- Sarr’s defense is far ahead of his offense, Hughes adds in an overview of the Wizards‘ Summer League performance. The big man registered 10 blocks in four games and altered many other shots with his relentless effort. Although he often struggled with his shot, Sarr looks “NBA ready” on defense, according to Hughes. Fellow lottery pick Carlton Carrington was a standout in Las Vegas, averaging 15.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.0 steals in five games. It’s the fourth-highest rebounding figure for a rookie point guard in Summer League history, Hughes adds.
- Keaton Wallace “impacts winning,” assistant coach Ryan Schmidt posted on Twitter after the Hawks signed the free agent guard to a two-way contract, per Lauren Williams of The Journal-Constitution. Wallace is hoping to take advantage of the opportunity after spending the past three seasons in the G League. “I feel like I still have more to show,” he said. “I can always be better in a lot of categories of my game. But I do feel like my work has paid off and it’s just a blessing. I think it could be great for me just trying to learn and be better and get advice from other guys and just leaning on my teammates to get better.”
- Hornets rookie Tidjane Salaun only appeared in two Summer League games, but he has displayed a strong work ethic to go along with his physical talents, observes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. As the first draft pick under new president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson and head coach Charles Lee, Salaun is the type of self-starter they’re looking to build the organization around. “For me, it’s playing confidence,” Salaun said. “That makes the difference. That’s always been the key for me, always been the key for me, because when you have confidence even if the shot is hard with my confidence I know I’m going to make it.”
A series of players who finished the 2024/25 season on two-way contracts have received qualifying offers from their respective teams, making them free agents, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac. Those players are as follows (all links go to Twitter):
- Isaiah Crawford, Kings (link)
- Collin Gillespie, Suns link)
- Harrison Ingram, Spurs (link)
- Daniss Jenkins, Pistons (link)
- Spencer Jones, Nuggets (link)
- Christian Koloko, Lakers (link)
- Riley Minix, Spurs (link)
- Jacob Toppin, Hawks (link)
- Luke Travers, Cavaliers (link)
- Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards (link)
- Keaton Wallace, Hawks (link)
In each case, the player’s qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal, with a small portion (approximately $85K) guaranteed.
While a rival team could technically sign any of these players to an offer sheet during free agency, we essentially never see that happen with two-way free agents. Most of them end up either accepting their two-way QOs or agreeing to new standard contracts with their current teams.
Gillespie, who turned 26 on Wednesday, is among the players who made a strong case for a promotion to a standard contract this past season. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game for Phoenix across 33 appearances (nine starts) and made 43.3% of his three-point tries.
Koloko (2.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 37 games), Vukcevic (9.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and .496/.373/.776 shooting in 35 games), and Wallace (5.4 PPG and 2.6 APG in 31 games) also played rotation minutes for their respective clubs in 2024/25.
Sunday is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to players who are eligible for restricted free agency.