NBA Summer League takeaways for every former Kentucky player
Make sure to go congratulate KSR’s Zack Geoghegan and his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, for winning the 2023 NBA Summer League championship. It will likely be the most meaningful hardware they take home for a long time.
While all of Big Blue Nation’s attention has been rightfully focused on a sensational showing in Canada by the new-look Kentucky Wildcats, several former ‘Cats showed their own flashes of brilliance in the blistering desert of Nevada for the NBA Summer League.
Most Kentucky fans’ eyes were on Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston, and Oscar Tshiebwe, who all showed spurts that they could make an impact in the NBA.
A few other familiar faces from the past made an appearance as well. We caught a surprising glimpse of TyTy Washington with his newest team, Shaedon Sharpe punish every rim he saw, and Isaiah Jackson dominate as he goes into his third year with the Indiana Pacers.
And even though they transferred away from Kentucky, it was good to see the likes of Johnny Juzang and Sacha Killeya-Jones play well too. Some takeaways:
Cason Wallace will be just fine
The Oklahoma City Thunder traded up in the 2023 NBA draft for the chance to select Cason Wallace, and in his debut performance, he did not disappoint. He busted onto the NBA scene in Las Vegas hotter than the 110-degree temperatures outside, knocking down six 3-pointers, including a half-court buzzer-beater, on his way to 20 points. He cooled off over the next two games, recording more turnovers than made field goals but recovered with respectable 10 and 12-point outings in his final two performances, including a solid 50 percent from behind the arc.
A great game followed by two sub-par ones, followed by two decent ones should tell everyone watching that Cason Wallace is going to be just fine.
Draft experts touted him as the safest pick in the draft and nothing happened during the Summer League to change that. Even during the two games where he did not shoot the ball well, he still mustered four assists per contest.
Overall, he finished the Summer League averaging 11 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He shot an admirable 38.7 percent from deep but struggled as he got closer to the rim, shooting just 34.6 percent total from the field.
Again, he’ll be just fine.
Chris Livingston’s sole breakout game will give everyone confidence
While Cason Wallace started off his Summer League impressively, Chris Livingston ended his Vegas session in a similar fashion. Livingston was quiet in his debut for the Milwaukee Bucks, but that did not seem to bother team executives, as they signed for former Wildcat to the largest contract ever awarded to the last pick in the draft. The announcement came during game two, which was equally as mundane for Livingston from a statistical perspective.
In fact, you could hear the whispers of the few Kentucky fans who were not glued to Canadian television whisper, “I told you so,” as if Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul could hear them (and subsequently care).
However, just like the draft when similar murmurs floated around the Internet with just a few picks remaining, Livingston burst onto the scene at the last minute, as if to channel his inner Lee Corso and scream, “Not so fast, my friend.”
The beloved yet embattled former Wildcat capped his time off in Las Vegas on Saturday with a team-high 22 points and five boards. The scoring outburst was a boon to his overall numbers as he finished with 10.6 points per game and over 50 percent from the field.
Livingston showed the Bucks flashes of what Kentucky fans saw last season. Now they can’t wait for the consistency to come along with it.
Oscar Tshiebwe still knows how to rebound the basketball
Most teams utilize the Summer League to give rookies a taste of NBA play or perhaps bring back another young player on their squad to get more time on the court. The Pacers, however, dedicated two full games to established rotation players, former ‘Cat Isaiah Jackson (more on him in a minute) and Bennedict Mathurin, who averaged over 16 points per game last season.
That, in part, left fewer minutes for Oscar Tshiebwe, but not even limited time on the court was going to keep Big O off the glass.
Tshiebwe played in all five games but saw the floor for an average of just 13.1 minutes. Despite that, he still hauled in 6.8 rebounds per game and trailed only Isaiah Jackson in offensive boards at 2.4 per contest.
In fact, Oscar finished second in the entire league amongst players who saw the court at least five minutes per game in rebounds per minute.
When it comes to scoring, Oscar didn’t excel, but he didn’t necessarily struggle either. He averaged 6.8 points per game on an efficient 68.4 percent from the field.
It remains to be seen if Tshiebwe showed enough to crack the Pacers’ opening-day roster, but if I were Angel Delgado, the all-time leading rebounder in the G League, I would be a little worried.
Okay, maybe now Isaiah Jackson is ready for a breakout year
Last year around this time, after Isaiah Jackson led the Summer League in blocks for the second consecutive time, this lowly blogging prognosticator predicted he would have a breakout NBA season.
Well, even Nostrodomous got a few things wrong.
Jackson did not have a bad year, per se, but he did not exactly make the leap to the next level, even after adding 15 pounds during the offseason. He averaged a full point less during his sophomore campaign (7.2 per game) compared to his rookie season (8.3 points per game) and plateaued in mostly every other category.
Alas, it was back to the Summer League for Isaiah Jackson, where he dominated once again. He averaged 17 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks during his two games played. Part of the reason he excelled on the boards could be due to the fact he was taking some rebounding pointers from Oscar Tshiebwe.
Could this year be the one where Jackson sees a bigger statistical leap? It would make sense, but sense didn’t play out last year. Maybe this time around.
TyTy Washington played after all
Being on three different teams over the course of a few days does not bode well for Summer League participation. Or so we thought.
