Deacs in the NBA: 2022 Summer League Recap

The NBA Summer League in Vegas came to a close on Sunday night following a 10-day event in which each team played a total of 5 games. Three former Wake Forest players, Jake LaRavia (Grizzlies), Alondes Williams (Nets), and Brandon Childress (Kings) had an opportunity to play in this year’s league, and it seems like they made the most of it.

Jake LaRavia

Let’s start things off with Jake LaRavia. LaRavia had significantly less pressure on him than most of the players in the Summer League simply because he was a first-round draft pick and has already signed his guaranteed contract. In his first game after becoming an NBA player, LaRavia helped the Grizzlies to a 103-99 win over the 76ers in the Salt Lake City Summer League and finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, while hitting 4 of his 7 3-point attempts. It seems the extended length of the 3-point line in the NBA did not bother him at all.

He finished the SLC league averaging 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.5 steals. His numbers went down significantly in the Las Vegas Summer League, however. In 4 games in Sin City, LaRavia averaged just 2.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 25 minutes per game. As we saw during his one season as a Demon Deacon, LaRavia is a very good scorer when he wants to be, but at times can become almost too unselfish and tries to get his teammates involved instead of looking for his offense. That’s not really any cause for concern at this point, as LaRavia pretty much proved his ability to pass the ball and score from beyond the arc, which is where he will make his money in the NBA.

Alondes Williams

The reigning ACC Player of the Year, Alondes Williams, signed a 2-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets right after the draft. In 5 games in the Vegas Summer League, Williams averaged 4.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 19.5 minutes per game. I watched a few of the games and frankly he could have finished with way more assists if his teammates could have simply put the ball in the basket.

I mean, COME ON!

Williams continued to show more of what Wake Forest fans watched all of last season: great court vision and an ability to finish at the rim while sometimes being too loose with the ball and struggling to score from beyond the arc. In his 5 games, Williams went 0-7 from 3-point range, so he will definitely need to improve there if he wants to have a long career in the NBA. Williams had his best game of the Summer League in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers where he finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in 20 minutes off the bench.

With everyone seemingly trying to get out of Brooklyn this offseason, Alondes is in a great spot to make an impact for the Nets next season.

Brandon Childress

Brandon Childress was a late addition to the Sacramento Kings summer league roster. He saw action in just 1 game in a win over the Houston Rockets. He finished the game with 5 points, 1 rebound, and 3 assists in 18 minutes off the bench.

Good luck to the guys going forward and Go Deacs!