The Mavs will head west once again to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. This time, they’ll be joined by an NBA-record 23 other teams.
The Mavericks have competed in Vegas each year since 2005, with the exception of 2011 when there was no Summer League. Dallas is 28-30 all-time in Summer League play.
Teams will compete in three preliminary games beginning July 7 before being seeded in a tournament that leads to the Championship Game on July 17. Each team will play at least five games. Last summer, the Mavs lost in the second round of the tournament to the Chicago Bulls, who would go on to win the championship a few days later.
Summer League is a great opportunity for younger players to prove themselves and potentially even earn their first NBA contract. For example, Jonathan Gibson took Vegas by storm last summer, eventually clinching a partially guaranteed contract and training camp invite.
It also gives more established players an opportunity to work on different aspects of their game. Dwight Powell spent time in Vegas a couple years ago working on elements of his outside game, and last season Justin Anderson played some minutes to work on his ball-handling and creating.
This summer, more so than others in recent memory, the Mavs will have the chance to take plenty of young players already under contract with them to the tournament. Nothing is official, of course, and plenty can change between now and then, but the Mavericks have hinted that virtually all first-year players from this past season’s team could play in Las Vegas. That list could even include guys like Yogi Ferrell and Dorian Finney-Smith, who were among the club’s most-used players for large chunks of 2016-17.
The full roster will be revealed some time after the June 22 NBA Draft. The Mavericks will also almost certainly send the player they select to Las Vegas to make his debut in blue.
Last year’s event set records for total attendance, single-day attendance, combined viewership across ESPN and NBA TV, and NBA social media. Tickets for NBA Summer League will go on sale Monday May 22 at 10 a.m. PT. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting NBATickets.com. ESPN and NBA TV will also bring fans all the action from NBA Summer League 2017 in July. A complete broadcast and game schedule will be released at a later date.
Other teams competing include Houston, San Antonio, Golden State, Chicago, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Toronto, Washington, Boston, Denver, Memphis, Miami, Utah, Cleveland, Portland, Sacramento, Atlanta, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and both L.A. clubs.
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