Darren & Vic's Playbook: Summer League Edition

Published: Saturday, July 19, 2025

by Darren Worrell and Victor Lisboa

As huge basketball fans, the NBA Summer League has had our undivided attention now that the NBA and college basketball season have wrapped up. In this edition of Darren and Vic’s playbook, we break down the players that stood out to us and share our opinion on their performance throughout this year’s Summer League so far.

Darren's Takeaways

The NBA Summer League is back and better than ever and I always like to call this the “proving grounds,” kind of like in 2K because that is exactly what it is. Players that were drafted, undrafted, in the G-League, as well as the players that do not really play during the regular season get a chance to prove why they deserve to be on a roster. 

In my portion I decided to focus on five players; three of which are former Seton Hall Players being Kadary Richmond, Dre Davis, and Tyrese Samuel, while the other two are great players as well, being Drew Timme and Kyle Filipowski.

Richmond, Davis, and Samuel

These three players might ring a bell as they are former Seton Hall Players who made a big impact in college basketball and are now fighting for a spot in the NBA. Dre and Tyrese are a part of the Brooklyn Nets Summer League team, while Kadary is on the Washington Wizards Summer League team. 

Last night, each of them made their summer league debuts. In 10 minutes of playing time, Samuel had a decent game with six points on 3-4 from the field and also had four rebounds, two steals and a block to go along with that. In 13 minutes of playing time, Davis racked up three points and two rebounds. 

Richmond, on the other hand, got a lot of playing time with 25 minutes. He only scored two points and had two rebounds, but his aggressiveness on the defensive end was present as he racked up two steals. 

Overall, I think they all held their own in their debuts. That said, I am not sure Kadary is being used in the right role. I noticed he was playing at the small forward spot, which felt a bit off considering he’s naturally a point guard. It did not make sense to me at all.

Timme and Filipowski

The next two players are personal favorites of mine from their college days, with Timme at Gonzaga and Filipowski at Duke. If people did not know them before the Summer League, they do now. 

Filipowski has been the go-to guy for the Utah Jazz Summer League team, consistently dominating despite the team’s struggles. He dropped 35 points and 11 rebounds in a recent game, and he has been putting up big numbers like that all summer. Unfortunately, the Jazz have shut him down for the rest of the Summer League after his impressive run. 

Timme, playing for the Brooklyn Nets, has also been a standout. His recent 24-point, 10-rebound performance felt like college Timme. Both players have put the league on notice and deserve meaningful minutes next season.

Vic's Takeaways 

The NBA Summer League is a time for teams to evaluate their draft picks and prospects on their roster. It is also a time for many undrafted players to showcase themselves in what is essentially another try out for them to make an NBA roster. It may be brief, but there is plenty of great play, and interesting players performing. 

I would like to focus on a couple of players who I think are making noticeable strides, and this includes Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and David Jones-Garcia.

Dillingham, Shannon Jr., and Jones-Garcia

Rob Dillingham, the 8th overall pick in 2024, spent most of the '24 season coming off the bench for veteran PG Mike Conley. The former Kentucky product has always been touted as a great ballhandling guard, usually regarded as “Shifty.” 

One of my favorite current NBA sayings is “Rob with the Shifts” Dillingham showed flashes last year, for a potential future role on this Timberwolves team fresh out of the WCF. Now with Nickeil Alexander-Walker in Atlanta, Dillingham may be forced into a larger role. 

So far in Summer League, he’s played in all four games while Minnesota sits at 4-0, and he has tallied a total of 69 points, 26 assists and 7 steals. Dillingham did struggle a bit with inefficiency and turnovers, which was part of his scouting report at Kentucky, but I am confident he will earn a bigger and more crucial role next season. 

I also want to give an honorable mention to Terrence Shannon Jr., who was also impressive in his 3 SL games and could likely earn an increased role in his second year. 

Finally, David Jones-Garcia is an undrafted Dominican player, who spent his time in the G-League last year, playing 29 games for the Mexico City Capitanes, and two for the Salt Lake City Stars. In his brief stint in the G-League, he was a clear standout. 

He averaged 24.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.2 APG, and 1.5 SPG. He shot 48% from the field, 34% from three-point range and 91% on free throws, earning his spot for the Summer League, where he has furthermore impressed, playing for the San Antonio Spurs. He’s shown an interesting all-around game, getting others involved, while scoring at a high clip.

Jones-Garcia is currently averaging 24.3 PPG in summer league, with great shooting percentages. He’s shot 45% from three, in all three of his games played thus far, and above 52% from the field in every game as well. 

The Spurs recently drafted Rutgers star guard Dylan Harper 2nd overall & Arizona star Carter Bryant 14th overall, and they drafted two prospects in the top 10 the last two seasons, with Victor Wembanyama in 2023, and Stephon Castle last year, indicating that this team is loaded with prospects.

Honestly, I do not know if I expect David Jones-Garcia to be in silver and black for San Antonio next year, but I would be pretty shocked if he doesn’t end up on an NBA roster for next season.

Darren Worrell can be reached at darren.worrell@student.shu.edu.

Victor Lisboa can be reached at victor.lisboa@student.shu.edu.

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