How former Michigan basketball players fared in NBA Summer League
Kon Knueppel and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Sacramento Kings by a score of 83-78 on Sunday to claim the 2025 NBA Summer League title. Knueppel, the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, won MVP of the championship game.
Although no former Michigan basketball players appeared in the title game, a handful of former Wolverines performed well throughout the course of the Summer League. Let’s take a look at how former Michigan players fared this summer.
Kobe Bufkin (Atlanta Hawks)
Bufkin, who played two seasons at Michigan from 2021-2023, easily had the best showing this summer of any former Michigan player. In Bufkin’s first game with the Hawks in the 2025 Summer League, he dropped 29 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Despite shooting just 6-of-16 from the floor in the 105-98 win over the Miami Heat, Bufkin converted on all 15 of his free throw attempts to boost his scoring total. Bufkin played just 26 minutes in the contest, scoring more than a point per minute.
Bufkin finished his four-game showing with an average scoring total of 19.5 points. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in his four games played. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound shooting guard scored double figures in all four games.
Hunter Dickinson (New Orleans Pelicans)
After spending two years at Kansas following a three-year career in Ann Arbor, Dickinson went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft. The New Orleans Pelicans signed the 7-foot center to a two-way contract following the conclusion of the draft.
In four games played with the Pelicans this summer, Dickinson averaged 6.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. New Orleans lost all four games Dickinson played in, but the former Wolverine and Jayhawk had a strong 10-point, eight-rebound showing in the Pelicans’ 113-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Dickinson shot 57.9 percent from the floor in the games he played in, but he missed all four of his 3-point attempts and shot only 3-of-8 from the free throw line.
Vlad Goldin (Miami Heat)
Goldin, who played just one season at Michigan after one at Texas Tech and three at Florida Atlantic, had a strong showing this summer for the Miami Heat. The Voronezh, Russia, native was projected by many to be a late-second-round draft choice in last month’s draft, but he was not selected.
Instead, the Miami Heat signed Goldin to a two-way contract following the draft. This summer, Goldin played in six games for the Heat — three in the California Classic and three in the Summer League. He averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. In a 93-92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Goldin logged 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Goldin finished his six games averaging 17.8 minutes per contest and shooting 64.5 percent from the floor.
Olivier Nkamhoua (Portland Trail Blazers)
Olivier Nkamhoua played four seasons at Tennessee before transferring to Michigan to play in his fifth and final season of college basketball. Unfortunately for Nkamhoua and the 2023-24 Wolverines, it was a season to forget.
Nkamhoua battled injuries throughout a chunk of the season, and Michigan finished the season 8-24, marking one of the worst seasons in program history.
With the Trail Blazers this summer, Nkamhoua saw minimal action. He played in five games, averaging 10.4 minutes and 3.8 points. His best outing came with nine points, three rebounds and three blocks in a 102-83 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Zavier Simpson (Los Angeles Clippers)
Far and away the oldest player on this list, Simpson has been bouncing around a few different professional leagues for about five years since he left Michigan in 2020. The former Michigan point guard unforgettably had his senior season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
This summer, Simpson signed a Summer League contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. In four games in the Summer League, Simpson averaged 24.8 minutes of action per contest. He totaled 8.3 points per game, along with 3.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Simpson had two 12-point outings, both of which came in victories for the Clippers.
Danny Wolf (Brooklyn Nets)
Danny Wolf played two seasons at Yale before transferring to Michigan for his junior year. At times, Wolf was clearly Michigan’s most talented player. He scored 36 points against UCLA and tallied 13 double-doubles in the 2024-25 season.
He finished the year scoring 13.2 points and hauling in 9.7 rebounds. His impressive and consistent performance throughout the season earned him a first-round selection (No. 27 overall) by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2025 NBA Draft.
With the Nets this summer, Wolf averaged 9.0 points in 24.7 minutes per game across three contests. His best game came against the Orlando Magic when he scored 18 points, collected six rebounds and dished out four assists.
Wolf should be a valuable piece off the bench for the Nets in 2025-26.