​Every July, all 30 teams squeeze into two gyms in Las Vegas and we collectively overreact to basketball games that will be forgotten by Halloween. And yet Summer League matters because it’s the one place where every fanbase, from the hopeful contenders to the doomed, can squint at a 19-year-old and think, “Hey, he’s going to be a guy for us.” Here are the 50 players I’ll be watching, including one from every team. Some are star rookies. Others are second-year players who need to prove something. A handful are simply fighting for a shot in the league.
Peterson’s lone Kansas season read like a medical drama, with a hamstring strain, mysterious cramps, and 11 frustrating absences. So naturally, he shows up in Salt Lake City and reminds everyone why he was still the second overall pick: 28 in his debut against Atlanta, including a 3 to answer a fourth-quarter push and another to break a tie in overtime. Two days later, 25 points and 12 assists against Memphis. The cramping issue seems to be behind him. The high school phenom has returned.
In high school, he was a dynamic playmaker who used his explosiveness to penetrate defenses and generate buckets for himself and teammates, while also displaying shot-making that invites comparisons to Hall of Famers. At Kansas, he thrived in an off-ball role, knocking down jumpers off movement actions and showing he can scale up or down depending on what a roster needs. With Utah, he appears to be blending both of those strengths and already looks like the star of the summer. Will this run continue? On Thursday night, he’ll face the player drafted just ahead of him.
Dybantsa could become one of the NBA’s most unstoppable shot-creators, but he’s already under pressure heading into his Summer League debut on Thursday. He’ll open against Darryn Peterson, who’s developing into a Utah standout, and with the third pick, Cameron Boozer of the Grizzlies resembles a veteran All-Star. Yet Wizards fans shouldn’t panic; remember who Dybantsa is. At 6-foot-9, he combines extraordinary length with fluidity, bending, shifting, and exploding with the ball in his hands. He reaches the rim at will, operates in the mid-range, draws fouls at a high rate, and shows clear point-forward potential. The Brockton, Massachusetts native has a remarkably high floor with his scoring ability alone, giving the Wizards a potential face of the franchise and a ceiling that could reach MVP territory. On Thursday, he’ll face Peterson, a potential rival for years to come.
Wilson is the most gifted athlete in this draft class. He’s 6-foot-9 with springs for legs, and when he darts above the rim, finishes through contact, and chases down every loose ball, he looks like a future cornerstone for a franchise. That’s precisely what the Bulls need in the frontcourt. The intrigue, however, lies in how effectively he can shoot the ball in Las Vegas—an aspect that will be critical not just for his development but for how teams project his role in the modern game. It’ll be fascinating to watch whether his perimeter touch catches up with his elite athleticism, especially as the league weighs what he can become in a high-usage, versatile frontcourt.