Phoenix Suns vs Sacramento Kings LIVE ON ESPN 4K NBA2K26 Summer League NBA LIVE NBA TODAY
points and 10 rebounds. And of course, I had an opportunity calling ACC games to see a lot of Maxine Reo. And he’s not just a scorer and a rebounder. Also shows his ability to drop dimes. And Maxine Reno, who was once teammates with one Victor Wmanyama and still plays chess against him constantly, continues to find his way in the NBA, as does N Clipper, who has shown that he is can be a very capable NBA player. His ability to make plays and also finish plays has allowed him to shoot right to the top of the summer league charts. There’s a look at the numbers. Nick Clifford coming off a 19 12 rebound game in the win on Saturday. He’s standing by with Vanessa. Hey Nick, you had a double double on Saturday. What do you want to see from yourself today? Uh just go out there, compete, show my defensive identity and my versatility just playing both ends of the floor. What part of your game do you want to showcase the most during summer league? I think going back to it, my versatility, uh, show show that I can play both ends of the floor, make the right plays offensively for my team, and then guard the other team, best player, and, you know, do a good job on them. Good luck tonight. Thank you. I appreciate it, guys. All right, let’s talk about the Phoenix Suns. Oso Igodaro led their team with 18 points, an impressive double double in their last appearance. He’s a guy that’s, he tells me, put on 12 lbs of muscle and is ready to play here in Las Vegas. Well, one thing for certain is the more muscle you gain, the more confidence you gain. When you’re playing in what is such a physical NBA game, the stronger you are, it allows you to be able to develop even more so on board. But when you build that confidence and you see the rebounding numbers that he’s putting up and you think about playing alongside Kama Malawatch, this is a guy that the Phoenix Suns can absolutely look forward to possibly giving them rotation minutes throughout this season. Of course, uh you get the potential two big look with Kaman Malawatch as well on the floor at the same time with Egodaro. Look at his good numbers so far against Washington and Atlanta making a nice climb. We’re going to take a short break and come back with the opening tip. Phoenix Suns looking for their second win of summer league and the Kings looking to stay undefeated and maybe even light a beam here in Vegas. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Tamari Carol is the head coach for the Phoenix Suns Summer League edition. Former NBA player with several different teams. Played with the Raptors and Brooklyn, Atlanta. Had a good relationship with Jordan Autton, the new head coach for the Phoenix Suns when they worked together in Brooklyn. And Dep Mystery is the summer league head coach from Ryerson University in the great city of Toronto. elevated to assistant coach this year from player development. Coach, one of the young rising stars in the business. We get ready to run this one. I’m looking forward to watching Ryan Dunn. Last year, remember he came to summer league and shot the three extremely well. And in school, at your school, Uhhuh. he didn’t shoot it as well as he did in summer league. Well, I’m looking forward to seeing him cuz he still owes me money. again. We used to have we used to bet on his shots in pregame every day. So, you know, we uh you know, it’s NIL era. He can do that now. Yeah. Yeah. Just pocket pocket. Pocket change for him. He been getting paid for quite a while. Brea with the three. Malawatch with the tip. Told you before the tip a moment ago. Keep an eye on him. 7 foot1 the 77 wingspan and he used all of it there. Jones to Jones trying to bully his way inside back out to Nick Clifford the rookie out top Deon Carter one more Mason Jones nice cut by Clifford a little bit strong [Music] on the break it’s Collins pierces the paint but he’s fouled in the process. Maxim Renault, we talked about him in the open. He won’t be playing today. He’s nursing a finger injury. Had the stim machine on it a little bit earlier today at Kings practice. Sideline out of bounds. Phoenix. Cory. I’m going to be interested to keep an eye on Deon Carter who’s been in the lab doing a lot of work on his point guard skills. Malawatch fouled on a hard roll to the bucket and he’ll get a couple of attempts. So common Malawatch who you saw a lot you do and see as many elite college basketball players as anybody. What does his curve look like moving forward? Honestly, what he reminded me of during his time at Duke is what we saw from Joel Embiid during his time at Kansas. I mean but more importantly has the ability to shoot the three. hasn’t made a lot of it early, but you see the confidence is there. There goes my guy. Wow, my wahoo friend. But again, I love the fact that Ryan Dunn as he finishes up immediately picks up Devin Carter. 94 ft knowing how dangerous Carter is. Mason Jones overcooked that three. Isaac Jones couldn’t get the handle out to Carter. Mason Jones sprays it out to the wing. Crawford for three. Clifford was crashing. Nothing happening for the Kings. Dunn walked with it in transition. And that’s a turnover that you have to put on Yuri Collins. At the end of the day, you put Ryan Dunn in a tough spot right there with Mason Jones barreling down on him. And again with Dunn having to keep his eyes on the basketball to catch it. He doesn’t see that defender in front of him. Malawatch lays off Crawford and a big time finish by Isaac Jones who gets the start of the five. And you’ve got a number of members on this Kings team who of course were members of the Stockton Kings who won the G-League championship this year and the G-League Finals MVP and Mason Jones who won finals MVP even though he missed the last six minutes of the deciding game with a sprained ankle last year. This time, Mason Jones totally remade his body. Lost some 45 lbs from the end of last year’s GC League season to summer league. And man, it’s really benefited him in a huge way. It really has. His ability to be able to make plays. I believe that young man is an NBA player. And again, of course, with Doug Christie, he’s going to have to find a way to fit in defensively, but he looks as though he has the will. We know he has the skill and defense is all about will. And will he do that? I do believe so. Follow. Lost the handle. Clifford sprays it out to Carter. Been pulling that three pretty well. That one comes up short. Yeah, you talked about Devin Carter and his point guard play, but he dropped 30 last time out. So, he’s also been working on getting the bucket. Dunn knocks down the three. I tell you what, it’s been a great start for Ryan Dunn. That ball tipped out of bounds. It’ll stay Sacramento basketball. And I didn’t even dab him up pregame. Oh, I got my point just now. Okay, so I just got my point. So now he know You owe me money. You owe me money. All right. Hey, he knows. Send a collector on. Clifford trying to walk down his defender. Nice turnaround. Boy, that’s a big time move by their first round pick, Meek Clifford. 24th overall. He’s wearing number five and the last guy to wear number five for Sacramento. Had a very prolific career with the Kings. Mhm. Did he? And we speaking of guys, we were talking about Ky Lewis in our first game that go point A to point B faster than anybody. Even though there are some lightning fast guys, Fox may still be at the front of the He might be at the front of the list. I think Clifford’s going to make a quick transition to the Kings. They played a NBA style offense, he told me, at Colorado State. Yeah, I believe he absolutely will. And again, you’re talking about a veteran, a guy that spent four, five years in college and understands how to conduct himself now off the floor, which allows him an opportunity to get on the court. Good defense by Crawford for the steal. Mason Jones. Back to Carter. got into the paint. Jones with the show and go. Great ball movement. One more time to cash out. But how about both Carter and Mason Jones cracking the paint and finding their teammates swing swing allowing Nick Clifford to have a wide open look. All watch playing with it a little bit too much. tipped up and in from Ryan Dunn who’s showing heightened activity. Great start for Ryan Dunn and he’s done it in so many different fastes. Knocking down the three, offensive rebounding, attacking the paint. Carter gets a lot of air under that ball when he shoots it. Iguodaro Don drives baseline on Carter. Tell you what, I like Igodaro already. Not only is he an elite rebounder, but he has the ability to facilitate once he gets the basketball in his hands. You figure he’s the type of guy that can be the hub of the offense. Absolutely. You allow a guy like Devin Booker to be able to leak out. Oh, go with a nice move over Malawatch. I think he fooled Malawatch a little bit by bringing it back one time before he laid it off the glass. What they call jelly. What do you call it? Traffic jet. I love it. Great move by Clifford. He scored the last seven. Carter out front. Carter’s ball handling skills are going to get a good test from Ryan Dunn today. Jones steps back. He’s been working on that corner three. Overcooked that one. And we got a foul as Mason Jones was battling for the offensive board. We’re tied at nine. Everybody getting a chance to touch and eat. Absolutely. Mason Jones driving it. Isaiah Crawford kicking it to Nick Clifford who takes care of business. NBA 2K26 Summer League is proudly sponsored by NBA 2K26, rated E for everyone and in part by DQ. Happy tastes good. [Music] runs everywhere across the foyer at Thomas and Mack. Utah leading San Antonio. Time winding down in the fourth quarter. Almost competitive game. Yeah, almost got hit over here watching Harper take it to the rim against Isaiah Collier. That would have been something. Oh yes. You’re talking about two of the nation’s top point guards over the last two years coming out. Harper’s going to get 14. Sorry, Cory. Harper’s got 14 in that game. And David Jones Garcia, another 20 piece. Carter with a fadeaway. 