It’s time for NBA Summer League!
Okay, yes, technically NBA Summer League started on July 5th when the California Classic and the Salt Lake City Summer League got started last week. Officially, yes, the NBA considers these Summer League games. But the summer League that everyone thinks of when you say “NBA Summer League is the rapid-fire, all-30 teams involved event in Las Vegas, and that starts TODAY at 2:30pm Central.
This is a Marquette athletics blog site, so of course, we’re only really concerned about the former Golden Eagles in action. As such, we just skipped right on past the California and Utah events and moved along to Vegas where there are SIX guys that Marquette usually claims as “Marquette Guys” on a roster.
Here’s the list, in alphabetical order:
Jamal Cain:Minnesota Timberwolves
D.J. Carton:Portland Trail Blazers
Oso Ighodaro:Phoenix Suns
Kam Jones: Indiana Pacers
David Joplin:Milwaukee Bucks
Tyler Kolek:New York Knicks
Jamal Cain played in a career high 37 games for the New Orleans Pelicans this past season, his third in the NBA. D.J. Carton made four appearances for the Toronto Raptors in 2024-25, same as the year before when he made his NBA debut. As you can see, the odds of either guy showing up in an NBA game for those same teams again next year are probably pretty low.
Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek made their NBA debuts this past season after being selected in the 2024 draft. Ighodaro played in 61 games and made six starts for the Suns, which is pretty awesome, while Kolek fought uphil both ways in the snow to get on the floor in 41 games for Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks.
Kam Jones and David Joplin were both on the Marquette roster this past season, going 1-2 on the team in scoring. Jones was the #38 pick in the draft, going on a selection that the Pacers acquired the day the draft started to make sure they were in position to draft him, and they followed that up by signing him to a three year contract with a team option before Summer League started. Joplin is with the Bucks on an invitation situation, so we’ll have to see if this is “we’re curious if he can hang” or if this is “we are doing good PR in the community by rostering the local guy who attended the local college.”
Here’s how the NBA describes the format for this year’s event:
Each team will play at least five games at NBA 2K26 Summer League 2025, the first four from July 10-17. After each team’s first four games, the top four teams will advance to participate in the playoffs, beginning with a semifinal doubleheader on Saturday, July 19 at 4 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET on ESPN. The two winning teams from the semifinal games will meet in the championship game on Sunday, July 20 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The four playoff teams and their seeds for playoff games will be determined by winning percentage in each team’s first four games, with tiebreaker criteria available here. The 26 teams that do not advance to the four-team playoff will play a fifth game on either Friday, July 18, July 19 or July 20.
In other words, swing back on the 18th to see when you can watch the Marquette guys either A) play their 5th and final game or B) play in the Summer League semifinals.
Here’s the schedule for all six guys/teams as we know it right now, with all times Central, as always.
Kam Jones — Indiana Pacers
Thursday, July 10: vs Cleveland Cavaliers, 4pm, NBA TV
Saturday, July 12: vs Oklahoma City Thunder, 4:30pm, NBA TV
Monday, July 14: vs Chicago Bulls, 5pm, ESPNU
Thursday, July 17: vs New York Knicks, 3:30pm, ESPN2
David Joplin — Milwaukee Bucks
Thursday, July 10: vs Denver Nuggets, 8:30pm, NBA TV
Saturday, July 12: vs Cleveland Cavaliers, 2:30pm, NBA TV
Sunday, July 12: vs LA Clippers, 8:30pm, NBA TV
Wednesday, July 16: vs Chicago Bulls, 4:30pm, ESPN2
Jamal Cain — Minnesota Timberwolves
Thursday, July 10: vs New Orleans Pelicans, 2:30pm, ESPN2
Saturday, July 12: vs Denver Nuggets, 9pm, NBA TV
Tuesday, July 15: vs Detroit Pistons, 3:30pm, NBA TV
Wednesday, July 16: vs Phoenix Suns, 4pm, NBA TV
Tyler Kolek — New York Knicks
Friday, July 11: vs Detroit Pistons, 5pm, NBA TV
Sunday, July 13: vs Boston Celtics, 4:30pm, NBA TV
Tuesday, July 15: vs Brooklyn Nets, 5pm, ESPN2
Thursday, July 17: vs Indiana Pacers, 3:30pm, ESPN2
Oso Ighodaro — Phoenix Suns
Friday, July 11: vs Washington Wizards, 8pm, ESPN
Sunday, July 13: vs Detroit Pistons, 3pm, ESPN2
Monday, July 14: vs Sacramento Kings, 9pm, ESPNU
Wednesday, July 16: vs Minnesota Timberwolves, 4pm, NBA TV
D.J. Carton — Portland Trail Blazers
Friday, July 11: vs Golden State Warriors, 10pm CT, ESPN2
Saturday, July 12: vs Memphis Grizzlies, 9:30pm, ESPN2
Tuesday, July 15: vs New Orleans Pelicans, 9pm, ESPN
Thursday, July 17: vs Houston Rockets, 7pm, NBA TV