LAS VEGAS – Another year of NBA Summer League has wrapped up at the Thomas & Mack Center in Sin City, and it certainly lived up to the billing like it has so many times in the past. We knew going in that his year was going to be a bit more special than most, considering the amount of potentially transcendent talent that was available in June’s NBA Draft, but to say the stars put on a show would be an understatement.
The Headliners
The first statement of the summer was made before we even reached Las Vegas. At the Salt Lake Summer League earlier this month, Utah Jazz No. 2 overall pick Darryn Peterson wasted little time shutting down his detractors by posting 28 points, five rebounds and two assists to beat the Atlanta Hawks in overtime in his professional debut.
However, when Peterson met No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa and the Washington Wizards in the annual opening night matchup between the top two draftees in Las Vegas, it was a somewhat different story. Contrary to some of their previous head-to-head meetings, it was Dybantsa who stole the show with 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting with 7 rebounds in a winning effort. Peterson finished with 24 points on 6-of-18 shooting, but he also had eight turnovers and was a big reason why the Jazz spent much of that game playing from behind.
Chicago’s Rising Star
Another star we saw emerge in the desert was Caleb Wilson of the Chicago Bulls. The No. 4 overall pick made a legitimate case that he should have been No. 1, or at the very least a bigger part of the Dybantsa/Peterson/Boozer conversation that drove NBA Draft discourse throughout the year. In the Bulls’ opening game, Wilson set a Summer League rookie record by scoring 35 points on 12-of-21 shooting, making 7-of-11 attempts from 3-point range.
Caleb Wilson Top 10 Plays at Summer League
pic.twitter.com/OGsiXjRe9q
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) July 17, 2026
Wilson’s shooting performance was a bit of revelation considering the fact that he was primarily used as a rim runner at North Carolina, but the revealed dimension to his game solidifies him as someone on the shortlist of Rookie of the Year candidates. As an encore to his opening night performance, Wilson led the Bulls in scoring in all three of his Summer League appearances and was by and large the week’s most impressive player.
Championship DNA
The somewhat backwards part about Summer League is the fact that most reporters, celebrities and players are in town for opening weekend to see the top picks instead of championship weekend when the trophy is actually handed out. If you tapped out of Summer League after the stars did or you just got caught up in World Cup fever this past weekend, you may have missed that the Golden State Warriors became the second team in NBA history to win multiple Las Vegas Summer League titles (joining the Portland Trail Blazers) with a 94-90 win over Cameron Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Yaxel Lendeborg, the 11th overall pick, wins the 2026 NBA Summer League Championship Game MVP!
21 PTS
— NBA (@NBA) July 20, 2026
Warriors’ first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg proved that his championship DNA from Michigan carried over to the NBA, earning Summer League title game MVP honors with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting in addition to 10 rebounds. The Warriors trailed the Grizzlies by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, but Lendeborg led them to a 28-14 advantage in the fourth quarter and as a result, the Warriors’ 2013 Summer League Championship trophy will get some company wherever it’s on display.
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