Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. Currently writing for SB Nation and FanSided, he has covered theUtah Jazz andBYU athletics since 2024 and graduated from Utah Valley University.
Glossy black handset telephone strapped to the left ear, the right hand stretching airborne, one coke-bottle glasses-donning broker clamors among the Wall Street havoc. Yelping, yammering for an ounce of attention, a bead of sweat glides down his reddening forehead as his saliva spray pops like fireworks with the release of each explosive consonant.
Tossing a stray elbow and catching a backfire or two, each suffocated step en route to his destination is met with the grizzly snap of another equally zealous competitor. Bruised, disheveled, and stained with perspiration, his scream pierces the buzzing blorb, sounding out: “I NEED $10,000 ON AIRIOUS BAILEY!”
The bubble bursts. The air turns cold. Silence is unbearable; confusion overwhelms the atmosphere far more palpably than chaos ever could. A pin drops precisely 38 feet due southeast — so that’s what it sounds like.
Releasing the spell of ear-splitting vocal absence, a response arrives: “Hey, buddy. Isn’t it still the Summer League?”
——
Welcome to the NBA offseason, where speculation reigns supreme and everyone becomes an expert on which budding talents are destined for stardom. I’m your host: disembodied text on the internet.
To the actively invested and the casually observing, to the vitriolic lifers and the multitasking consumers: don’t place your expectations on a foundation of Summer League performance.
Health or harm, the NBA Summer League is a mirage; an alternate dimension where Brice Sensabaugh can stack 37 points, the teams are glued together like a paper scrap mosaic, and the on-court results will bear zero weight come the regular season.
As a basketball community, this gospel is received to varying levels of acceptance. The potency of confirmation bias can be intoxicating for the shortsighted fan bases — just ask the Philly faithful after VJ Edgecombe’s strong debut — and the shame of a day one whiff can diminish even the most optimistic supporters into a meager and cautious crowd.
But bearing in mind that an NBA career is never a linear journey, the first irrelevant appearance of a decade-plus hooping lifespan is hardly a prophecy of what’s to come.
Walkin’ on Wall Street
When you’re walking on Wall Street
Buy low, sell high
Take a piece of the pie
That’s the Wall Street way
-Walkin’ on Wall Street by Schoolhouse Rock
NBA stock is a staggering number to follow, and investors are irrationally quick to pull out or buy in at a moment’s notice. Need I remind you how unsettled the basketball universe became after the Spurs’ alien discovery stumbled out of the gate?
“Honestly, I really didn’t know what I was doing on the court,” said Victor Wembanyama after an awkward Summer League entrance. Yes, that Victor Wembanyama. Every giraffe must begin life as an infant — the awkward phase is unavoidable.
Scoring 9 points on 2-of-13 shooting is unsavory enough as it is, while failing the eye test in nearly every way, but his vote of low confidence didn’t help matters in the slightest.
In a similar vein, Utah’s top selection, Ace Bailey, struggled offensively in his SLC Summer League genesis when he shot 3-of-13 and posted 8 in the points column. While his fellow rookie soared with “Sixers” across his chest, the coliseum of public opinion was sharpening the knives in anticipation of Bailey’s verdict.
For game two, however, Bailey lit up the home Delta Center as he hammered the rim, gobbled rebounds, and torched the 3-point line for 18 points. On the defensive end, he was active, energized, and terrorizing.
So, which is the real Ace Bailey?
Two games into a Summer League showing, the Bailey’s core has yet to be exposed to the world — don’t jump to conclusions. If you’d like an example, Cody Williams became a walking paint touch during the Vegas Summer League last season, dropping 17 points per contest on 57/33/89 splits (solid numbers, small sample size aside) via vicious dunks and pure offensive confidence. That hasn’t described the Cody Williams experience in the slightest in the days since.
I say all this simply to make this point. If you bought stock at the initial public offering, that’s great. Likewise, if you still hold reservations about a player’s professional upside, no one will force you to buy in. Though the Summer League is a great chance to witness young talent before their NBA debuts, please keep in mind: the National Basketball Association, this is not.
Enjoy the Summer League for what it is; enjoy young talent in a bubble of pure competition. Get excited about high-flying athleticism, long-distance marksmanship, and glorious hooping by some of the world’s best young prospects. But to those proclaiming to be winners of the draft and to those who, in exasperation, admit their beloved prospects to be disappointments: you’re wrong.
The books have not been written on the career of any Summer League participants. Not yet.