12.3 to go across the way. Crawford short on the three. Stevens puts it home. Stevens was a member of that championship Miami Heat team. Got a ring last year in summer league and now trying to find his way in Sacramento. Stevens also a collegiate teammate at one point of Clifford. And both those guys under the tulage of my guy Sam aka Snoop Jones who assistant coach at Colorado State a couple years ago and now director of the Nike Academy. Okay. Yeah. Are we going back to LA this year, Mark? Oh, thousand oak, baby. Calabasses. Hook a brother up. Hey, come on through. I’ll speak. Boogie Ellis out top. Former member of the Sacramento/ Stockton Kings. Idaro couldn’t get the short jump hook. Here comes Crawford. Sacramento looking to play fast. Doug Christie, of course, will have an entire training camp this year to get his guys ready. Oh, the snatchback dribble. What a move by Nick Clifford. Got power steering and power brakes. Wonderful handle. Nate Clifford. And when you get a big guy moving one direction, difficult for someone the size of Malawatch to be able to put on the brakes and get back and contest that shot. Great effort by Malawatch. However, smart play by Nick Clifford to get right to his spot. Doug Christie courtside with Mike Woodson. Scott Perry, the new general manager. Alvin Gentry, remember the front office as well of the Sacramento Kings. Scott Perry with incredible knowledge and experience and has tremendous relationships around the NBA. Part of the Pistons 2004 championship build where he worked handinand with Joe Dumars and also member of the Knicks turnaround. Some wisdom in that quartet right there, I tell you what. And of course Doug Christie on the court. Well, they’re going to guard people with W. Yes, they are. And they don’t have a choice. Boogie Ellis out front. Had a great summer last year with Sacramento summer league team. Igodaro picked up his dribble. Sworn by Clifford. Shot clock winding down for Wood. Crawford with great defense. Moved his feet. Sometimes it’s about better offense. That’s exactly what it was. Great defense. However, the offense just a little bit better by Wood to get the midi to go. Clifford with a nice time counted underneath. And that’s my boy’s first summer league basket. My guy Dylan Carwell who I coached at Oakill Academy when he was a junior undrafted out of Auburn. Another one of those more mature older players coming out of college. Mhm. Bruce Pearl felt like he was the best defensive player in the country. Could switch get out. You see him great hands right there with the deflection but can guard every position. Boogie Ellis left it short. Relocates off the rebound and found his spot. Boogie Ellis out of USC. Oh, look at the hands. Great hands by Boogie Ellis jumping up there stripping Stevens. And we got a timeout of the floor. Sacramento leading by one. Moses Wood as the shot clock’s going down. You know what they say about good defense. Only thing better is great offense. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Music] down by two with nine seconds to go. Kyle Fipowski with his second 30-point game in summer league. His first one had a 32 piece. And Dylan Harper with 14, playing his second game after being held out with a groin injury. Meanwhile, David Jones Garcia, San Antonio, he’s having as good a summer league as anybody. A great bucket getter. I’m shocked that he hasn’t been shut down yet and signed with somebody. He’s been that good. Well, again, I I believe that he’s in the right spot. And again, at where you are in San Antonio, they want to make sure you can do it consistently, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see him be a guy that’s in the rotation for the Spurs. Well, sometimes it’s not the same team, right? Like Terrence Davis was one of those great summer league stories. Lit it up in the first two games of summer league here in Las Vegas with Denver and then was signed by the Toronto Raptor. Yeah, but one things I know for certain is RC Buford, Greg Papovic, of course, my guy B right, Brian Wright, they also will make sure that it doesn’t happen if he’s a guy that can help them win games. I get it. Their judgment has rarely been in question. So, we get a timeout on the floor and across the way, the Spurs inbounding with a chance to tie or take the lead on a three. [Music] [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] [Music] It comes off. But look who that is. That’s your guy defensively getting the stop. Carter Bryant, you talked about him in our earlier game and Carter Bryant doing the job defensively to get that stop for San Antonio as they’ll go into overtime against the Jazz. He can guard people. Unbelievable. He doesn’t leave home without his scraps. Kings basketball under the timeout. Seven on the shot clock. Cloud and he was fouled on a three-point attempt. So, he’ll go to the free throw line. Chance for three shots. He’s first in the last two hits. Knocks down the first. Some of the action continues tomorrow on NBA TV, ESPN, as well as the ESPN app. NBA TV tomorrow has Minnesota Detroit at 4:30, followed by OKC Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington, and then Golden State Memphis to round out the night. Yeah. Get a good look at Trey Johnson, folks, while he’s still here. Not sure he’s going to play, but he’s worth the price of admission or viewing. Optimist. I’m not sure. Has Washington won a game yet? I believe they’re 0 and2 and and again I think most likely and again I know Will Dawkins pretty well. I believe that they most likely would continue to allow their guys to play until they get a win. You remember last season they made sure to give Bob Carrington and Alex Sar tremendous minutes. And so when you have this opportunity, and again, anything can happen, but I believe they will allow Trey to continue to get these reps because when you get to training camp, of course, he’s going to be going up against a guy like CJ McCollum. Yeah. And and Marcus Smart and Marcus Smart. I’m not sure that you can truly you’re going to take a lot of minutes away from those veterans to be able to get Trey minutes. So, you want to get him as many live reps as possible. Foul’s going to go against Boogie Ellis with 123 to go. Sending Mason Jones to the free throw line. 6’4 26 year old out of Arkansas. And Mason Jones is an elite scorer, but very underrated passer. His ability to find his teammates, to make plays for others, I believe it it hides in the shadows of his ability to be able to score. And of course, right now, when you look at a guy like Mason Jones coming in and playing more of a point guard role with this group, nice block on the recovery. That was loud. And another block at the other end, says Igodaro Wood. Ellis had an ocean. [Applause] Ellis on the drive on Cardwell. Shot clock down to five. Tried to make the extra pass. But that’s an example of that defensive job by Dylan Carwell. Ability to stay step by step with the point guard. And how about the denial by Plowden getting back defensively, denying an opportunity at the rim and then sharing the basketball. However, Igodaro having no parts of it. So, great job defensively by both teams with their transition defense. Boy, the Kings really overplaying denying those passes. Wood off the bounce. Had it knocked away. Shot clock at four. Time for Boogie to dance here. Austin got it back and that’s going to be a shot clock violation. Wonderful defense for the Sacramento Kings. Impervious. But you made that sequence. You made it clear if you’re going to play for Doug Christie, you’re going to have to guard. That’s exactly what he did as a player, one of the elite defenders during my era in the NBA. And so, he is absolutely going to require that of guys on the floor that are going to put on that Kings uniform. Woodson there. Mike Miller on staff as well. Stevens inside back out to Plow for three. back on top to Mason Jones. Jonesaro stays with him. Well, the big man moved his feet. Yes, he did. Tremendous job enforcing that turnover. Sacramento up by four. Bookie Ellis on the wing. On the switch, an open three is good by Fleming. That’s a gamble that did not pay off for Mason Jones, leaving the shooter in the corner, allowing Boogie Ellis to have an outlet. But on the other end, Ryan Dunn with the putback slam. Nick Clifford battling from beyond the arc. And that one point is [Music] mentality [Music] coming into tonight. just trying to do my job, come out and compete and give as much as I can to the team, not only offensively, but defensively. Trying to guard and get up get up the floor. Um, just being aggressive and just trusting my work and just, you know, trying to be a leader for the team right now. The Kings have found a little bit of an offensive rhythm. What’s the key in the second quarter? Offensive rebound there. We got to stop that for them. They’ve been crashing the board. They’re they’re a good team for that. Um, they’re getting second chance points. So, we got to box. I got to do a better job coming in and rebound, not leaking out. Um, but just being aggressive and trusting our trusting our defense for the backside. Great stuff. Thanks, Ryan. Thank you so much. Yeah, speaking of defense, Ryan Dunn last year, Cory, you know, as well as anybody, was tasked with guarding the opponent’s best perimeter scorer a lot of times and did a pretty good job. He really did and grow grew up a lot as a player. I’m not sure that the Suns were expecting his offensive production, especially early in the year. He shot the basketball extremely well, but I’m just shocked that Vanessa didn’t ask him if