Nestled just south of the Las Vegas strip, NBA summer league is the closest thing this league has to an annual conference. Scouts, executives, media and everyone tangentially related to the NBA descend on the city for two weeks to get a look at the league’s next crop of players.
It’s fun. It’s hot (a forecasted high of 109 degrees over the weekend), and it all begins Thursday. Nobody is expected to watch every summer league game, but here’s a helpful list of things to watch that should impact this upcoming NBA season.
Cooper Flagg’s debut
The most heralded American no. 1 pick since Zion Williamson, Cooper Flagg is set to make his debut on Thursday night on ESPN when his Mavericks tip off against Bronny James and the Lakers. Expect the Mavs to put the ball in Flagg’s hands a lot.
“I want to put him in at the point guard,” coach Jason Kidd said at Cooper Flagg’s introductory press conference. “I’m excited about giving [Flagg] the ball against the Lakers and see what happens. Let’s get it started right off the bat.”
Flagg is a sophisticated passer who makes the right reads and, at 6-foot-9, has the size to deliver any pass. With Kyrie Irving out for most of – perhaps all – of the season, Flagg could have the ball in his hands a lot when the games matter.
The Dorm-room Nets
The Nets’ roster reads like a European hostile full of college-aged kids taking a year off to find themselves. Their five first round picks: Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf and Drake Powell will headline their summer league team.
Brooklyn’s haul was roundly criticized on draft night, but they have a chance to give Nets fans something to hope for in Las Vegas.
Returns of DaRon Holmes II and Nikola Topic
A year ago on this weekend, Holmes tore his right Achilles tendon in his first Las Vegas summer league game with the Denver Nuggets. The 2024 first-round pick missed his rookie season but is ready to return for his second summer league stint.
The Nuggets addressed their backup center need by trading Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas, but Valanciunas may prefer to play in Europe. The Nuggets are hoping to convince Valanciunas to stay, but if they can’t, they may need to rely on Holmes for important minutes. Either way, he’s likely the future behind Nikola Jokic.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City’s Nikola Topic is coming back from missing his rookie season with a partially torn ACL in his left knee and has played well in the pre-Las Vegas Summer League circuit in Salt Lake City. His intriguing blend of size, ball-handling and passing gives the Thunder something they don’t have outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. If he looks as good in Vegas as he did in Utah, NBA circles will be buzzing about how the Thunder got another one.
Nikola Topic doing it all in summer league ⚡
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 8, 2025
OKC's got another one 👀 pic.twitter.com/2QDaJ1l2Wm
The beginning of the Celtics’ gap year
With Jayson Tatum sidelined for the season with an Achilles tear, the Celtics have spent the last month rebuilding the roster and trimming payroll. They have traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet signed with the Spurs, and Al Horford may be on his way out, too.
That’s four core rotation players gone with only Anfernee Simons (for now), Georges Niang and Luka Garza to replace them. The Celtics will spend this gap year playing and developing their recent draft picks, hoping they can become rotation-caliber contributors by the time Tatum returns.
Jordan Walsh, the 38th pick in 2023, is entering his third season. Nobody can replace Tatum’s polished, all-around game, but Walsh has a similar frame and has an opportunity to earn a nightly role. Baylor Scheierman (2024 first-round pick), Hugo Gonzalez (28th pick in June’s draft), Amari Williams (46th pick in June) and Max Shulga (57th pick in June) all have a similar opportunity.
Will the Pelicans be right?
The Pelicans took one of the draft’s more polarizing prospects, Jeremiah Fears, with the seventh pick, then traded their unprotected 2026 pick to move up 10 spots and select Derik Queen at No. 13. It was a pair of bold moves that new head honcho Joe Dumars hopes lays the groundwork for an instant Pelicans reboot.
By trading away their 2026 pick, the Pelicans are betting on them being a playoff team this season. To do that, Fears and Queen will need to be immediate contributors. We’ll get a sense of whether they can be in Las Vegas.
Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided's daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend. If you hate it, share it with an enemy!
NBA news and rumors roundup
- Nikola Jokić will not sign a contract extension with the Nuggets this summer, choosing to delay those discussions until after the season. Jokić has three years remaining on a five-year, $276 million contract extension he signed in 2022, and is eligible to sign a three-year, $200 million extension up until Oct. 20. By waiting until 2026, Jokic will be eligible to add a fourth year to an extension worth an additional $77 million in guaranteed money.
- The Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick. It’s a nice move for the Spurs, who continue to surround Victor Wembanyama with help in the frontcourt. The Wizards are stockpiling young players.
- Anthony Davis underwent a procedure to repair a detached retina that he suffered during the season. He is expected to be healthy for Mavericks training camp.
Summer League watch list
Here are some of the specific games you might want to make time for during summer league’s opening weekend.
Thursday
- 5:30 p.m. ET: Nets vs Thunder
- 8 p.m.: Mavericks vs Lakers
- 10 p.m.: 76ers vs Spurs
Friday
- 4 p.m.: Celtics vs Grizzlies
- 7 p.m.: Hornets vs Jazz
Saturday
- 4 p.m.: Spurs vs Mavericks
- 6:30 p.m.: 76ers vs Hornets
- 8:30 p.m.: Pelicans vs Lakers
- 10 p.m.: Nuggets vs Timberwolves
Sunday
- 5:30 p.m.: Celtics vs Knicks
- 8 p.m.: Wizards vs Nets