The Mavericks left Las Vegas with a pretty clear takeaway from Sergio De Larrea’s summer league run: the rookie can really pass.
Dallas wrapped up a week at the 2026 NBA Summer League with five exhibition games that gave the front office a look at its newest draft class and some of the younger pieces already in the building, including second-year guard Ryan Nembhard. Among the four selections from last month, De Larrea drew the most attention, and not just because he’s an international prospect like Luka Doncic. He’s been playing professionally since he was 17, so he arrived with real experience even if the NBA adjustment still figures to be its own challenge.
De Larrea got to show that background right away, even though he had just finished a Liga ACB championship run with Valencia Basket less than four weeks earlier. The scoring wasn’t there yet, but the playmaking absolutely was.
His best work came late in Dallas’ schedule. Through his first two games, he had 9 assists and 5 turnovers.
Then, with more of the offense running through him against the Memphis Grizzlies, he set a summer league franchise record with 12 assists. He topped that in the next game, finishing with 14 assists and only 3 turnovers in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Across four appearances, De Larrea averaged 8.8 assists and 4 turnovers, and he flashed the kind of control that can steady an offense. He also mixed in some inventive passing, finding teammates for easy looks with a few sharp, creative deliveries.
That showing was enough for The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie to call him the best passer in Las Vegas this summer.
"The best passer I saw at summer league was Mavs guard Sergio de Larrea, the 25th pick from Spain who has a long track record of playing against professional competition," Vecenie wrote. "He was sharp and timely with the ball in his hands, making the right reads at the right times consistently."
"I also appreciated the degree of creativity we saw from him," Vecenie continued. "He used eye manipulation at an expert level to create open looks for his teammates, both in half-court settings and transition."
For a Mavericks team that had trouble creating easy offense a year ago, that kind of table-setting could matter. De Larrea could help ease some of the burden on Cooper Flagg.
The shot, though, is still a work in progress. De Larrea hit just 27.3% of his field goals and 20% of his threes in summer league, including a 3/14 performance in the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and a 1/8 night in the win over the Thunder.
There is at least one encouraging sign: he made 87.5% of his free throws, which usually points to solid mechanics and room for the jumper to come around.
And if Dallas wants a built-in guide for that next step, it has one. All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving is expected back at the start of the 2026-27 season.
No. 25 - Sergio De Larrea, Forward, Valencia Basket
No. 56 - Vsevolod Ishchenko, Guard, Lokomotiv Kuban
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