2018 NBA Summer League to Be Held in Las Vegas with All 30 Teams

For the first time ever, all 30 NBA teams are headed to Las Vegas Summer League.

The NBA announced the change Tuesday, saying Vegas summer league will be held from July 6-17 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on UNLV's campus. The expansion will add six teams and an additional 15 games to the schedule.

Each team will play at least five games, and teams can play up to eight in a 12-day stretch.

Summer league, in particular the Vegas iteration, has seen a widespread expansion in terms of coverage since its inception in 2004. Last season, the NBA set attendance and ratings records—thanks in large part to the star power of Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball.

Vegas summer league has also become something of a league-wide vacation, with coaches, team executives, players and media all gathering in one spot. The atmosphere is a more relaxed, summery version of All-Star weekend, coming in most cases just after major free agency decisions have been made.

At times, the gathering of all these decision0makers in one place can lead to conversations that result in major moves. Getting all 30 teams together, rather than just 24, is a nice excuse to get everyone all in one centralized location for nearly two weeks.

The NBA also likely views this as a developmental opportunity, not unlike their goal to get 30 teams in the G-League. Having a larger group of players congregating in Vegas increases exposure and the likelihood of finding a diamond in the rough who emerges in the tournament.