Las Vegas Summer League just finished, with the Golden State Warriors hoisting the championship trophy. Most of the rookies drafted less than a month ago suited up and showed their teams what they have to offer.
What if the draft were redone today, with summer league performances not only factored in but weighted all too heavily? In other words, what if everyone completely overreacted to what they just watched -- just as most of them are doing anyway?
Let's pick the first round again, keeping teams in their final draft slots and selecting players based on a combination of summer league play, their original draft slot and my personal pre-draft rankings.
Note: this is overreaction on purpose! Lean into it to highlight the best and worst performances from this summer.
We begin with a new player at No. 1.
No. 1: Washington Wizards select Caleb Wilson, UNC
Caleb Wilson exploded in Las Vegas from the 3-point line, making as many 3-pointers in his first game as he did all season at North Carolina. The athletic marvel that is Wilson bombing from 3 is a terrifying player.
No. 2: Utah Jazz select Cameron Boozer, Duke
Cameron Boozer did a little of everything and led his team to the Summer League Championship, where they narrowly lost. In eight games across all summer leagues he averaged 18 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals.
No. 3: Memphis Grizzlies select AJ Dybantsa, BYU
AJ Dybantsa was unstoppable getting to the rim in his two games, but he couldn't hit a 3 to save his life, but then also he was very active defensively, so it comes out to a slight drop to No. 3.
No. 4: Chicago Bulls select Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Darryn Peterson was fantastic in Salt Lake City and mediocre in Las Vegas. The final product added doubt in his point guard abilities but increased confidence in his off-ball impact.
No. 5: LA Clippers select Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg played in eight games and was incredible in the first few, clearly got tired for a while even though the Warriors kept winning, and then brought his best in the championship game. Overall, he averaged 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.3 STOCKs and most impressively shot 45.9 percent from deep.
No. 6: Brooklyn Nets select Brayden Burries, Arizona
Another riser, Brayden Burries was unconscious for the Bucks to start and then lost his touch in his last couple of games, scoring 21 points per game on fine efficiency in his five appearances.
No. 7: Sacramento Kings select Kingston Flemings, Houston
Kingston Flemings was fourth in all of summer league with 6.8 assists per game, and he did everything but score in his four appearances. The Hawks were dominant in his minutes despite his lack of shotmaking - a good omen for his career.
No. 8: Atlanta Hawks select Morez Johnson Jr., Michigan
Morez Johnson played just two games but was unstoppable in them both, averaging not only 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, but racking up 2.5 steals and three blocks per game.
No. 9: Dallas Mavericks select Keaton Wagler, Illinois
The inverse of many player, Keaton Wagler started really badly but then was much better later in his summer league run. In all, he dropped 18 points per game but has some questions to answer.
No. 10: Milwaukee Bucks select select Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville
Mikel Brown did not have a good summer league, averaging 15 points per game on poor shooting and managing just 1.5 rebounds per game. He may be more raw than many thought heading into his rookie year.
No. 11: Golden State Warriors select Allen Graves, Santa Clara
Allen Graves did it all in summer league, showing off confidence as a scorer (16.8 points per game) while stuffing the stat sheet with 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, a whopping 2.2 steals and a block per game. The Raptors were absolutely dominant in his minutes.
No. 12: Oklahoma City Thunder select Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Hannes Steinbach played behind Ryan Kalkbrenner for a few games, but when he was on the court he was gobbling up every rebound (9.2 per game).
No. 13: Milwaukee Bucks select Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
The true breakout star of summer league, Meleek Thomas rises from the second round to the lottery. He led all scorer with 27.2 points per game, shooting 43.8 percent from deep and adding two steals per game.
No. 14: Charlotte Hornets select Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
He may have averaged 20.8 points per game, but it took a whopping 20.5 shots per game to get there. Acuff shot 35 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range. It was a tough showing for the offense-only guard.
The Rest of the First Round:
No. 15: Chicago Bulls select Cameron Carr, Baylor
No. 16: Oklahoma City Thunder select Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
No. 17: Detroit Pistons select Ebuka Okorie, Stanford
No. 18: Charlotte Hornets select Aday Mara, Michigan
No. 19: Toronto Raptors select Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's
No. 20: San Antonio Spurs select Koa Peat, Arizona
No. 21: Memphis Grizzlies select Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
No. 22: Philadelphia 76ers select Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
No. 23: Atlanta Hawks select Nate Ament, Tennessee
No. 24: Los Angeles Lakers select Isaiah Evans, Duke
No. 25: Dallas Mavericks select Sergio de Larrea, Valencia
No. 26: San Antonio Spurs select Joshua Jefferson, Iowa St
No. 27: Boston Celtics select Christian Anderson Jr., Texas Tech
No. 28: Brooklyn Nets select Emanuel Sharp, Houston
No. 29: Sacramento Kings select Ryan Conwell, Louisville
No. 30: Phoenix Suns select Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky
Dropped out: Dailyn Swain, Tarris Reed Jr., Karim Lopez, Alex Karaban
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