he had my money. I mean, we’re going to send the collector on. Yeah. I mean, it gives us a perfect opportunity. Hey, hey, Cory’s got cash app. Just hit him. Yeah, it’s easy. Here we go. Nine and a half minutes to go in the first half. Just underway in the second period. Little empty corner. Twoman game with Malawatch. Tough pass. Never made it. Picked off. Kings in transition. Stevens on the handback. Tough shot and rebounded by Dunn. That’s Dunn doing exactly what he was talking about before is getting back in coming up with rebounds. Now, four rebounds for Ryan Dunn here in this first half as he continues to be aggressive and that’s really where he’s grown as a player. More importantly, the confidence to take that shot off the move. He wasn’t as confident in college. And again, you know, the college game is so different to where coaches can script the shots that you want. You’re forced to take those shots at the NBA level when you’re playing alongside Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and of course Devin Booker. They’re going to get so much attention. You cannot pass up opportunities. And Ryan learned that lesson quickly with a little encouragement or persuasion from his teammates at times. Well, KD did a great KD did a great job. He really did. And again, you know, and that’s one of the things that we heard a lot about KD’s leadership style a season ago, but I know truly what happened, especially with that relationship. And I thought KD did a tremendous job helping the younger players become true professionals, especially with Ryan. And again, I I don’t that’s one thing you’ll never hear from me is me knocking Kevin Durant’s leadership because I mean, get does it in different ways. He took Dunk under his wing as far back as the summer during his rookie year before official training camp. Hollowatch on the roll, sprays it to the wing. The three on the way by Collins is no good. Stevens still the primary ball handler, point guard in the ball game for Sacramento. Jones on the baseline. Couldn’t connect on the reverse. Cloud. One more to Stevens. One more to the corner. Mason Jones lines up the seams and knocks it home. But you can see the Kings do a great job sharing the basketball, making sure they pass up a good shot for a great shot. And they’ve been able to benefit multiple times from that great shot. Gray one and done for Phoenix on the miss. Jones pushing it. Kings want to play fast. Jones found the right man in the corner. That’s a great skip pass, Cory. It really is. And he fooled the defense basically with making them feel as though he was going to take the runner and then just rifles the pass to the corner. We talked about his playmaking, Jones. He makes Jones showing us a great example right here. fooling the defense, probing into the paint. Not the runner, but the dime to the corner. Three ball corner pocket. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Happy. Hey. Hey. [Music] Thanks a lot for joining us, man. Thank you, Mark. Um, good to see you, boy. You, too, my man. You talk about the type of Sacramento culture you want to create. toughness, togetherness, professional, accountability, and what really landed on me during your introductory news conference, you said, “I’m looking for volunteers, not hostages.” How’s that recruitment and that process and that culture building coming along so far? It’s in a good place right now, guys. Uh, and that’s important. You got this, you need total buy in to have a chance to be successful. So, we don’t want anybody that doesn’t want to be there. And it’s nothing personal. So what you’re seeing out here in summer league, you’re seeing a whole bunch of volunteers right now. And I love love watching that. These guys are playing hard. They’re playing together. And one thing we told them before the summer league started play. This is an opportunity, first opportunity to start establishing our identity, what a Sacramento Kings team is going to look like and play like. Well, and that identity has to start. I mean, of course, Doug Christie was a great defender. as your head coach. We know that identity will start on that side and you’ve seen that here with the summer league team. Correct. Oh, absolutely. We’re picking up 94 ft. I love to see that. And look, if we we look f further ahead, we just watched the finals where you saw two organizations that really extended the floor defensively. And I think you that’s the way the game is going. And you’re going to need a lot of depth. You’re going to need athletes who can defend and create offensive uh opportunities for your team. So, uh, I’m excited about that’s the way I grew up playing basketball. Uh, my years in the league when we were most successful with Detroit Pistons, that’s how we played. We played tough, we defended, and we shared the basketball, shared the game. So, we want to bring that here to Sacramento. Scott, one of those guys that’s checked a lot of those variable boxes that you mentioned a moment ago, creating opportunities for teammates and for themselves. Nick Clifford has been brilliant here at times early in summer league and his versatility seems to be something of a a huge asset. I mean, you can plug him a lot of places. There’s no question about it. We’ve been talking about it back and forth watching it from the first practice throughout summer league. This guy’s going to be able to give us some time, I think, at all three permeative positions. And what I really like with him at the guard positions is that he brings big size there and you know the league is going that way. If you can have size at that one or two position at that point or that offg guard position that can really help your ball club. He he really passes the ball extremely well with either hand. Uh he can defend all three of those perimeter positions. And the biggest thing that I love about him, he has a really good basketball IQ. I think he’s the type of player that can play with other good players. And I think that’s important for a young player coming in the door. When you’re going to be playing with big-time scorers, guys like Zack Lavine and and Demar De Rozan and De Manus Sabonis, you got to figure out where you can get in and help the ball club. And Nick is smart enough, I think, to do that. We’re really excited to have him. And of course, Nick so versatile. But let’s talk about your versatility. All right. So now uh you know you you’re coming off the microphone to go back into the front office. You didn’t stick around long enough for the pension. But again, you you’ve been a lifer in the front office, but what did being on ESPN on that microphone, you know, and and showing up and me watching you on Sports Center, you know, every morning, how did that change your approach as to how you go about being that executive? It was a great experience working at ESPN. I really felt it gave me an opportunity to step back and really examine the league and understand to the real role that this great network plays in the shaping narratives that go on. And so it really prepared me to go out and express my vision to the Sacramento Kings fan base to the community obviously the the ownership group there and uh just gave me a lot of confidence of being able to do that. I enjoyed my time there whether it was on Sports Center, MBH day with Malikica and Perth and all the group group there and uh so I had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed it. But I respect the heck out of what you guys do because it’s not easy. People think this is easy to get up and talk uh on live television and it’s not. Hey, so you’re going to tell us that up in Bristol when you’re up there, you’re going to miss you’re going to miss sushi. No more sushi Tuesdays at the cafeteria. I tell you, hey, I I tell you what, those were some long days in Bristol. They they get get you get you there early in the morning and no telling when I was going to leave, whether it was midnight, 1:00 a.m. So, you got to got to get out of the car wash. You got to get out the car wash. That’s right. Let’s talk about Maxim Renault a little bit, who was the only collegiate basketball player, Scott, to average 20 points and 10 rebounds. And Cory and I was talking about it a little bit earlier in the previous game. We saw two bigs from the Heat and the OKC Thunder played a lot of times with two bigs. Is there a possibility at some point that the Kings look like that or at least some modified version of it? We’d like to eventually get there. I think it’s important to have size on the floor. Obviously, Max is a rookie coming in the door. One of the things that has pleasantly surprised me and us thus far in this in this summer league is when he’s switched on to some smaller offensive players, he’s done a fairly good job of trying to keep them in front. And the biggest thing and and you guys can really appreciate that he does something that a lot of veterans don’t do right now. His voice on the floor defensively is is unbelievable. And when you have a big on the back line that can quarterback your defense and let everybody know where the screens are coming and cutting actions are happening, that is a big time advantage for your defense. And I think that enhances your ability to be a good defensive team when you have verbal guys out there. And especially when it’s not even his first language, you you consider that a Stanford grad, he’s already going to be intelligent. No question about that. That’s That’s right. That’s right. I tell you what, when we interviewed him, I was surpris I mean, I knew that he was from France, but after we got done interviewing him, I asked him, “Have you been speaking English all your life?” Cuz I couldn’t even pick up an accent at the time. His English and he told me when he first got to Stanford, four years ago, that his English was broken. Uh, but that he picked