Henri Veesaar kept building momentum in Las Vegas, and on Thursday he turned in his strongest Summer League performance yet.
The Atlanta Hawks big man scored 14 points, hit two 3-pointers and pulled down six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench as Atlanta rolled past the San Antonio Spurs 93-66. It was Veesaar’s best line in four games, and it came with efficiency: 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-5 from deep and a plus-17.
R.J. Davis also got a full run in that game for San Antonio, but the numbers were tougher.
He finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals, yet went 0-for-3 from 3-point range and ended with a team-low minus-20. Still, he made 5-of-7 on two-point tries and added two rebounds in 24:42.
The night’s other UNC-linked game belonged to Seth Trimble, who made his Summer League debut for the Washington Wizards in a 92-88 win over the Utah Jazz. Trimble came off the bench for 11:45 and posted two points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
That Wizards-Jazz matchup carried extra weight because it matched the top two picks in the draft: Washington’s A.J. Dybantsa, the No. 1 pick, and Utah’s Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick. Dybantsa had the upper hand with 27 points and seven rebounds, while Peterson finished with 24 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Trimble’s first Summer League game also came against familiar company in a broader sense. The source noted similar individual matchups before, including Wilson, the No. 4 overall pick, facing Dybantsa in UNC’s 78-76 preseason exhibition loss in Salt Lake City on Oct. 24, and Peterson matching up with Wilson when Kansas lost 87-74 to the Tar Heels in the Smith Center on Nov. 7.
Wilson is set for his own debut on Friday, when he plays his first game in 150 days. He last played in UNC’s 75-66 loss on Feb. 10 in Miami, and now his Chicago Bulls face the Memphis Grizzlies at 8 p.m.
“I’ve been waiting on this opportunity for a very long time,” Wilson said. “It’s kind of surreal to see how fast it all went but I’m definitely excited to play. I feel like when I play out there just like when I played today, it’s a lot little jitters because I haven’t played in so long, but I’ll be good.”
Friday’s schedule also includes Cormac Ryan and the Milwaukee Bucks against the Miami Heat at 4 p.m., and Drake Powell’s Brooklyn Nets against the New York Knicks at 6 p.m. All three games are on Prime Video.
Pete Nance could also be in action for Milwaukee after signing a two-way contract with the Bucks on Thursday, two days after the team released him.
Through Thursday’s games, the source listed the Summer League numbers for the UNC players this way:
- RJ Davis had appeared in four games for the Spurs, averaging 11.8 points while shooting 40.5% from the field and 25% from 3-point range.
- Henri Veesaar had played four games for the Hawks, averaging 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 48% overall and 45.7% from 3.
- Cormac Ryan had played for Milwaukee, including a 13-point outing against Golden State Blue on July 4, but was not active for the Bucks’ July 6 game against the Kings.
- Drake Powell had started for Brooklyn in multiple games, including a 23:20 outing against the Warriors Gold team on July 6 in which he scored two points and finished with four rebounds and a steal.
The Las Vegas schedule continues to stack up for the group. On Saturday, the Spurs meet the Knicks at 6 p.m., and the Nets play the Hawks at 8 p.m.
Sunday brings the Wizards against the Kings at 8 p.m. and the Spurs against the Bucks at 9 p.m. Monday features the Hawks against the Celtics at 6 p.m., the Bulls against the Jazz at 9 p.m. and the Bucks against the Suns at 10 p.m.
On Tuesday, the Nets face the Kings at 6 p.m., and the Wizards meet the Bulls at 8 p.m. Wednesday has the Bucks against the Hornets at 7:30 p.m., the Spurs against the Jazz at 9:30 p.m. and the Wizards against the Clippers at 10:30 p.m. Thursday closes out the listed slate with the Nets against the Rockets at 4:30 p.m., the Bulls against the Lakers at 6 p.m. and the Hawks against the Grizzlies at 8 p.m.
The Las Vegas schedule reflects each team’s first four Summer League games there, which count toward tournament seeding. The top four teams advance to the semifinals July 18, with the championship game July 19. TV assignments for several later-round games were still to be determined.
An experimental one-free-throw rule is also being used: one-, two- and three-free-throw sequences produce a single attempt worth the same total points, except for the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and all overtime periods, when standard free-throw rules apply.
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