NBA Summer League 2023: Hot Takes About Top Players from Day 9 Las Vegas Results

The final weekend of Vegas Summer League kicked off Saturday afternoon, spelling the beginning of the end for die-hard NBA fans that enjoy watching the league's future stars go at it for a couple of games.

And even with some of the summer's biggest names and rookies already being pulled out of action, there was still a few noteworthy performances throughout the day that caught the eye.

Here are some of the bigger talking points from Day 9 in Sin City.

Amari Bailey takes charge

With Brandon Miller no longer playing in summer league, Amari Bailey decided to take the reins in the Charlotte Hornets' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And the result was the second-round picks' best performance in Vegas.

Fresh off of signing a two-way deal with the Hornets on Friday, Bailey went out and nailed his audition to impress the organization's higher ups, dropping a game-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.

He even had a highlight reel layup late in the game.

Hornets' Twitter was excited seeing the former UCLA star go to work

Now, Bailey will be looking to turn that two-way deal into a stronger standing with the regular roster.

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Lester Quiñones finishes strong

Going into Vegas, there probably wasn't a whole lot of people familiar with Lester Quiñones' game.

Fast forward a week or so later and you'd be surprised to find a Golden State Warriors' fan that doesn't know who the former University of Memphis star is.

Going undrafted in 2022, Quiñones signed a two-way contract with the Warriors ahead of last season and eventually got waived before signing with their G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.

He signed another two-way in 2023, making his NBA debut in March and winning the G League's Most Improved Player award.

And he pulled up to summer league ready to hoop this year. After three consecutive 20-plus point performances in his first few outings, Quiñones saved the best for last, dropping a game-high 32 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range in the team's loss to the Toronto Raptors.

He also contributed four rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Warriors' Twitter was advocating for him to get a shot at the regular roster next season.

Quiñones will now look to keep impressing the organization through camp and preseason with the hopes of getting the promotion.

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Julian Strawther Keeps Shining

The Denver Nuggets may have found themselves a late first-round gem in Julian Strawther.

The No. 29 pick in this year's draft, Strawther had a consistent string of strong performances during his time in Vegas, slowly gaining confidence with every single outing.

And Saturday night was no different.

Strawther was the best player on the floor, finishing with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from three-point range in the win, showing off that elite shooting ability that he had at Gonzaga last season, when he made 40.8 of his shots from beyond the arc.

He also had nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 32 minutes.

Picturing Strawther's shooting ability combined with Nikola Jokic´'s passing will be a scary sight for the rest of the league and will have the rookie in a position for immediate success.

And Twitter was happy to see it.

Strawther will look to carve out a role for himself in the Nuggets' rotation during his first season as a pro with a chance to immediately contribute for the reigning champs.