2024 NBA Summer League: Day 1 Standouts

The 2024 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is officially underway with the league’s brightest rookies and young stars put to the test to hone their games and develop their wares to be ready come the official NBA season. Here are some of the players who stood out on the 1st day of action.

Anthony Black and Jett Howard, Orlando Magic

The duo was the Magic’s first-round picks just a year ago and just in their first game both Black and Howard showed some promising developments that could catapult them into the team’s rotation moving forward.

Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets

This year’s third overall pick showed out against the Lakers dropping an efficient 23-ball alongside manning the offense for the Rockets. Sheppard looked like he has all the makings of a solid PG in the NBA, which locks in Houston’s core for the foreseeable future alongside young studs Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Cam Whitmore.

Dalton Knecht, Los Angeles Lakers

Over three summer league games since the California Classic, Knecht has looked like the Lakers’ best player and continued to do so in Vegas. The 23-year-old shot the ball particularly well and looked confident in taking catch-and-shoot jumpers as well as some on-ball creation at times.

Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks and Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards

The top 2 picks in this year’s draft went on a duel with Sarr and the Wizards coming out on top to down Risacher on the Hawks. The French duo both showed great potential on both sides of the floor which explains why they were picked where they were picked in the draft: the talent is clearly there.

Jordan Miller, Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers’ second-round selection in last year’s draft, Miller went off with a 30-bomb against the Denver Nuggets to lead LA to the win. He went 6-10 from three and 8-8 from the FT line, which was impressive from a player who played mostly in the G-League the past season. With Paul George’s departure, Miller could have a real chance of fighting for a rotation spot if he continues racking up performances like these.