up on it fast. He, you know, had roommates that helped him really quick. And to to hear him now, like you said, it seems like he’s been over in the States all his life. Yeah. Well, listen, if uh if we ever need a translator up in Sacramento, I took nine years of French in school. So, I I So, if he’s rounding you guys out, I’ll let you know. You know, you know, you know what’s funny about that? I told him that I took four years of French in high school. So, you know, that was a long time ago for me. I still can read a little bit, don’t speak it well. So, I throw out a word here and there. So our our deal this year is that we’re going to say something to each other in French each day so he can help me get better so I can learn how to speak it a little bit. Hey, there there are a lot of Kings fans in Paris. I communicate with them on social media. Hey, Devin Carter just knocked down a logo three. Let’s talk about his development at the point guard position, which is something admittedly really something new for him. Scott, there there’s no question about it. Obviously, this is my first opportunity to be around Devin. It’s coming in. Watched him on film uh when I was taking the job. He can defend the position. He has good length. He moves his feet. That’s his comfort zone right now. He is evolving as a guy being able to play that position on the offensive end. Had a big game here the other night. we had 30 points where he shot the ball well, which hadn’t been his strength uh to this point. The key for him, just like so many other players, is how’s he going to dedicate himself to get better each and every day? And that’s been my challenge to him when I talk with him. That’s going to be very important. You got to work on your game. You got to get in elite shape so that you can do the things that you’re capable of doing on the court right now, and that’s defending. He does have good speed with the basketball in the open court and he’s got to start taking advantage of that more on a more consistent basis. And Scott, when you look on the floor right now, you’ve got three guys who were part of a GLeague Championship team with the Stockton Kings. How is that something that you can kind of incorporate into what the Sacramento Kings are able to do this year? Well, those guys out there, they have a lot of confidence in those G-League guys. they was a big time thing for them to win that. Um, what we want to do is just again establish the identity this year of how we’re going to play. That’s the most important thing. So, when you guys come cover us, you’re going to know what to expect. Kind of what you’re seeing out here today. That’s is what we want you to see in the regular season. We’re defending. We’re playing together. Uh, we’re sharing the the basketball. And we’re going to play tough. And we’re not backing down from anybody. If we can do those things, because I think that G-League team exhibited some of that, we do those things with the Kings, we’re going to give ourselves at least a ch fighting chance every night, and that’s the most important thing. Scott, you’ve known Doug Christie for a long time, for decades. And how would you characterize some of the conversations you guys have had in the spectrum of alignment and the people that are around him on the bench? You got some great veteran coaches around him. It’s been awesome working with Doug. You know, when I was in Sacramento 8 years ago, Doug was in the media and uh we spent a lot of time at that time and obviously I knew him back when he was a player, but our conversations every day. What’s funny now is we start almost repeating each after each other because we think a lot alike in terms of how the game should be played. So that makes for a very fun time each and every day when you’re working with somebody that sees the game similar similarly. And with me being the GM and he being the head coach now when we start going out looking to add pieces a lot of times we’re we’re aligned and and thinking along those same ways. though and the staff that we assembled to help Doug cuz Doug is this is his first time as a full-time head coach bringing in Mike Woodson who’s been a head coach uh very successful in New York in Atlanta. Mike Miller who was uh when I was in New York as GM there he was our head GLeague coach and he took over as an interim head coach and did a really good job and a longtime college coach head coach. And then Bobby Jackson who’s a teammate of Doug’s but been a successful coach. Actually he won a lot when he was the head coach of the Stockton Kings. So we’ve got head coaching experience over there. We’ve got got former players over there. I like the balance. Uh one of our guiding principles is diversity of thought but with unity of purpose and direction. And so that staff is going to exemplify that. We’re going to share a lot of ideas, but at the end of the day, when Doug makes that decision what we want to do, we’re going to all be lined up together and we’re going to support it. Great to see my my brother Bobby Jackson out there. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Bobby about six man out there. Yeah, exactly. Scott, we want to thank you for joining us here at the table and uh look forward to watching the Kings this year in Sacramento. Well, look forward to seeing a lot of YouTube, my man Mark on on the road with us and at home. and uh again want to enjoy the ride and and we’re really just starting the process of trying to build this thing the right way because once we are able to get to a playoff level, we want to be able to stay there. We want to try to build a sustainable winner. So, you got to you can’t do it overnight, but uh we’re going to definitely work hard to make Sacramento Kings Nation very happy. Be lighting the beam a lot. Just light the beam. I I I haven’t been able to do that yet, but I’m I’m when the first game happens and and we get that win, I’m looking forward to that opportunity. All right, Scott Perry, general manager of the Sacramento Kings, has a lot of volunteers, very few hostages volunteering. Yes, some aerial acrobatics there with the slam. I don’t know, Mark, with this defense, they might be holding some people hostage. Scott, thanks a lot for coming by. Thanks. Yeah, thanks so much, man. We’ll see you soon. Yep. We’ll see you. Sacramento Kings with a 11-point lead right now. Mason Jones pulls it out. Clifford puts up the three. Oh, stare down three. Oh, by neat. Now you feeling it when you take that. That that’s not the average three. We need to see that in slow motion. You watch how he moves it to the right side of his body. Really freezes the defender and lets that one go. Liver shot 38% from downtown at Colorado State a season ago. And off the turnover, Carter surveys. Kings have numbers. Carter on the drive and it partially blocked. Jones on the baseline. Crosscourt to Clifford. Drives the close out. Spins. Nice pass inside. And we’re going to have basket clearance on Cardwell. I’m glad we got a break cuz I need to see that three ball again from Nate Clipper. Yeah, the way he shares it. Look at this. Move it over to the right side. Freezes the defender on that sweep and then nothing but the bottom of the nail. Oh, wait a minute. He wiped the dirt off his shoulder. Uh, [Music] turn down. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] segment with his general manager Scott Perry a moment ago already culture building with Sacramento and has been very omnipresent at the team’s practices and the Kings turned all the way up during the time we had him over here. A 15-3 run over the last 414. That pretty much spans the amount of time we had Scott Barry on air. It’s almost as though his players were listening, but we talked about the teams that come in undefeated. Sacramento Kings coming in 2 and 0. They play the same identical 10 players in their first two games. Now, they don’t have Maxine Renault available today, but you can tell this is a team that’s looking to win this. They’re not just here to get experience for their players. They’re looking to walk away from here 5-0 with a championship and putting a ring on their finger. They’ve been champions before in this NBA summer league as recently as I want to say three or four years ago. Get a look at Nick Clifford’s perimeter defense against a point guard here in Collins. They take the foul. Yeah, foul to give on that one. So, executes it perfectly. Dep Mystery, the summer league assistant coach or head coach, pardon me, for Sacramento Kings, asking for that foul. Ellis pulls it out against Jones. Clifford switches on to Boi. Got the block. I tell you what, his defense looks pretty good against the point guard on that one. Especially when you have to sprint up, yelling out switch and more importantly being able to change directions that quickly and get a hand on the basketball. As I said earlier, he chose to wear number five. The last guy that wore number five in Sacramento had a prolific career for the Kings. Told me that he wore number five during his proday workouts, too. The Sacramento Kings actually didn’t get a chance to work him out, but they had him targeted. Of course, they went through the interview process with him pre-draft and made the necessary minations to move into the first round and get their young star. [Music] In the nick of time as the Spurs win in overtime, courtesy of that turnaround, Jay laces it and they improve. moved to 3 and 0 in summer league play as a result alongside Atlanta and the Charlotte Hornets. But you love to see the celebration by the number two pick Dylan Harper running over immediately. Chest bumping with Riley Dennix after the game winner and seeing how much it matters. What a player [Applause] at the buzzer. [Music] How about coach mystery drug it up perfectly. The pass. Everything about this play executed perfectly. And how about Devin Carter allowing the ball to bounce before he touches it right into his shooting motion. The three is good at the buzzer. [Music] [Music] [Music] sat down with Jaor Gome here with Brooklyn Nets rookie Jaor Gman. Did I get it right? Yep. Excellent. I’m glad that I did. What was basketball like in your home country of Russia? Well, obviously the last time I played for in the Russian team, it was uh me before being 15 years old. So, I was pretty young, you know, kid. Uh, obviously not as professional as it’s here and in Europe and BYU. Uh, it was more of a fun and really a lot of learning uh trying making mistakes and and learning them. You played at BYU for Kevin Young who has NBA coaching experience. What about your time with BYU and Coach Young got you prepared for this? That was an amazing time. the the year at BYU was really really special to me and I got so much friends. We we still contacting each other and we’re talking. So the BYU uh season was amazing and I I definitely going to remember it for a long time. Who are some of the players that you think your game resembles? It’s hard for me to compare myself to anybody in NBA. Obviously, everybody’s unique. Yeah, it’s it’s it’s you know, I don’t believe in comparisons. Okay. And I believe in learning from different players what you want to get, right? And copying people, which I think copying is the is the way to learn. