NBA Summer League 2024: Hot Takes on Bronny, Sarr, Sheppard, More from Day 7 Results

The end of NBA Summer League is nearing, but promising rookies are continuing to excite in Las Vegas.

Thursday saw Los Angeles Lakers’ rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr and the Washington Wizards square off with the Sacramento Kings, along with a handful of other fun matchups.

After another day of Summer League, here’s a recap of Thursday’s action as well as how the social media world responded.

Day 7 Results

Brooklyn Nets 102, Orlando Magic 100

Washington Wizards 73, Sacramento Kings 69

Memphis Grizzlies 88, New Orleans Pelicans 77

Denver Nuggets 86, Indiana Pacers 71

Los Angeles Lakers 93, Cleveland Cavaliers 89

Los Angeles Clippers 105, Utah Jazz 88

Minnesota Timberwolves 93, Houston Rockets 83

Alex Sarr’s Struggles Continue

It was another night to forget for the No. 2 overall pick.

On Wednesday, Sarr never found the basket, going 0-of-15 from the field, 0-of-7 from deep and missing both of his free throws. All he had to show for was on the defensive end with nine boards and three blocks.

It didn’t get better on Thursday as Sarr went 1-of-6 from the field with 11 rebounds and four assists. That brought his shooting total over the last two games to 1-of-21 from the field—not exactly the numbers you want to see from the second pick in the draft.

Across his four Summer League games, Sarr has 22 points on 9-of-47 from the field and is shooting 11.7 from deep.

While Summer League games don’t matter when the regular season rolls around, that didn’t stop Wizards fans from being extremely worried about Sarr’s poor performance in Las Vegas.

Dalton Knecht Posts Another Solid Outing, Bronny Continues to Improve

The Lakers are likely becoming more pleased with their draft selections after the past few days.

Dalton Knecht has continually proved that he’s on his way to being a solid rookie, and he added to that assurance on Thursday with 20 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-16 from the field. One of the only concerns with Knecht’s game so far is his defense, but that’s something that he can develop over the course of his first season.

NBA fans once again praised Knecht for another strong showing.

There’s no denying Bronny James had a rough start to Summer League, but he’s turned things around over the past two games and is now showing promise that he can be a solid NBA player.

The son of NBA legend LeBron James had another strong showing with 13 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks on 5-of-10 from the field. That performance follows up what was his best NBA showing to date on Wednesday when he had 12 points on 5-of-11 from the field.

James has seemingly figured things out after struggling early on, and he’ll look to continue showing that he’s more than just LeBron’s son in the coming days.

After the game, fans hyped James for keeping his momentum going from Wednesday’s game.

Nets’ Second-Rounder Shows Out

Bronny James wasn’t the only second-round pick with a strong performance on Thursday.

Jalen Wilson, the No. 51 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, shined in an overtime win against the Orlando Magic. The Brooklyn Nets forward had 33 points and 10 boards on a scorching hot 6-of-7 from deep.

He also had the shot to reach the overtime target score and give the Nets the win.

Wilson played just 43 games in the NBA in his rookie season, averaging five points a game, but he’s showing in Summer League that he could be due for a big second year.

Reed Sheppard Cools Down, Struggles Early vs. Timberwolves

Reed Sheppard has been one of the most impressive rookies throughout Summer League, but the Houston Rockets No. 3 overall pick struggled in the first half against the Timberwolves.

He finished the first half with nine points, but turned the ball over six times, something that hasn’t been much of a problem for him in Summer League. The bad start led to Sheppard drawing plenty of criticism on social media.

With young players, an occasional bad game is expected, and Rockets fans are hoping that was the case for Sheppard on Thursday.