NBA Summer League Day 1: Ryan Nembhard steals spotlight from Bronny James, Cooper Flagg

LAS VEGAS — With two courts and eight games of action every day, there is a lot to see at the 2025 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Here are some of the highlights we saw on Day 1.

Star of Bronny/Flagg showdown: Ryan Nembhard

The Thomas & Mack was overflowing with fans there to see Bronny James and Cooper Flagg — and that duo had their moments.

A lot of fans left the Thomas & Mack Center, saying, “Who is Ryan Nembhard? Is he related to that guy from the Pacers?”
Yes, Ryan is the younger brother of Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. Ryan played two years at Creighton, then had an impressive two seasons at Gonzaga, but went undrafted in June. There were a couple of reasons for that. One, he’s listed at 5'11", and standing next to him, that might be generous. Second, he was seen as a reluctant scorer and not a great shooter.

Not so sure about that last part — Nembhard scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting in the Mavericks’ win over the Lakers on Thursday night.

“That’s what he does. He can do both [pass and score],” Mavericks coach Josh Broghamer said. “I think, especially in college, he was a facilitator, he ran that whole offense, but he can go get it, too. So that was really good for him.”

The Mavericks saw the potential in Nembhard and snapped him up with a two-way contract just after the draft. It’s just one Summer League game, but that seems like a smart bet right now. —Kurt Helin

Stacked Nets/Timberwolves highlights

Day one of Summer League in Las Vegas started out with a matchup between the Pelicans and the Timberwolves, which was a matchup of two stacked teams by Summer League standards.

New Orleans had recent first-round picks like Jeremiah Fears (Pick 7, 2025), Derik Queen (Pick 13, 2025) and Yves Missi (Pick 21, 2024), while Minnesota had Rob Dillingham (Pick 8, 2024), Terrence Shannon Jr. (Pick 27, 2024) and Joan Beringer (Pick 17, 2025).

There were plenty of bright spots for both teams, but nobody shone brighter than Beringer, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, two steals and six blocks. Minnesota has Rudy Gobert under contract for two more seasons, with a player option on a third year. It’s only one Summer League, so we shouldn’t overreact, but the idea is that Beringer will develop into an effective player in the same mold as Gobert. An athletic, rim-running center that has the potential to be a special defensive player.

Dillingham had a ton of flashy moves and got wherever he wanted on the court. The shots just didn’t always go in. The same can be said for Fears. Both guards had fun plays, poor field goal percentages and exactly seven turnovers. Missi had his shot blocked by Beringer a couple of times but otherwise looked really strong and certainly may not need to play many more games in Summer League.

The only somewhat concerning aspect of the game for the Pelicans was Queen, and it wasn’t that it was all bad. He had some excellent passes and a few nice buckets. He even hit a pull-up three late in the game. His ability to space the floor could allow him to thrive next to Zion Williamson on the offensive end. However, he really struggled to defend down low, and he turned the ball over seven times. The turnovers shouldn’t continue to be an issue, but his inability to defend effectively is something that will need to be improved if a frontcourt pairing of Queen and Zion is ever going to work. Otherwise, they just traded their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to add a backup. —Noah Rubin

In other news:

• Lakers’ Dalton Knecht’s leg cramp leads to spectacular miss. This seemed like the most Summer League of plays from the Lakers’ Dalton Knecht.

However, after that fall, Knecht stayed on the ground for a minute, rubbing his calf, with what he later said was a cramp that hit at just the wrong time.

“Yeah, both my legs cramped, and, you know, f****** airballed the layup,” Knecht said, “So, it’s whatever.”

After a rough first half (and before the cramps), Knecht had a strong second half with a couple of pull-up jumpers that helped the Lakers lead by as many as 10 at one point.

“Just found my rhythm,” Knecht said. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve played, you know, just finding my rhythm on the court, and, you know, just finding my spots. All my shots were right there, and just, you know, just started falling.”

Knecht finished with 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting. —Helin

• Game winner of the day goes to Jamaree Bouyea. The Bucks and Nuggets played the game of the day. It came down to the end when Denver’s E.J. Liddell had a tip-dunk to put Denver up one with five seconds left, but that was just enough time for Bucks two-way player Jamaree Bouyea to do this:

• Ajay Mitchell looks too good for Summer League. Ajay Mitchell played one game in Las Vegas. That may be all we see of him in Sin City.

Mitchell came out in his first game in Las Vegas and looked like one of those players who is just a cut above this level as a floor general and player, dropping 20 points, with a couple of 3-pointers in the mix.

He similarly impressed in three games at the Salt Lake City Summer League, where he averaged 19.7 points, 6.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds a game. After missing a chunk of time last season, he’s just happy to get back on the court.

“Obviously, I have that experience from last year, so I knew kind of what Summer League was,” Mitchell said. “And I think it’s always great to be able to compare year to year, the areas I improved, the areas I can still work on. It’s a great experience for me.”
There certainly are areas he can work on, Mitchell got a little loose with the ball and had six turnovers.

Still, the Thunder know what they have, which is why they locked up Mitchell this summer with a three-year, $8.7 million contract, rewarding the UC Santa Barbara Gaucho for a promising rookie season and the role he could step into with this team. —Helin

• Classic Summer League: The Thunder’s Erik Reynolds controls the rock off the jump ball... then scores in the Nets basket. Summer League Baby!!!

(Officially, this did not count, it’s a violation of what is unofficially nicknamed the “Ricky Davis Rule.”) —Helin

• Good debut for Nets’ Nolan Traore. Four of Brooklyn’s rookies took to the court for their first Summer League action on Thursday, and it was a mixed bag. Egor Demin showed flashes, while this was not Danny Wolf’s night.

The best of them was French point guard Nolan Traore, who looked like a guy who has played against men before (he played professionally in France last year) and was comfortable, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting and getting to the line six times. It was a promising start.

“I think his speed translates very well,” Nets coach Steve Hetzel said. “We definitely put him in some actions where he could throw it and get it back and try to attack the rim. I thought he handled himself well with the physicality.” —Helin

• Heaves. One interesting statistical note for Summer League — end-of-quarter desperation half-court (or longer) heaves are not going to count as a shot.

This is overdue (and some statistical models already account for this). Watch any NBA game and you’ll see players hold on to the ball just an extra half-second so their heave is after the buzzer doesn’t count against their 3-point shooting stats. Now, let it fly, it’s not going to matter.