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. So, uh, for me, I have guys like Luca Shay, Kate Cunningham, France Wagner, uh, Danny Abdilla. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t here. He was here. Yeah. So, uh, for me, those guys as a base uh, of the players that I learn from that I’m trying to take pieces from and build something on my own. That’s very smart. So, here’s a different comparison question. When you compare the player you are now and we go 10 years down the line, what does your ideal career look like? What will you have done 10 years in the NBA to establish yourself in your NBA career? I’m trying to stay present. I’m not trying to think ahead especially that that much. Yeah. Right. And uh I don’t think it’s, you know, the right way of approaching it. So, I’m really trying to stay where I’m at and trying to see what can I do today. How can I get 1% better today? Where you’re at as a rookie with the Brooklyn Nets, which is a pretty big accomplishment in itself. Appreciate your time, Joerger. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. To see more from the Brooklyn rookies, tune in to ESPN 2 tomorrow at 6 Eastern for their game against the Knicks. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] But interesting how quickly Nick Clifford has become comfortable on the court against other professionals. The first year pro out of Colorado State. Nick at Knight, it’s a nice movie already. He’s coming. I like it. It’s coming. You consider he has all the tools necessary for him to be successful. He’s shown it here in this first half. His ability to be able to attack, shoot over top of smaller defenders, and then of course whenever you have the three ball, you can find a way on the court. But he does the job defensively. The Knights finish at the rim avoiding the shot blocker and then once again a difficult three that touches nothing but the bottom of the net and just a little dirt off his shoulder for good measure. Had a chance to speak with him at practice this morning and asked him who were some of the guys that you watched when you were making your come up and he said like everybody else Cory you know too I’m a Kobe guy. There you go. guys with Kobe Kobe guy, but then amongst others he mentioned were Shay Gilders Alexander, you know, positionally sizewise, uh, you know, little similarity. I love the fact that Jones missing the dunk there. Scott Perry said that it wouldn’t be a surprise if he played some backup point guard. Yeah, he said it clearly that he can play all three backcourt positions for them. And again, so when you’re talking about having a young man, not only with the skill, but the bass by Q to put the ball in his hands as your point guard, you’re really talking about an advanced rookie. Big time rebound there by Clifford. Back to Mason Jones. And how about the the compliment that Clifford got by getting Ryan Dunn switched off onto him. That’s a compliment when the team takes their best defender and now takes him off of Devin Carter and puts him on Nick Clifford. That’s really a compliment to the work that Nick Clifford put in in the first half. Respect. And off the turnover, boy, the Kings really scrambling defensively to flip Phoenix again. Crawford will bring it across. Everybody handles on this team. Carter going to walk down his defender. Malawatch on the help. Great around the world. and Carter with the delivery. But look how quickly the Kings adjust with Yuri Collins now guarding Devin Carter. He immediately goes to the post. This the second straight possession we’ve seen Deon Carter in the post and but this is the first one we saw him drop the behind the back dime for the and one opportunity. Little bit of a lost start when it comes to guards being able to play with their back to the basket, right? Well, I mean, you think about guys who did it so well. Let’s talk Mark Jackson. You’re talking about bigger point guards who can facilitate out of the post, but they can also score, forcing teams to have to help and off the top double team. Dwayne Wade, another one that times developed a pretty good post game. Here’s Collins. Got to his left had it knocked away off his knee out of bounds. The Sacramento Kings right now in the middle of a 23-3 run. And tell you what, Golden’s one center when the Kings are rolling. is like no other building in the association. Up there at Fifth and J Street on 500, David J. Stern walk. They’re ready for their Kings to get back to the playoffs. Crawford inside. Jones back out to Clifford. Got that little side step dribble mastered. Mason Jones missing. But I love the way Clifford didn’t just say, “Okay, it’s my turn.” after offensive rebound and just fire a three. He created a great opportunity for Mason Jones even though it didn’t go down. Clifford goes and gets the basketball back with a nice steal. Jones one more to the corner. Carter three. And I tell you what, this team can’t have been together for more than two weeks. And when you consider the way they share the basketball again, always searching for the best possible shot for the team. And now Nick Clipper getting up doing the job defensively. He is in Dun’s face like acne. This is a bad case of it, too. This is a fun team to watch. And this may be a team that we’re watching on Sunday competing for a ring here in Vegas. [Music] [Music] Cooper flag made with a huge huge leap from game one to game two. And Devin Carter here tonight with a nice night. He had a 30-point game as well in his second game. You know, Deon Carter is an interesting story. Cory, I flew out from Miami with his father on the same floor flight, Anthony Carter, former NBA player and formerly a coach on the Memphis Grizzlies staff, said that he got a call from his son at the end of May and said, “Dad, let’s go to work.” And AC was really happy about that because he said to me, “Monk, I haven’t had my hands on my son since he went away to college for his freshman year.” And if you think about it, you know, nobody knows your son’s game more than your dad, right? So, they go to Phoenix. There’s a look at father and son. They went to Phoenix early June and did several weeks of rigorous point guard camp. Anthony teaching his son how to become a complete and comprehensive point guard. Skill work in the morning, conditioning at night. Skill work in the morning, conditioning at night. And they were in a Airbnb with nothing else in it. So all they did was walk, talk, and live basketball. And as much as that is a benefit from basketball, how about the fact that we’re both fathers? Yes. How about to be have the opportunity to spend time with your 20 plus year old son and for your son to simply reach out and say, “Dad, I need you.” I love it. And again, I mean, you can’t ask for more than that. And of course, AC is one of the best. I mean, Anthony Carter, you know, and I still don’t bother with AC because I was supposed to be traded to Miami and him to go to Denver. He ended up in Denver anyway, but I never got to go to Miami. But even still, like that is amazing. One, the maturity of Devon, right? To be able to do that, to reach out to his pops, knowing the experience that he has, not only as a player, but as a coach, but then to be able to, you know, for AC to be able to have that type of time to spend with his his grown son. You can’t ask for more than that. Point Guard Boot Camp taught to you by a former NBA player. And for the record, who you call dad. Yeah, we have an example of that that’s working very well in the world’s greatest arena. That New York thing’s worked out pretty well. That New York thing has worked out pretty well for my guy Rick Brunson and his son Jaylen. I mean, so there may be something to that. You know, we we know how intelligent Scott Perry is, right? You know, and that great staff that he’s put together. I wouldn’t be shocked if uh my guy got a call. Hey, when you break the huddle and say family, it’ll really be right. It would really be family. Pistol action by Clifford. Touched the paint but threw it away. Jones couldn’t get the low pass. Malawatch. [Music] Good defense and a steal. Went right to Malawatch for the slam. Outside of that, it’s been a relatively quiet night for the big man at the offensive end. What do you make of where he is right now in his development? I think these will be the NBA game. The physicality is going to continue to affect him. He’s got to get stronger and which I believe he will, but his skill set is going