Three Bruins made it to the Association in June, but their trip to the Las Vegas NBA Summer League was not particularly eventful.
Brooklyn Nets guard Jaylen Hands and Houston Rockets center Moses Brown both got their first professional action since leaving UCLA men’s basketball in the annual Las Vegas NBA Summer League. Forward Kris Wilkes signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks minutes after the 2019 NBA Draft ended, but he was ruled out for the event with a nonserious illness, Newsday Sports reported.
Hands led the Nets’ bench with 15 minutes in his debut against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. His long ball wasn’t falling – missing all three of his 3-point attempts in the game – but he went 4-of-4 at the charity stripe and 2-of-3 from two.
The former Bruin finished with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and three turnovers. Hands’ eight rebounds were tied for most on the team with his 6-foot-11 teammate Jarrett Allen, and he was one of just four Nets with a positive plus-minus in the team’s 96-92 loss.
Hands did not see any action in Brooklyn’s game against the Croatian National Team on Sunday.
The Rockets only put Brown on the court for two minutes in their first game of the week Saturday night, with reigning G League finals MVP Isaiah Hartenstein earning the start and 29 minutes at center in his place. Brown scored three points against the Mavericks, making the only field goal he attempted and going 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
Brown did not record a single rebound in his first game after averaging 8.3 per game in his freshman year at UCLA, but he did pick up one steal in Houston’s 113-81 loss.
The former UCLA center – like Hands – did not take the court in his team’s second game.
When the summer league ends, Brown will wait for a two-way or G League contract offer from the Rockets or another NBA team. Brown’s two former Bruin teammates, on the other hand, have already signed the dotted line, despite Wilkes being held off the Knicks roster for the remainder of the summer season.
Hands and Brown will continue action until Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, before the summer league playoffs are set to begin Friday.
Brown was the rawest of the three. He REALLY needed to stay in school