The New Orleans Pelicans’ Summer League skid kept rolling Thursday, but Kobe Bufkin made sure there was at least one performance worth circling. New Orleans fell 105-92 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, dropping to 12 straight Summer League losses dating back to 2023, yet Bufkin answered with a game-high 30 points and looked like a guard trying to force his way back into the conversation.
For Bufkin, this isn’t just about one hot night in Las Vegas. It’s about salvaging a career that has been slowed by injuries and uneven production since the moment he entered the league.
The former Michigan guard went 15th overall to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2023 NBA Draft, arriving with plenty of buzz after two seasons in Ann Arbor. But there were questions from the start about his size and his ability to create for others, especially after he averaged just 1.7 assists in college and then struggled badly in Summer League as a rookie, when he coughed it up nearly five times per game.
His first two years in Atlanta never really got off the ground because of injuries. Bufkin appeared in only 27 games across those seasons, with thumb, foot and shoulder issues repeatedly knocking him out of action.
Atlanta later sent him to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations, and the Nets waived him roughly a month after that. From there, he spent most of the following year in the G League and earned All-NBA G League Second Team honors.
Thursday’s showing offered a different picture. Bufkin hit 5/9 from three in the Pelicans’ opener and looked comfortable letting it fly, which matters a lot for a player whose outside shot has been a major concern.
Through his first three seasons, he had shot just 21% from deep. New Orleans, meanwhile, has had its own issues on that front, ranking in the bottom five of the league in three-point attempts and makes over the last two seasons.
The scoring was only part of the story. Bufkin also handed out six assists and grabbed five steals, giving New Orleans a look at a player who can affect the game in more than one way. That kind of two-way impact is the sort of thing newly hired coach Jamahl Mosley is likely to value in his first season with the Pelicans, especially with Herb Jones already established as a lockdown presence.
Bufkin said after the game that his approach was simple.
“Just coming out and being aggressive”, Bufkin told reporters after the game. “Controlling what I can control and just having fun with it."
That mindset will get another test Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets in Las Vegas. The Pelicans have a pair of open two-way spots, and if Bufkin keeps shooting like this while continuing to defend and create, he could make himself impossible to ignore. For a team that prizes length, secondary playmaking and shot creation, he’s suddenly looking like a very real offseason swing.
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