to allow him to be successful. But one of the best things that’s happened with the Phoenix Suns is bringing in Mark Williams as well. You’re talking about not one but two Duke big guys, but now they have three legitimate centers. They traded with Charlotte to get Nick Richards there a season to go. So now you’ve got three centers to be able to play at all over seven feet and again all skill and so I believe that absolutely helps Deon Booker but I believe Malaw can absolutely be a star and a guy that at times they may be able to play he and another one of those centers together. On the break Devin Carter in the Miami Pro League they call him Young Gucci cuz he’s got it like that. 17 points in the ball game. Boy, this Miami this uh Sacramento defense is swarming. It really is. And again, turning defense into offense, getting the hands on basketballs, deflections. We watched the Oklahoma City Thunder lay the blueprint for the entire NBA as to how you have to defend and how you can win at this level. And it looks as though Sacramento will absolutely be implementing a lot of that in their system this year. And to do that, A, you need the right guys. B, it gives you a little bit of depth for you. Depth is one of the requisites, right? Yes, it is. And again, you know, Scott Perry told us, you know, picking up 94 ft. In order to do that in a 48-minute game, you have to have a number of players that can benefit you defensively and be able to have enough stamina to do that defensively and be effective on the offensive end of the floor. B with the three from the corner as the Kings in the midst of a BTA special. If you know, you know. Agodaro fouled going to the bucket. Sacramento shooting a sizzling 11 of 21 from deep. 52%. But they’re great shots. Yeah. And that’s the thing. They’re shooting wide open threes because of their ball movement. Rarely have you seen guys individually having to create an opportunity on their own. Their ball movement and sharing ball movement, player movement has allowed them to get those good looks throughout this game. Couple of subs coming into the ball game for the Kingsford as Jones and Crawford will get a seat. Boy, Isaac Jones is a great story, too. You think about a little over a year ago, he was a two-way guy and his come up into basketball happened when he accompanied a friend to a try out. Prior to that, he’d been working on a loading dock. Tell you this, the the Stockton Kings in game one against the Oyola Magic in the G-League Finals got blown out in Oyola. They go back and get a huge win at home to bring the series back to Oyola, the side in game three. And they also brought Isaac Jones with him. And when I tell you he was he was a difference maker in that game three deciding championship win. Look at this. Getting on the floor. Persistent defense by Sacramento. And the payoff right there by Cloud. Wow. And again, Dylan Carwell recognizing his role. He’s not a three-point shooter. He’s not going to take that shot. Another steal. Clifford takes it away this time. Stevens leading the break. Clifford got fouled on the reach. Boy, Clifford can guard. He can definitely saw that mid court, right? No question about that. He can absolutely guard. And if as a rookie, that’s the quickest way to find minutes is do the job defensive. We talked about what Ryan Dunn was able to do last year for the Phoenix Suns. Nick Clifford looking as though he will fit right in with the Sacramento Kings. If you can defend like this, you’ll find your way into minutes. 66 200 lb, 23 years old. And I’m enjoying this trend of older players coming into the league. 22 23 years old. They’re a little bit closer to plug and play than a 19year-old might be. A great reverse layup clouding. Most 19y olds. Yes, most cuz we got 18y old that’s ready to play. There’s some special ones out there. It’s a couple actually, believe it or not. Ace Bailey still 18 years old. And Mason Jones with the rebound and push. Hit it to Stevens. cross and he’ll get two at the free throw line. So Stevens will get two. Stevens, I mentioned a former teammate at Colorado State of Nick Cliffords, undrafted in 2024, secondyear pro. Hey, some of the action continues tomorrow on NBA TV, ESPN, and the ESPN app. On NBA TV tomorrow, it’s Minnesota against Detroit at 4:30, Oklahoma City against Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington, and then Golden State Memphis capping the night at 10:30 Eastern time. Sacramento trending towards a 3 and 0 record. And you have to admire, Cory, the way they’ve kept their foot on the gas. Yeah. And they’ve kept their roster the same. Again, I mean, you you can tell when different teams have different plans for summer league with how they choose to use. You can tell that this Sacramento group is coming in looking to win. They want to be playing on Sunday for an opportunity to take home the ring and win a championship here in Vegas. And after talking with Scott Perry, you can see that everything that they do right now is about benefiting the winning culture that they’re trying to build in Sacramento. Gadaro into the corner. Good close out by Plowen. Good contest by Plowen. Good block by Plowen. And here come the Kings. Relentless defensive effort leading to another trip to the free throw line by Sacramento. They got the sun surrounded like Pharaoh’s army right now. [Music] [Music] Kobe Buffkin with 25. And we saw KL Weir here in the previous game here on ESPNU with a solid double double of 21 and 15. Couple of blocks, too. I love Kobe Buffkin looking healthy, battled with is injuries during his rookie year and really at the end of his season at Michigan. So, he’s had a couple of big games already here in summer league thus far. Stevens at the free throw line and all smiles from Clifford and Devin Carter who stuffed the stat sheet here tonight. [Applause] I watched Devin Carter as a freshman, sophomore, junior, high school in South Florida Deral Academy and he was pretty much unstoppable. But what really caught my eye was uh he’s the type of and you don’t see this Cory in high school a lot type of kid that likes to guard people at the other end too. I think that’s in his DNA. Yeah, I think he was born with that. Papa had it like that. Yeah. Papa didn’t have the offensive arsenal that Devin has, but when you want to talk about getting after it defensively, Devin still may have some catching up to do. AC was one of the best. Tell you what, baseline to baseline, dad might even be a little faster. Agreed. But I’m I’m going to say Devin has the height advantage. He’s got the size advantage over dad. So, and as any father would be, as I deal with my son, they were never as fast as you’re going to be. Hey, you know, speaking of point guards, Devin Carter with a good night here. Dennis Shruder recently signed by the Sacramento Kings, and I was speaking with a couple of my friends in Detroit on the staff there who said that they’re really going to miss his presence. He allowed Kate Cunningham to play off ball a lot and Dennis Shruder is a very intense competitor and has good command of the offense and especially last two minutes he was pretty efficient as a player. If I remember correctly, you myself and Katie George did the game right at the trade deadline when they traded for Dennis Shruder. Yes. And I was talking with Trajan Langden prior to that game and he was just simply talking about how much pressure that was going to take off of Kate Cunningham, especially at playoff time because of the way that teams were guarding Kade who of course had a breakout allstar season. And so it’s going to be interesting to see who Detroit is able to bring in and really play that role or if a healthy Jaden Ivy can be that for Kate Cunningham this year. Yeah, he’s back this year. Bucket by the Suns off the step up screen. Two minutes to go in the third quarter. It’s all Sacramento. I got John Elmore in the game now who has one of the best three-point sellies in the business. Well, let’s see it then. Foul on the jump hook. I hope you’re not overselling it cuz I’m really looking forward to I’m really looking forward. You have me intrigued. Oh yes. We we got to we first off you got to look at the hairstyle. Let’s start with that. Okay. And then it it incorporates the hairstyle. So the sunroof look. The little sunroof. Exactly. That look. And I’m hoping he brings of course I want to see him knock down a three, but hopefully he continues to sell. Uhoh. Somebody got to close the door. Yeah, we got to close the door on that one. That’s my young fell Dylan Carwell. And I talked about his defensive ability. Never mentioned his free throws cuz he’s one of the worst free throw shooters in college basketball this year. I believe under 30%. But often he’ll come up and knock down one like that. It makes it looks like he do that. I’m not sure how that happened. That’s going to be a foul against No out of Spain. An undrafted rookie. Played for GLeague. The remix up there in Portland. Both teams in the bonus. Boogie Ellis at the point. inside with the left and rebounded by Sacramento. Mason Jones will bring it across [Music] the Not sure who that was for exactly. Five of the shot clock. Somebody’s got to pull. No. Shoots an air ball. And uh that sequence reminded me of 3:00 a.m. shift at Waffle House. I was a little sloppy. Hey, I tell you what though, not many better places at 3:00 a.m. than Waffle House. You already know that Allstar special comes in number three. Very handy late night. Cardwell will come out of the ball game. You know, back to the point guard play. Just remembering what I was told by some of the people in Detroit. They said that uh Dennis Shruder always was watching basketball games on his iPad. Always really consuming copious amounts of film that’ll benefit Sacramento. Jones. Mason Jones shaking up, holding his lower back. That’s not good. And he’s