After 11 days of action in Las Vegas, the Golden State Warriors were named champions of the Las Vegas Summer League after going undefeated in seven games. Three former Duke players were on rosters in Las Vegas, with Austin Rivers and Lance Thomas suiting up for the New Orleans Pelicans and Olek Czyz playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Here's a look at how they fared in summer league action:
Following a disastrous rookie season that ended with a wrist injury, Rivers appears to have his game back on track this summer. He led the Pelicans in scoring at 18.2 points per game, which ranked ninth in the Las Vegas Summer League, adding 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. Rivers' game was still not without its flaws in summer league play—he shot just 48.6 percent from the floor in five games, including a 20.0 percent from 3-point range.
ESPN's Amin Eihassan broke down Rivers' game, and although the second-year guard has shown signs of improvement this summer, Eihassan contends that he still has a long way to go.
"He's doing a much better job at driving and drawing contact, something he did prolifically at Duke but not in the NBA. Rivers needs to continue to simplify his game and focus more on efficiency than volume. Ultimately, his ideal role in this league is as an off-the-bench scoring machine, should he allow his ego to accept such a 'demotion,' but a big part of that role is the ability to be efficiently productive in those limited minutes."
Rivers' summer league teammate, Thomas, is in a unique situation for the Pelicans, who waived the forward just days before the first day of games in Las Vegas. After missing the Pelicans' first game, Thomas rejoined the team and has appeared to make the most of his situation. He started four games for New Orleans, averaging 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
At the conclusion of the Las Vegas Summer League, Thomas became an unrestricted free agent. It is unclear whether or not he will be invited to training camp with another team, but the other 20 NBA franchises in Las Vegas definitely had an opportunity to watch Thomas during the 11 days of play. It is unlikely Thomas would restructure his contract and return to New Orleans—he was scheduled to make less than $900,000 next season, so there's not much more of a pay cut above the league minimum he could take. He will be an interesting player to watch as the summer continues and the start of training camp approaches.
Czyz did not see significant action playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. He played in just two summer league games, averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per contest. In Czyz's lone start, he shot just 2-for-11 from the field and managed to score seven points. All signs point toward Czyz returning to Europe for another year. He played for Virtus Roma in the Italy's Serie A last season.
Rookie Ryan Kelly was listed on the Los Angeles' Lakers roster, but did not play in the Las Vegas Summer League. The 2013 second-round draft pick was recently cleared to play after having foot surgery in March, but the Lakers are in no rush to get him back out on the court. Kelly was on hand in Las Vegas as his team posted a 3-2 record.
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