Summer League Wrap-Up

On Sunday night, the NBA’s Summer League session wrapped up in Las Vegas, with Yaxel Lendeborg – the 11^th overall pick of this June’s Draft – leading his Warriors past Cameron Boozer – the No. 3 pick – and his Grizzlies in the championship game.

The Cavaliers didn’t qualify for the final rounds, but they have to head home happy after watching their lone draft pick dominate on the offensive end – all while rattling off three straight wins to wrap up the week. 

On the night Cleveland made Meleek Thomas the 34^th overall pick out of Arkansas last month, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman said the team was going to put the ball in his hands at Summer League. And that’s just what they did. 

All the 19-year-old from Pittsburgh did in his four games out west was lead all of Summer League in scoring (27.3ppg) and field goal attempts (20.5) and second overall in field goals makes (10.3). Thomas shot an even 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from long-range – averaging 3.5 boards and a team-best 3.8 assist per game. He averaged just 1.5 turnovers to go with 2.0 steals in his four outings. 

Thomas, who played alongside the Draft’s 7^th overall pick Darius Acuff Jr. – who averaged 19.0ppg in three games with Sacramento in Vegas – last year at Arkansas, scored at least 20 points in all four outings, including back-to-back 30-point outbursts. 

The 6’3”,190-pound guard went 7-for-15 from the floor for 20 points in his debut against Indiana, but really hit his stride two nights later against Detroit – showing his deft handle and skill as a three-level scorer, finishing with 30 points on 10-of-24 shooting, leading both teams with seven assists and the Wine and Gold with four steals. 

Thomas was even more explosive the following night, leading Cleveland to its first win of the week with a 35-point eruption – going 14-for-23 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from deep, adding three boards, three assists, a pair of steals and a block. After getting the night off in Wednesday’s win over the Pelicans, an all-business Thomas wrapped up his outstanding week of work with a game-high 24-point night effort in Friday night’s victory over Chicago. 

The Cavaliers’ overall team performance mirrored Thomas’ showing in many ways. In their five-game run in Vegas, the Wine and Gold led the League in field goal makes (34.2FGM) and attempts (79.2FGA) while also committing the second-lowest turnovers (13.6) and finishing 5^thin steals (11.0). 

The Cavs also have to feel good about their two-way big man, Ernest Udeh Jr., who had a solid week in the desert.

The rugged 6’11”, 266-pounder, who went undrafted this past June out of Miami, isn’t going to win the scoring title at either the NBA or G-League level, but Udeh showed that he understands the assignment: defending the rim and working the glass. 

Udeh played in all five games with Cleveland, finishing 8^th in the League, averaging 2.8 blocks per contest. The 22-year-old center from Orlando, who averaged 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per, got off to a slow start, but finished the week in style. 

In his second game against Detroit, he finished with six points, six boards, four steals and a pair of blocks. The following night, he led Cleveland with seven rebounds and four blocks. In the win over Miami, he again led the team with eight boards and three swats. In his finale on Friday night against the Bulls, he finished with five rejections – as many as Chicago as a team. 

Nae’Qwan Tomlin was one of the veterans of the squad in Summer League after appearing in 69 games with the Wine and Gold last season, averaging 5.9ppg with 10 double-digit scoring performances. The explosive forward from New York City averaged 18.5ppg in his two outings last week – going 15-for-24 from the floor, grabbing three steals in the opener, four blocks in his second game. 

The squad’s other veteran, Malaki Branham, had a strong week of his own in Vegas, netting double-figures in all five outings. The St. Vincent-St. Mary product, tabbed by the Spurs out of Ohio State in the 2022 Draft, averaged 15.2ppg on 48 percent shooting from the floor, 94 percent from the stripe. In last Wednesday’s win over New Orleans, the 6-4, 180-pound Columbus native led both teams with 23 points on 7-for-16 shooting. 

With Summer League in the rearview mirror – aside from a few remaining free agent decisions – the NBA will downshift into the dog days of August, with the 2026-27 schedule release mid-month that’ll announce the next step of the journey.