The NBA summer league in Orlando and Las Vegas are getting ready to tip-off soon, so here’s an updated list of where some ProCanes will be playing this summer and for which organizations.
Orlando Summer League:
Trey McKinney Jones – Miami Heat
DeQuan Jones – Indiana Pacers
McKinney Jones is one of two ProCanes playing in the Orlando summer league, and he’s going to go at it with the Miami Heat. McKinney Jones had a training camp invite with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks last season, but that didn’t work out. Obviously we don’t know what the roster situation is with the Heat, so it’s hard to tell what his chances of sticking around are at this point. However, the best part of the summer league is that it’s an audition to all 30 teams, regardless of what uniform you wear.
Jones is back in Orlando, but this time he’s wearing a Pacers uniform. The Pacers could use some athleticism off the bench and we know Jones is a good athlete. Like every other summer league invite, DeQuan is going to try and shine to impress all the other NBA scouts in attendance. Plus, we know Jones is going to want to shine in his old practice court in Orlando.
Las Vegas Summer League:
Rion Brown – Charlotte Hornets
Kenny Kadji – Milwaukee Bucks
Shane Larkin – New York Knicks
DeQuan Jones – New Orleans Pelicans
Trey McKinney Jones – Miami Heat
Durand Scott – San Antonio Spurs
Brown is the most recent ProCane that made a summer league roster, and he’ll be going at it with Michael Jordan’s newly re-named, Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets have a pretty good summer league team with last year’s first rounder Cody Zeller and 2 first-rounders this year in Noah Vonleh and P.J. Hairston, so we know where the eyeballs of their scouts are going to be on. But the Hornets gave Brown a workout before the draft, so the interest is clearly there. I don’t see why Brown can’t make this roster with a good summer league performance.
Kadji is in his second summer league stint, this time with the Bucks. Last year, he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he got extended an invite to training camp and preseason before being cut by the Cavs. Kadji has a good opportunity to make a Bucks roster that lacks talent and Kadji can really help spread the floor for guys like Jabari Parker and Brandon Knight.
Larkin is under contract with the Knicks, so he’s just getting some summer work here as opposed to looking for a training camp invite. He was just recently traded to the Knicks so he’s going to try and show Phil Jackson and management that he can play and run an offense. Last summer league with the Dallas Mavericks, Larkin suffered a broken ankle during one of the practices leading to the summer league, so hopefully that doesn’t happen and we get to see him perform this summer.
McKinney Jones gets a second opportunity to impress the Heat and the other teams, so this is the advantage of playing for a team that’s participating in both leagues.
Much like McKinney Jones, DeQuan Jones has a second audition in the Vegas summer league with the New Orleans Pelicans. He’s going to play a lot of minutes in a two week span, but he’s going to have to show out if he wants to come back into the NBA.
Scott is playing with the Spurs for the second summer league in a row. It’s tough for him to make a roster that just won the NBA championship, but I’m interested to see how much his game has improved after his one year over in Spain. Again, this is an open tryout to every other team. If he’s improved, I don’t see why Durand Scott can’t be on an opening night roster, or at least a training camp one.