Michigan basketball players in NBA Summer League
The NBA draft has come and gone, and free agency is in full swing, which means it’s Summer League time. It’s a chance for all rookies — drafted and undrafted — and unheralded journeymen to get a chance to show that they belong on an active NBA roster next season.
There are three different Summer Leagues: California and Utah are both smaller, but the biggest one is the NBA 2K Las Vegas Summer League which runs from July 7-17. Every NBA team will compete there, and each team will have plenty of prospects that people will want to keep an eye out for.
There are eight former Michigan Wolverines that are on rosters that will see playing time: Chaundee Brown Jr (Atlanta), Isaiah Livers (Detroit), Eli Brooks (Indiana), DJ Wilson (Toronto), Caleb Houstan (Orlanda), Zavier Simpson (Orlanda), DeVante’ Jones (Oklahoma City), and Moussa Diabate (Los Angeles Clippers).
Of course, Houstan and Diabate were drafted in 2022 in the second round, so both will want to have a good showing to prove they belong on the active roster to begin the season.
Eli Brooks, the former Michigan captain, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers, so he will look to capitalize on his opportunity this summer. Also, DeVante’ Jones signed a summer league contract with the Thunder in hopes of impressing an NBA team.
Brown — who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021 — played five total games between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Hawks last year. He averaged six points during that stretch.
Livers was a second-round draft selection for the Pistons in 2021 and he played 19 games during his rookie year. He averaged six points and three rebounds while shooting 42% from 3 in 2021.
Zavier Simpson went undrafted in 2020 and he has primarily played in the G-League where 14.5 points-per-game and seven assists last year. He finally got his call-up for the Thunder last season when he played four games and he averaged 11 points and 7.5 assists-per-game.
Lastly, DJ Wilson is hoping to stick with an NBA team after being selected in the first round during the 2017 draft. Wilson has played with Milwaukee, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Toronto during his NBA career. The former Michigan standout has averaged 4.4 points-per-game in 12 minutes-per-game during his NBA career.
Caleb Houstan and Zavier Simpson with the Magic kick off the tournament on July 7. You can see a full schedule for the Las Vegas Summer League here.
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