With the best comes the worst. Four Summer League teams lost in last night’s set of California Classic games. There were plenty of players who didn’t have a great night, but some stood out due to how well they were supposed to do. Thankfully, this is only the second game for these players, so there will be more chances in the future for them to step up before the summer ends and the regular season begins.
Here are some of the players who struggled the most yesterday.
Summer League Bottom Performer of The Day
Maxwell Lewis did not have a great night. However, in his first game with the Lakers, he actually scored the most points out of all the starters with 14. This streak did not continue, though, as his second game brought him zero points. He didn’t make up for it in the other columns either, having just three rebounds, one assist, and one block in 19 minutes of action.
I fully believe that Lewis will have a better Summer League game the next time he hits the court. He went 0-8 at field goal range and 0-3 from three. There’s no chance that Lewis is going to throw up another goose egg next time. Hopefully, he can get his head back in the game and have another decent performance.
More Poor Performances
Sacramento Kings 2
This was a toss-up between Fardaws Aimaq and Dane Goodwin. However, where Aimaq struggled in scoring, he made up for it with his nine rebounds and five assists. Goodwin has had a hard time translating his game to the NBA, but he’s young and has some time to get rolling. This California Classic game was not a great one, though.
In his 14 starting minutes, Goodwin had just two points and two rebounds. His two points came from his free throw attempts. To be fair, the guard barely shot the ball this game; however, not notching any in the assist column is a bit disappointing. If you aren’t going to be active in scoring, be active elsewhere.
Team China
Zhu Junlong will be taking home a poor performance award tonight after 22 minutes and zero points for his team. Outside of this, the forward only grabbed three rebounds. Everything else was zeros in the column. He went 0-5 from the field and 0-3 from three-point land.
Zhu is currently a player for the Zhejiang Lions, where he averages 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals. These stats don’t match up to his Summer League performance, as he had zero points in his last showing as well. Hopefully, he and his teammates can pick it up in their next game.
San Antonio Spurs
Finally, the last player of the day is Jameer Nelson Jr., who had a similar performance in his first game. Nelson Jr. ended the night with 17 minutes and five points. He went 1-8 from field goal range and 1-3 from the three-point line. He also had 50% from the free throw line. Like Goodwin, the rest of his stats were all zero.
The guard went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft and is, therefore, trying to prove himself this summer. He still has time, but yesterday was a bit disappointing. He was a solid guard in college, averaging 11.2 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in his senior year. Let’s see if he can turn things around the next time he laces them up for some Summer League action as the California Classic nears its end.
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