Six Miami Basketball alums are playing in the NBA Summer League this July. Recent NBA Draftees Lonnie Walker and Bruce Brown will be joined in the league by Summer League Veterans Trey McKinney-Jones, Davon Reed and Kamari Murphy.
Reed and Murphy are entering their second seasons as professionals after finishing their Miami basketball careers in March 2017. Reed was a 2017 second-round draft choice of the Phoenix Suns. Murphy signed with the Brooklyn Nets as an undrafted free agent.
Reed played 21 games with Phoenix last season and 12 with their G-League affiliate the Northern Arizona Suns. He missed the first four months of last season with a knee injury.
Reed could be playing for a roster spot with the Suns for the NBA regular season. Multiple reports said the Suns delayed their decision on if they would pick up his 2018-19 contract until after the summer league concludes.
Reed’s rookie contract could have been guaranteed on Friday. He will make $1.4 million dollars this upcoming season if the Suns decide to pick up his contract for the 2018-19 season.
Murphy played in all 50 games for the Long Island Nets of the G-League last season. He started 48 games. The former Miami big man averaged 10.4 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, one steal and one block. Murphy is on the Brooklyn Nets Summer League Roster for the second consecutive year.
Trey McKinney-Jones is the fifth Miami basketball alum that will be participating in the NBA Summer League. He will join Walker with the San Antonio Spurs. Having another former Hurricane on the roster with the 18th pick in the NBA Draft should be a good thing for Walker.
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McKinney-Jones has only played one minute in the NBA during his career. His one-minute debut was with the Indiana Pacers this past season.
The five year professional should be able to mentor Walker with their shared alma mater. McKinney-Jones will be playing in the NBA Summer League for the fifth time. He has participated in 2013-15 and now 2017 and ’18.
Walker and McKinney-Jones are two of the seven guards on the Spurs Summer League roster. Both players are listed as shooting guards. The Spurs have four shooting guards and three point guards on their summer league roster.
San Antonio’s 2017 first round pick Derrick White is listed as a shooting guard on the summer league roster and as a point guard on his basketball-reference page.
Walker is not a traditional point guard, but he had the ball in his hands often for the Hurricanes this past season. The Spurs could experiment with him at the point some this summer.
Bruce Brown is one of six guards on the summer league roster of the Detroit Pistons. He was the 42nd overall pick in the NBA Draft by Detroit in June. Brown is listed as a shooting guard. His college coach Jim Larranaga believes said earlier this week that Brown’s NBA future is likely at point guard.
Related Story: Jim Larranaga says Bruce Brown's NBA future is at point guard
Brown led the Hurricanes with four assists per game this past season. He missed the final 12 games of 2018 with after foot surgery.
Next: How to watch Miami basketball alums in NBA Summer League
The NBA Summer league begins on Monday, July 2. You can watch Walker and McKinney-Jones make their 2018 summer league debut at 9:00 PM ET on NBATV. The Nets summer league opener is July 6 at 5 PM ET against Orlando. Brown and the Pistons first game is at 7 PM ET on the sixth against Milwaukee.