Despite jumping from the Houston Rockets to the Atlanta Hawks and then to the Oklahoma City Thunder, TyTy Washington made it to Vegas in time to play in two games for OKC before the session wrapped up.
He averaged six points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists with his new teammates, which is not bad considering he hadn’t been with them long enough to learn their names.
Zooming out a bit, it was disappointing to see Washington depart Atlanta, where he was a better fit. OKC is armed with a slew of young talent, plus they own a hoard of first-round draft picks over the next several years, meaning more strong talent (and thus competition for Washington) will be joining soon.
It is possible we see Washington on the opening day roster, but this could very well be another year of being up and down in the G-League. At the very least, let’s hope we see him, Cason Wallace, and/or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor together. As one Twitter user pointed out, the league needs more of such a fun player.
Shaedon Sharpe continues to be that guy
John Calipari either intentionally or unintentionally threw a little shade Shaedon Sharpe’s way, when he omitted his name from a list of his recent players from Canada while up in Toronto winning gold for the US in the GLOBL Jam tournament.
However, whether we want to cheer for him or just wallow in the pain of what might have been, there are a ton of Kentucky fans who just can’t keep their eyes off of Shaedon Sharpe highlights.
And this Summer League, of course, produced more.
He finished with the second most points per game on the Portland Trail Blazers during the three games he played with 17. I could go on and on about his lower shooting percentage from behind the arc and his low assist total, but let’s be serious, we are all just here to hate-watch him dunk on people’s heads.
Mychal Mulder just keeps going and going and going…
The Energizer Bunny, the Little Engine Who Could, the tortoise who won the race by keeping it slow and steady? All of these are probably terrible analogies for Mychal Mulder, but raise your hand if you had him, at the age of 29, still signed with an NBA team.
The man deserves to be his own character to which others compare.
After limited minutes at Kentucky, Mulder is still shooting his way through the Summer League, this time with the Boston Celtics. He had been with the Miami Heat for the last few years before the team cut him mid-Summer League last offseason.
The veteran of Las Vegas basketball played three games for the Celtics but shot just 23 percent from behind the arc. While Kentucky fans all know Mulder is capable of throwing down a vicious dunk every once in a while, what is going to keep in in the League is his shooting, so my guess would be wants a few of those 3s back.
Still, cheers to Mulder for defying the odds and living out his dream longer than many others who experts ranked above him his entire basketball career.
Johnny Juzang could contribute this year for the Utah Jazz
Sure, he transferred to UCLA and went to a Final Four, but most Kentucky fans do not feel any ill will toward Johnny Juzang.
After playing in 18 games for the Utah Jazz as a rookie where he averaged 4.8 points per game, Juzang looked the part of someone ready to compete for a ration spot this year. He led all former Kentucky players in scoring in the Summer League at 17.8 points per contest while shooting an insane 52.2 percent from 3.
As Isaiah Jackson would be quick to point out, Summer League success does not always lead to regular season success. However, in the modern NBA world where shooting is king, 52% from deep will be hard to keep off the floor. With the Jazz rebuilding, he very well could see some meaningful minutes.
Sacha Killeya-Jones and EJ Montgomery are still battling
Two former Kentucky big men who did not see the court much during their time in Lexington, Sacha Killeya-Jones and EJ Montgomery, are still doing what they can to fulfill their dreams of playing in the NBA.
Killeya-Jones, who was with the Lakers Summer League team last year, suited up in purple and gold once again. He averaged 6.7 points and four rebounds in three games, similar to the numbers he put in in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue last year.
Montgomery, who spent last season playing in Japan, rejoined the Milwaukee Bucks for the Summer League, the team that originally signed him after going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2020. He mustered just two points per game during his three games in Las Vegas, but similar to SKJ, the fact he is back on US soil clawing for a chance to get to the NBA speaks well of his dedication.
BBNBA Summer League Statistics
| Player | GP | MIN | PTS | FG | 3P | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| Johnny Juzang (UTA) | 4 | 23.8 | 17.8 | 53.2% | 52.2% | 3.8 | 2.8 | 0 | 0.3 | 2.8 |
| Isaiah Jackson (IND) | 2 | 27.7 | 17 | 69.6% | 0% | 12.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Shaedon Sharpe (POR) | 4 | 27.9 | 17 | 34.8% | 27.3% | 5.3 | 2.5 | 1 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Cason Wallace (OKC) | 5 | 26.7 | 11 | 34.6% | 38.7% | 2.6 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.8 |
| Chris Livingston (MIL) | 5 | 26.7 | 10.6 | 51.2% | 27.3% | 5.8 | 1.6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sasha Killeya-Jones (LAL) | 3 | 12.3 | 6.7 | 69.2% | 50% | 4 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Oscar Tshiebwe (IND) | 5 | 13.1 | 6.4 | 68.4% | 0% | 6.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| TyTy Washington (OKC) | 2 | 19.3 | 6 | 50% | 0% | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Mychal Mulder (BOS) | 3 | 16.4 | 4.7 | 31.3% | 23.1% | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| EJ Montgomery (MIL) | 3 | 8.2 | 2 | 40% | 0% | 2.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | 1 |
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