uh wincing in pain, holding his side. As we talked about the aspirations of this Sacramento Kings summer league squad, the one thing that can derail your opportunities to win a championship is absolutely injuries. As Mason Jones clearly in significant pain. You can see the discomfort written on his face with 48.2 to go. We got a timeout on the floor. Sacramento with a quarter to go. Close to improving to 3 and 0 here. Let’s take a look at the last sequence. What exactly happened? Non-cont deal. Yeah, that that’s the worst part of it. Nothing there as he grabs really in that right oblique area but didn’t get hit and you hate to see see that of course he’s such a large part of what this team has done throughout this game sharing the basketball right six assists for Mason Jones hasn’t been up to his normal scoring which we normally see from him but dropping dimes and making the right plays which has come so important for the way that the Kings play. Sacramento about to join San Antonio, Atlanta, and the Hornets as the only 3-0 teams in summer league play. [Music] Interestingly, you see as if we assume that Sacramento moves into that spot, you’re talking about four different teams at 3 and 0 that were not playoff teams throughout this year. So, you see coming into summer league with a different mindset as they try to build a winning culture and that winning starts now in July. It doesn’t wait till October. Looking forward to uh watching Charles Lee in year two with the Hornets. Another full year with some young talent. Isaac Jones turned up the base. Beautiful find from John Elmore. Crack in the paint and then behind the back pass to Jones. Those two guys connected in the G- League a number of times for highlights. And I still think that the Kings lead the NBA in collective Joneses on the roster. Oh yeah. And Isaiah’s. Yes. Got it on both ends. First name and surname. Stevens inside. And nice catch in traffic. And Kinsey with a nice shot. Fullcourt pressure again by Sacramento. at the clock. Hotly off the mark and that’ll do it for the first three quarters of play. Sacramento Kings lead at 76- 43. Deon Carter with 17 points and another solid night. [Music] [Music] Brett. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Happy. [Music] you know, just with the results right now, but you know, we still have a fourth quarter to play. Still 10 minutes a lot of time, so hopefully we take care of the lead. And individually, what are you working on the most during summer league this year? Um, honestly, just learning the point guard position. Um, you know, that was something I never have done before. So, just trying to learn that, getting reps there and, uh, yeah, leadership as well. Dad’s been helping with that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. My dad’s been in my ear a little bit. Uh, you know, he tries to stay out the way now that, you know, I’m older, but he definitely is my ear. Thanks, Deon. Yeah, appreciate it. Deon Carter with a successful night. Nick Clifford on the sticks handling more on the wing. Isaac Jones goes against big fella from Duke. Malawatch could contest that time. [Music] Loose handle and off the turnover. Sacramento Kings basketball. Sacramento shooting 54% from the field in this game and they have turned over Phoenix a lot. Jones said it with his chest. Jones ability to be able to play off the bounce makes him a tough matchup problem for opposing teams. Rarely do you see a guys with his size and ability playing in the post but the skill to be able to make plays as such. spoke with him at practice this morning. Said that one of the centerpieces of his summertime workouts were working on threes, especially corner threes, trying to add that to his game. Clifford had it knocked away by Ryan Dunn. And that’s why Ryan Dunn is regarded as a better than average defender. You could see Ryan Dunn really jump into that small forward starting role for the Phoenix Suns this year and taking on that role of defending the opposing team’s best defend best offensive player. Especially the more he does this knock down threes, Ryan Dunn could carve out a niche for himself as a starter with Phoenix playing alongside Devin Booker and whomever their point guard will be this year. Yeah. Yeah. You look across their roster, there are a couple of question marks. Well, but they certainly got a lot of defensive presence with Dylan Brooks and they got some scoring with Jaylen Green. Yes. The interesting part is who do they have out there first? That’s the concern. Like because again, I’m not sure that the Jaylen Green Devin Booker mix works for the Phoenix Suns. Having both those guys at similar games, of course, Book is better at it than is Jaylen Green. But when you look at this, the Sun’s projected depth chart, the likelihood of Bradley Bill being on that roster to start the season is almost slim to none at this point. We know that they’re working on a buyout. If that does happen, now you’re talking about someone like a Ryan Dunn. Dylan Brooks really can play the first spot. Okay. And if you’ve got Ryan Dunn and Dylan Brooks on the floor together, now you’re really talking about two defensive aces, unless you put Devin Booker at the point guard position with a Jaylen Green, which could possibly work as well. Vanessa has more. Vanessa, yeah, I I just want I covered both Jaylen and Dylan for many years and, you know, I love both of them. I think it’s going to be interesting to see what they can do in Phoenix and the way that Dylan Brooks helped set the defensive culture under Eay Udoka was incredible. So, I know he has an on the court persona as a villain, but he’s a really great guy and I think he’s going to be a good mentor for some of the young guys, too. Listen, spoke to Dylan Brooks. Okay. Everybody thinks he’s this he’s so nice. Yeah, he’s he really is a sweetheart. Asked him where was he when he found out he was traded. You know where he was? At the spa. At the spa. Listen, I had the opportunity had the cucumbers on his eyes. I had the opportunity to cover Dylan Brooks in college when he was at Oregon and he was an elite offensive talent. I love the way that he has made himself such a productive NBA player by what he does defensively, but you can’t forget he averaged over 14 points per game this year. I mean, he had a great offensive year for the Houston Rockets as well. Once again, they he was a large part of the reason why they were the number two seed in the West. So, you know, Dylan has a lot more basketball to be played. I believe Dylan is truly in the plans for the Phoenix Suns. I’m not sure that Jaylen Green is as big a part of the fans. I I believe he’s much more of an asset than he is a piece to what they’re going to be doing moving forward. And Jaylen Green could be a star. Yeah. Yeah, he could be a star, but I don’t know that Phoenix is the place that it’s going to be. Efficiency the question with him sometimes, right? Yeah, it is at times. And again, but he’s still a young player. I mean, we think about the fact that he’s probably 23 years old and again, but athletically, he’s as el as elite as you get and he has the ability to play multiple guard spots, can handle the basketball, can be a playmaker, and again in the right situation. I believe that Jaylen Green could absolutely be an allstar. I just don’t think that’s going to happen in Phoenix. Malawatch on the keep action traveled with it with six and a half minutes to go here in the fourth and final quarter from the pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on day five of NBA 2K26 summer league. We got a foul on the inbound pass. I believe they got second. Yeah, that’s nephew right there. My nephew Jabri Abdur Raheem who of course son of Sacramento king great Sharif Abdul Raheem. Jire not getting the ball any time. So it’ll be Sun’s basketball. Brave with a nice step back off the dribble. Yeah, Kobe Brea has some elite offensive skills. Of course, we know about his shooting ability, but twotime A10 R rookie of the year, for excuse me, six man of the year at Dayton. So, a guy that is has experience coming off the bench and being productive. And I believe that’s a role that he can absolutely fall right into with the Phoenix Suns. Another one of those guys, five years of college, older guy coming in and looking to contribute right away. Elmore on the drive using that Nash dribble out the other side. Abdul Raheem a little bit strong. Loose ball. No possession. And we’re going to have a jump ball. 558 to go. Timeout on the floor. Got a great story about that young man right there on your screen. Malawatch when we come back. NBA 2K26 Summer League is proudly sponsored by NBA 2K26, rated E for everyone. [Music] Sudan, who by the way made it all the way to the Olympics, the tiny nation in Central Africa, made it to the Olympics last year. He was a member of that team that was coached by Royal Ivy. Now, he was talking about early in his basketball journey meeting Kyle Corver at a basketball without borders event with a nice slam. And he said that Kyle kind of took him under his wing a little bit, Cory, and inspired him to be fearless about working on his three-point shot. and he said that Kyle actually got in the gym with him a little bit and and worked on his form and his feet and his hips and release. And I can only say that if you’ve had private lessons from Kyle Corbon shooting, you’re going to be all right at some point. Absolutely. And that’s one of the things that so many people came away recognizing with K Malawatch and his clutch workouts this spring was his ability to shoot the three. And I’ve had GMs and scouts coming away from there like he shot the cover off the basketball today. Wow. And again, he hasn’t shot the basketball great, but I believe it’s one of six in his first summer league game. And I’ll be the first to tell you, if you can’t make