NBA Summer League Day 1: Ryan Nembhard steals the spotlights by Bronny James, Cooper Flagg

Las Vegas – With two courts and eight action games every day, there is a lot to see at the 2025 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Here are some of the highlights we saw on the first day.

Star of Bronny/Flagg Showdown: Ryan Nembhard

Thomas & Mack was overflowing Fans there to see Bronny James and Cooper Flagg – And that duo had their moments.

Many fans have left the Thomas & Mack Center, saying: “Who is Ryan Nembhard? Is it linked to that boy of the Pacer?”
Yes, Ryan is Andrew Nembhard of Indiana’s younger brother. Ryan played two years in Creighton, then he had two impressive seasons in Gonzaga, but was not drawn up in June. There were a couple of reasons for this. One, it is listed at 5’11 “, and standing next to him, who could be generous. Second, he was seen as a reluctant marker and not a great shooter.

He is not so sure of this last part: Nembhard scored 21 out of 8 out of 8 game points by shooting in the Mavericks victory over the Lakers on Thursday evening.

“This is what he does. He can do both [pass and score]”Mavericks’s coach Josh Broghamer said.” I think that, especially for college, he was a facilitator, he performed the entire offense, but he can also go get him. So it was really good for him. “

The Maverick saw the potential in Nembhard and triggered him a two -way contract immediately after the draft. It’s just a summer championship game, but it looks like an intelligent bet right now. —Churt Helin

Highlights of stacked woods/wolves

The first day of the Summer League in Las Vegas started with a matchup between the Pellicans and Timberwolves, who was a matchup of two teams stacked according to the standards of the summer league.

New Orleans had recent choices in the first round such as Jeremiah Fears (Pick 7, 2025), Derik Queen (Pick 13, 2025) and Yves Mission (Pick 21, 2024), while Minnesota had Rob Dillingham (Pick 8, 2024), Terrence Shannon Jr. (Pick 27, 2024) and Joan Beringer (Pick 17, 17, 17 2025).

There were many bright points for both teams, but nobody shone brighter than Beringer, which closed with 11 points, eight rebounds, two thefts and six blocks. Minnesota has Rudy Gobert under contract for two more seasons, with a player option for one third year. It is only a summer league, so we shouldn’t react excessively, but the idea is that Beringer will develop in an effective player in the same Gobert mold. An athletic and runner center that has the potential to be a special defensive player.

Dillingham had a lot of flashy moves and got where he wanted on the pitch. The blows have not always entered. The same can be said for fears. Both guards had fun with games, for goals percentages on the pitch and exactly seven turnover. Mission had his shot blocked by Beringer a couple of times, but for the rest he seemed really strong and certainly may not need to play many other games in Summer League.

The only worrying aspect of the game for the Pellicani was the queen in some way, and it was not all bad. He had excellent passages and some beautiful buckets. He even hit a three-late pull-up in the game. His ability to sweep the floor could allow him to thrive alongside Zion Williamson at the offensive end. However, he really fought to defend the bass and shot the ball more than seven times. The turnover should not continue to be a problem, but its inability to defend effectively is something that will have to be improved if a coupling of Queen frontcourts and Sion will ever work. Otherwise, they just exchanged their unprotected choice of the first round of 2026 to add a backup. —NoAh Rubin

In other news:

• The cramps of the Dalton Knecht of the Lakers leads to a spectacular Miss. It seemed most of the summer games of the Dalton Knecht of the Lakers.

However, after that autumn, Knecht remained on the ground for a minute, rubbing the calf, with what he later said he was a cramp that hit the wrong time.

“Yes, both my legs were tight and, you know, did the ball in flight,” said Knecht, “So it’s anything.”

After an approximate first half (and before the cramps), Knecht had a strong second half with a couple of pull-up jumpers that helped the Lakers to drive from 10 in the one in a certain point.

“I just found my rhythm,” said Knecht. “You know, some time has passed since I played, you know, just finding my rhythm on the pitch and, you know, just finding my points. All my blows were right there, and only, you know, I just started falling.”

Knecht closed with 15 points with shooting 6 out of 16. —Hin

• The winner of the day goes to Jamaree Bouyea. The dollars and the pepper played the game of the day. It arrived in the end when Denver’s EJ Liddell had a tip to put Denver one with five seconds left, but it was enough time for the two -way player Jamaree Bouyea to do it:

• Ajay Mitchell seems too beautiful for the summer league. Ajay Mitchell played a game in Las Vegas. It could be everything we see of him in Sin City.

Mitchell came out in his first game in Las Vegas and looked like one of those players who is only a cut above this level as general general and player, dropping 20 points, with a pair of 3 episodes in the mix.

In the same way he impressed in three games at the Salt Lake City Summer League, where he scored on average 19.7 points, 6.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game. After losing part of the time last season, he is just happy to return to the field.

“Obviously, I have that experience last year, so I knew what the summer league was,” Mitchell said. “And I think it is always nice to be able to compare from year to year, the areas I have improved, the areas I can still work on. It is a great experience for me.”
There are certainly areas on which he can work, Mitchell got rid of the ball a little and had six turnover.

However, the Thunder know what they have, why they blocked Mitchell this summer with a three -year contract of 8.7 million dollars, rewarding the UC Santa Barbara Gaucho for a promising beginner season and the role in which it could enter this team. —Hin

• Classic Summer League: The Erik Reynolds of the Thunder controls the rock from the jump ball … then it marks in the basket of the nets. Summer League Baby !!!

(Officially, this did not count, it is a violation of what is unofficially nicknamed the “Ricky Davis rule”.) —Hin

• Good debut for Nolan Traore of Nets. Four of Brooklyn’s debutants went to the field for their first summer championship action on Thursday, and it was a mixture. Egor Demin showed Lampi, while this was not Danny Wolf’s night.

The best of them was the French leading guard Nolan Traore, who looked like a boy who already played against men (he played professionally in France last year) and was at ease, ending with 13 points on shooting 3 out of 5 and arriving on the line six times. It was a promising beginning.

“I think its speed translates very well,” said the coach of the nets Steve Hetzel. “We certainly put it in some actions in which he could throw it and take it back and try to attack the edge. I thought he had managed well with the physicality.” —Hin

• Full. An interesting statistical note for the Summer League-The desperation of the end of the middle-champion district (or more time) will not count as a shot.

This is late (and some statistical models already explain it). Look at any game NBA and you will see the players clinging to the ball only one half more second, so their lifting is after the cycal does not count against their 3 -point shooting statistics. Now, let it fly, it doesn’t matter.