The 2019 NBA Summer League is here and a few former ACC Basketball players have shined so far.
The ACC was well represented in the first two NBA Summer Leagues that wrapped up action on July 3. Seven former ACC Basketball players partook with the eight NBA teams that participated in the Salt Lake City Summer League and California Classic. Two other players — Kings’ Marvin Bagley and Cavs’ Jaron Blossomgame — did not play despite being on their team’s roster. Bagley was ruled out of the California Classic due to a sore Achilles and won’t play in Las Vegas either, per CBS Sports. Blossomgame also sat out due to an undisclosed injury.
Here are my rankings on how the seven former ACC players performed in the two early NBA Summer Leagues.
7. Codi Miller-McIntyre, LAL: The former Wake Forest point guard is probably the least likely of the conference players to earn an NBA contract for the 2019-20 season. Miller-McIntyre has spent most of his three professional seasons over in Europe. He did spend training camp with the Dallas Mavericks last year. As well as the first part of the season with the G-League campaign with the Texas Legends before moving onto Russia.
The 25-year-old appeared in the Lakers’ first game of the Summer League against the Heat, going scoreless and posting a -22 rating in 15 minutes of action. He missed all three of his shots, including his lone 3-point attempt, although Miller-McIntyre did add three assists along with one rebound and three turnovers.
6. Ky Bowman, Golden State: The Boston College product signed a two-way deal with the Warriors prior to NBA Summer League action. His numbers during the three-game California series weren’t eye-popping but he did knock down a couple of triples and showed that he is a capable playmaker at the NBA level. Defense was an issue, however.
Bowman averaged 4.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 36% from the floor (5 of 14) and 37% from 3-pt range (3 of 8). The 6-1, 22-year-old point guard will play for the Dubs Last Vegas Summer League squad.
5. Malachi Richardson, Golden State: After not getting on the floor for the Warriors first game against Sacramento, the Syracuse product started the final two games of the California Classic. He played fairly well against the Lakers in Game 2 of the event but struggled against the Heat on Wednesday.
Richardson scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds while making 3 of 8 shots from the field and 3 of 4 attempts from beyond the arc and recorded a plus-19 rating in 20 minutes versus Los Angeles. The 23-year-old missed all four of his shots against the Heat to finish the Classic, averaging 5.0 points along with 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists over 25.5 minutes. He made only 25% of his shots from the floor, although he knocked down 3/5 attempts (60%) from long distance.
The 6-6 wing has yet to get anything going in the NBA, appearing in just 70 games over four seasons. He played in 22 games and produced 1.4 points a contest in limited action for the Raptors this past season. Richardson will head to Las Vegas with the Warriors from July 5-15.
4. Davon Reed, Golden State: The 24-year-old Miami (Fla.) product had a productive start to the summer league on both ends of the floor. Reed, who did not play against the Lakers in Game 2, scored 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc in 19 minutes off the bench against Miami. He also added a pair of steals and assists.
Reed averaged 8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 46% from the field and 50% on 3-point attempts. The third-year pro has spent most of his professional career in the G-League, although he does have 31 games of NBA service with 10 appearances coming with the Pacers last year.