Hughes: What to make of Davis’ Summer League? originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
I first fell in love with NBA Summer League back in 2007. That was the year Kevin Durant was drafted and immediately looked like a star, but it was also the year the Wizards drafted Nick Young and Dominic McGuire, and both showed promise in Las Vegas.
Young, their first-round pick, was 6-foot-7, athletic and skilled. He didn’t put up great numbers in Las Vegas, but he flashed star potential. McGuire, a second-round pick who averaged a preposterous 3.6 blocks per game in college, looked like an unusually versatile and disruptive defender at the forward position. I was convinced the Wizards had found a steal.
Both players ended up having solid careers, but ultimately it was an early reminder that the Summer League can be a mirage in the desert. What happens in Las Vegas often stays in Las Vegas. Sometimes there is little to no correlation at all.
That brings us to Wizards’ 2022 first-round pick Johnny Davis, who appeared in three games for Washington before being shut down for the final two with lower back tightness. He was not a standout in the Summer League like many of the first-round picks this year were. Perhaps the injury was to blame. Or, maybe it was another factor like the difference in style of play compared to college, which may not be as stark in the actual NBA.
We can only speculate there, but it also may be fair to compare Davis’ Summer League to those of other Wizards’ recent first-round picks to see what it means for his immediate future. In the last three Las Vegas Summer Leagues, the Wizards have had three first-round picks in Davis, Rui Hachimura (2019) and Corey Kispert (2021).
Like Davis, Hachimura only played in three games, but in those games he was very effective. Hachimura averaged 19.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 50% from the field, 87.5% from the free throw line and 33.3% from three. The Wizards shut him down because they had seen enough. He passed the test.
Hachimura then went on to be the Wizards’ first All-Rookie selection since Bradley Beal in 2013. Summer League was an accurate glimpse at a player who was going to hit the ground running in the NBA that fall.
Kispert was not nearly as productive as Hachimura, his former Gonzaga teammate. In four games last summer, Kispert averaged 9.5 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 35.7% overall and 29.2% from three. He even missed two of his three free throw…