All a fan can ask for is for their favorite team’s best players to play well in the NBA Summer League.
Considering the Oklahoma City Thunder’s best players are Nikola Topic, Ajay Mitchell and Brooks Barnhizer, its fans should be delighted.
In a 104-83 win over the Indiana Pacers, Topic scored seven points with 10 assists, Barnhizer scored 17 points and six steals and Mitchell scored 13 to continue his solid summer league.
Chris Youngblood also scored 21 and Malevy Leons played well too, recording a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
It was exactly what everyone around OKC wanted to see. Topic thriving as a pick-and-roll passer, one of the only things the reigning champions are lacking. Barnhizer doing his best Alex Caruso impression, scoring off back cuts, hitting open 3s and acting as a menace on defense. Then there’s Mitchell, who continues to look like Sam Presti’s newest second-round steal as an on-ball creator with the potential to lead OKC’s second unit.
Youngblood and Leons could very well be battling for OKC’s final two-way spot.
With Barnhizer and Branden Carlson filling the Thunder’s other two two-way spots, OKC is in need of one more developmental piece. Adam Flagler has likely exhausted his time with the team, Alex Ducas agreed to a deal to head back to Australia to play in the NBL and Mitchell and Carlson took up the other two-way spots during last season.
With Topic and Mitchell having proved they are as good as it gets on a summer league court and are well equipped to play in the NBA, the other guys on OKC’s roster will be the interesting ones to monitor in terms of long-term value going forward.
It remains to be seen who will rise to the top and earn that final spot, but Youngblood and Leons have stood out early in Las Vegas.
Youngblood is a lethal outside shooter who shot above 40% from 3 in three of his five college seasons. Most recently, he averaged 10 points for Alabama and played a crucial role on one of the NCAA’s best offensive teams.
Leons has been in the OKC organization, spending last season as a member of the OKC Blue, where he looked like a potential difference-maker due to his effort and his tenacity on the defensive end. He is just productive enough from deep to be interesting and shows flashes of some off-the-dribble skills.
Of course, it could always be someone we haven’t seen in summer league, as Payton Sandfort and Viktor Lakhin were both projected to be second-rounders before suffering injuries that are expected to keep them out during summer league.
Who knows how long Topic, Mitchell, and Barnhizer will play, but for fans truly invested in the roster-building process, I’d start keeping an eye on other players who impress you as candidates for OKC’s final roster spot.