them, right, they’re not going to let you shoot six. So, I mean, again, if if they didn’t feel as though he was capable of knocking down the three, he would not have gotten six looks. He would have been taken out of the game well before then to get his mind right as to where he wants to be. But I believe this something that the Phoenix Suns are absolutely going to be able to use his ability to shoot the basketball from 239. Look at his age, Cory. 18 years old. I had an NBA person tell me that now this is a carefully worded statement that he is at the same level or maybe slightly better than Embiid was at 18. Yeah. And that that’s who he reminds me of. Again, you know, I was fortunate to be able to watch Embiid at Kansas and that’s who he reminds me of. And and when you consider the fact that Joel Embiid had the ability to shoot the basketball then he didn’t do it much in college, but he was a tremendous, you know, rimmed defender and he still can do that. But Malawat’s much more of a lob threat, okay, than Embiid has been, especially in his NBA career. ball out of bounds. Yeah, we don’t know if he becomes MVP. I mean, again, stop it right there. Yeah, again, we we don’t know because when when healthy, Joel Embiid is as good as it gets. I mean, let’s make sure that we clear that up. But Kamalatch could be on that same trajectory. Elmore guarding Dunn in the corner. Malawatch, nice little tween cross combo there. Brea, let’s call it a pass to Collins. Doubt. Give him an assist. Lead is down to 27. Still waiting for that much heralded three-point Sley by Elmore. I know. Well, he had even taken one yet. I know, but if Dun’s guarding him, it’s going to be happening. Going to be difficult. Yeah, Malawatch coming out of the ball game and tell you what, Sacramento has some of the most passionate fans in the NBA. Yet to do a basketball Yeah. really now again played there many times and they were very passionate between 1995 and 2005 when I was in the NBA, but yes, yet to call a game there. When I uh I’m up there and go for my morning run from 23rd and Capitol Avenue all the way past the Capitol up to DO, make that left turn at Fifth Street and come on back. I mean, all you see is purple and like the beam shirts and they are just waiting for that thing to take off again. And again, when you think about a city like Sacramento, similar to San Antonio, when you’re the only show in town, right, you have to love Oh, we got the A’s now. They got the A’s now. Not in Sacramento. Yeah. Oh, that’s right. They are coming there before they come to Vegas. Correct. They’re supposed to come to Vegas. Hey, rentals count. Come on now. That is true. I forgot about the A’s being there. Yeah. So, but when you consider that, I hate to break it to you, but you’re still going to be the only show and tell a couple of years. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not a bad thing at all. Collins with the midi. That rolls in. 420 to go here in the fourth quarter. I’m shocked to know that you didn’t you’ve never done a game at Golden. I have not. I’m gonna have to take you to my favorite Italian restaurant. Please talk to our guy Thomas Ker. See if we can make that happen next year. Yeah. Get the schedule. Allora, great Italian food. And I’ll take you to Crepeville for breakfast. Well, you want crepes? I am a breakfast guy. Okay. So, if it’s breakfast, I love it. I got you. So, there. That’s what I’m talking about. Collins with another midi pure. Nice feed underneath and a good finish that time by Sacramento Kings Daniel Patchto and the Kings now getting the opportunity to get other guys minutes with this huge lead. They’ve played coming into this game tonight, they played the same 10-man rotation, right, in both of their first two games. So now an opportunity to get some of the guys that put in a lot of work in practice. An opportunity now to show some live game action. Has been all kings from the opening tip. You know what? I forgot one of my favorite restaurants, too. You like sushi? No. I’m going to take you to Mucuni. I’m going to take you to Mucuni anyway. You can get something else on the menu. Okay. All right. You got some good fish selections there. You know, they still have a DMC role there named after Demarcus Cousins and a Fox role, too. Named after DM. Well, wait a minute. What What do they have named after Mitch Richmond then? It’s got to be something with The Rock. I never thought about that. The Rock has to have something. Especially C Web, especially my man Jay Will. You know, you you they got to have something for them. I’m going to drop that in the suggestion box next time I come through. 250 to go in the third. Elmore. Nice skip pass to the corner. Abdul Rahee misses the three. Suns on the break. Good defense. Knocked away, but a foul called against Isaac Nos. In about a minute and a half, you’ll start hearing Chance in here of like the bean bet. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] in the G-League last year in about a dozen games And after the GLeague reset, Cory, you see a lot of G-League games and called them. He turned into a pretty dynamic score. He really did. And again, you see him getting more and more comfortable as each game goes along. Only eight the first night, 14. And he’s got 12 already. And again, and you’re talking first half of that game airing on NBA TV. So Bronnie starting to come into his own as a professional. And again, we’ve never seen anyone with the amount of pressure on this scrutiny coming into this league as with Ronnie James. So everything that he does is so scrutinized. I love the way the young man has really carried himself and gone about his business with all the noise that’s going on around him. He’s able to block that out and continue to get better as a basketball player. Pretty well poised for a 20-year-old. It’s funny they some of the media members asked him about LeBron, his dad not, you know, opting into his he he opted into his option and uh he’s like, “Oh, I don’t I don’t really deal with all that stuff.” No. No. Who? Number six. Six. Number 23. Nice roll through the lane for the bucket. Solomon Young. Our next WNBA game is tomorrow on ESPN at 8 Eastern time. Caitlyn Clark and the Fever taking on the Sun and Tina Charles at TD Garden in Boston. Coverage tips with WNBA Countdown at 7:30. Let me ask you this. Hit me. Have you seen the Caitlyn Clark pees Proto 6 Kobes? Yeah, they’re hot. They they are very very very hot. I love them. I love them. But I’ll say this, as much as I want to get a pair, I only buy shoes of guys who have won titles. That’s my one prerequisite. Oh, so there are certain elite players in women’s and men’s basketball with great shoes that really pop on your feet, but I as a moral thing it’s ethics, Cory. Okay. Ethics. I’m with you. You’ve got to be a champ before I put you on my feet. For the record, they are Kobes. He’s got five rings. So, I know, but that’s Kobe. Caitlyn Clark is in a champ. 92 to 68, 117 to go. It has been a blowout, folks, for the last uh two quarters to be honest with you. Yeah, it really was a separator that second quarter. We brought Scott Perry over here to hang out and talk to us. And when he left, it was no longer a game. [Music] But you think about the relationships that Scott Perry has around the NBA. When it comes time to pull the trigger or have the requisite information on certain players to get a deal done, there will be no lack in Sacramento for that. None whatsoever. And I’m glad to see Scott back really where he belongs. I thought he was great on television, but we know he truly belongs in the front office and, you know, running an organization with so much experience and and had success in Sacramento. So, it’s great to see him back in the mix and as you know, everyone has deserted him, right? All of his coaching staff, of course, staying through the end. And again, I think that’s indicative as to really how Scott’s going to go about his business. He’s going to be there all the way through to make sure everything ends on a successful note, even this game tonight. He and his wonderful, lovely bride, Kimberly Perry, already acclimating to Sacramento. 39 years of marriage. That’s the man knows about teamwork. I tell you what, that’s an accomplishment in itself. I can barely even get my wife to watch games I’m doing. Depends if it’s East Coast or West Coast. I know she’s sleep now. I can I can get away with that. She’s sleep now. Yeah. Off the drag screen. No. Well, good close out. No three ball coming up. Or maybe he might back up and pull. Side step three on the way. It might not happen tonight. I don’t think we’re going to see the Sy. Oh, nice block with 30.4 seconds to go. And Gainy is going to go to the free throw line for a pair. Jordan Gayy out of Tennessee undrafted in 2025 this past June [Music] and Gainy at the free throw line. See, I told you it was going to happen. You can hear scattered chance of light the beam through here. Very faint though. You know it’s 5,000 watts of purple beam going through the atmosphere, right? Once again, I want to see I got to bring you man. I I I want to see it. Now, let me ask you this. How long does the does the beam stay on? Like after we do the game and the Kings win, can we go outside? Oh yeah, we’ll have time to BME see the beam. The players there’s a ceremony we have and see hear it. [Applause] It sounds a little different in Sacramento, I’m sure, but you have to appreciate the spirit behind that. Magnify that by 20,000. [Applause] violation. Sacramento lost in the playing tournament last year to Dallas at home in a very turbulent season. And folks, this one’s done. Not like Ryan, but done. Schumacher with the late pull three and that’s it. Sacramento Kings [Music] take it and improve to three and
Phoenix Suns vs Sacramento Kings LIVE ON ESPN 4K NBA2K26 Summer League NBA LIVE NBA TODAY
