere will be quite formidable. The Blazers have wasted no time recruiting additional help as well, having already signed the undrafted duo of Jaylen Hoard and Mike Daum to a two-way contract and Summer League contract respectively.
Game One: Detroit Pistons on July 6
Detroit’s promising pair of shooting guards Luke Kennard and Bruce Brown will likely be battling all year for the opportunity to play in the starting lineup, and will be hungry to succeed.
Sekou Doumbouya will also get his first crack at playing an officiated game in North America. Doumbouya will jump at the opportunity to showcase what the lottery teams missed out on. The hyper-athletic Jordan Bone could also be one of the most fun players to watch in the entire Summer League this year.
Watch on ESPNU at 12:30 p.m. PST
Game Two: Houston Rockets on July 7
The Houston Rockets are team shallow in young depth, not having made a first-round selection since 2015 and not picking at all in this year’s draft.
Regardless, Houston will likely become ground zero for NBA veterans looking for one last shot in the league, so for that reason alone they could be worth watching. It will also be interesting to see if Trevon Duval and Deyonta Davis can capitalize on their potential, provided they remain with the organization after their deals expired this year.
Watch on NBA TV at 7:00 p.m. PST
Game Three: Utah Jazz on July 9
High expectations probably shouldn’t be placed on the shoulders of this year’s rendition of the Utah Jazz Summer League roster. After trading away Grayson Allen and the No. 23 overall pick this year’s draft, the Jazz effectively punted on their young core in favor of adding a star in Mike Conley to help them win now.
Donovan Mitchell has no real reason to sacrifice his body and time playing in the Summer League when the rest of the starting lineup will be at home. However, seeing if Royce O’Neal and Dante Exum can prove their worth to Utah’s future should be an interesting development.
Watch on ESPN2 at 3:00 p.m. PST
Game Four: Oklahoma City Thunder on July 11
Darius Bazley was a player that floated around the Portland Trail Blazers radar leading up to the draft, and he’ll get to showcase just exactly what they passed up on here.
2019 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Hamidou Diallo should also be expected to put on a show for the crowd. Terrance Ferguson will attempt to lead the Thunder’s young core over division rival Portland’s own exciting duo of promising guards.
Watch on NBA TV at 5:00 p.m. PST
Provided the Portland Trail Blazers play well enough, the top eight teams will be taken from their pools and seeded into a proper single-elimination playoff bracket to declare the winner. If the Blazers fail to win their pool and make the tournament, they are still promised one additional consolation game to determine placing.
Tune in two weeks from now to watch the Portland Trail Blazers build their chemistry and welcome in the newest additions of a roster ready to taste not one, but two championships this year.