NBA Summer League 2016: Top Takeaways from July 16 in Las Vegas

Quarterfinal Saturday at the 2016 NBA Las Vegas Summer League featured three upsets.

The second-seeded Chicago Bulls were the lone exception, but that's not why the Windy City crew emerged as the day's biggest winner. Sure, the 88-85 win over the Washington Wizards looks nice, and possessing Sin City's lone unblemished record (5-0) sounds even better.

But the process within the victory held more meaning than the actual result. With sophomore Bobby Portis and rookie Denzel Valentine striping seven of their 10 combined outside looks, Chicago may have found some needed relief for its space-deprived roster.

The Bulls are desperate for downtown shooting. Their biggest offseason additions—Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo—both own sub-30 career three-point percentages. Their lone returning All-Star, Jimmy Butler, hit just 31.2 percent from deep last season. Potential frontcourt starters Robin Lopez and Taj Gibson have one career three between them.

Oh, and perimeter sniping just happens to be the backbone of head coach Fred Hoiberg's preferred pace-and-space style.

A handful of Vegas-based triples can't erase Chicago's bigger concerns, but anything that can grease this group's offensive gears is a plus. Portis had struggled to find his range, hitting at only a 22.2 percent clip over his first four outings, but he looked comfortable and confident burying three of four en route to his team-high 17 points.

"I use the summer league to work on my game," Portis said earlier in the week, per Bulls.com's Sam Smith. "Not trying to do so much, but make my game confined to what I will do during the season."

That's harder for Valentine to do, since when he's rolling, he does a little of everything. The former Michigan State star had his best pro outing yet, totaling 14 points, 10 boards, four threes, three assists and one steal. He expertly leveraged his handles, vision and outside stroke to keep defenders off balance.

Portis and Valentine may both log major minutes during the regular season. If their outside shots hold up, the Bulls will need them to.

Granted, all typical summer league caveats apply. Saturday's biggest entertainment source, after all, may have been two basketballs getting stuck above the backboard. And this was far more shooting than either player had previously displayed in the tournament. (Valentine was 4-of-26 outside entering Saturday.)

But any progress is good progress.

Tyler Ulis Has No Quit

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If Tyler Ulis has a long NBA career ahead of him, get ready to hear stories of how he had to convince arena security he's actually part of the team. At 5'10", 150 pounds, he'll stand like a shrub among the league's trees.

But that didn't stop him from being a McDonald's All-American. And neither his build, nor a reportedly red-flagged hip issue, per Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler, could keep Ulis from being grabbed with the 34th pick in last month's draft.

Stature aside, he's looked like a natural ever since. Amid the turnover-fest that is NBA Summer League, Ulis has committed just seven giveaways over five games as a lead guard. His 46.9 field-goal percentage highlights his ability not only to make shots, but also take the right ones.

He carried a heavy load Saturday with Devin Booker done for the tourney, Marquese Chriss sidelined by illness and Dragan Bender battling both a tweaked ankle and a wayward stroke. Ulis launched a team-high 19 shots, nearly eight above his average. He only connected on seven, but three of them were threes—the last of which lifted the Phoenix Suns to an 82-81 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets.

"I wanted the shot," Ulis told ESPN after the game. "It was a big time in the game, and I felt like I could take it, and I made it."

Ulis needed to show out in Vegas. The Suns look overstocked in the backcourt, so a quiet Vegas run could have meant the diminutive guard was in danger of being buried behind depth. But as Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post observed, Ulis' play and poise should give him lasting power:

Based on Ulis' past and present, it'd be foolish to bet against him.

Jordan McRae Knows His Role

Jordan McRae fully understands his basketball calling—he can be prolific to the point of changing the game with a single scorching stretch. He has the shooting stroke to pull defenders outside, the handles to blow by them and the body control to navigate through tight spaces.

He entered Saturday's contest as the third-highest scorer in Vegas at 25.8 points per game. That's impressive quantity no matter how it's sliced.

But the quality comes and goes, and he's just sporadically showcased his skills. He also entered Saturday night having shot above 43 percent once in five games and below 40 percent three different times.

"Some scouts in Las Vegas say McRae is a little like Jamal Crawford," wrote Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He's instant offense."

McRae doesn't bring a lot else to the table. Of course, when he's hot, he doesn't need to. He wasn't near his best during the Cleveland Cavaliers' 91-83 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets, shooting just 7-of-24 from the field.

But he gave Cleveland a go-to scorer, tallying a team-high 25 points. It was his fourth 25-point outburst during his last five games, and he left footprints at the charity stripe, taking 10 free throws and connecting on nine. It was the fifth time in six games he's earned double-digit freebies.

His game isn't always aesthetically pleasing—his shot selection was bold even by summer league standards—and he'll never find himself among efficiency leaders. But when he takes the floor, points usually follow.  

NBA teams always have a soft spot for someone who can fill up the scoring column.

Denver's Rotation Already Looks Crowded

The Denver Nuggets have just 99 wins to show for the last three seasons. That number reads like a "Help Wanted" sign in the eyes of optimistic summer leaguers.

Denver's Sin City squad had several players cast their bid for regular-season minutes during Saturday's 82-81 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns, led by 2016 lottery pick Jamal Murray. The former Kentucky Wildcat slogged out of the gate with a 0-of-4, scoreless first quarter. He didn't record a point until midway through the second, but his first bucket was both a highlight hoop and a stage-setter.

Murray entered intermission with just five points on 2-of-8 shooting. His final line turned into 29 points and a 50.0 field-goal percentage. That scoring eruption helped forgive some of his ball-stopping tunnel vision and highlighted how effective he can be as an off-ball sniper.

Fellow Denver freshman Juancho Hernangomez continued his strong summer play. He had his second double-double in three games (12 rebounds and 10 points), four assists and one thunderous throwdown.

The Nuggets need more spacing and versatility, and these two rookies look ready to provide them. But any potential rotation openings may be mirages. If Hernangomez stays stateside, he could get buried behind proven players at both forward spots. Murray's climb to playing time may be just as steep.

"You don’t draft a guy at no. 7 to have him ride the bench," wrote The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks, "but there may not be much of a role for Murray in Denver with [Emmanuel] Mudiay, [Gary] Harris, and Will Barton ahead of him."

More than three years removed from their last playoff run, the Nuggets are in no position to complain about having too much talent. But head coach Michael Malone and his staff have a tricky rotation riddle to solve.

Sophomore Savvy on Full Display

As a former first-rounder doing his second tour of summer league duty, Tyus Jones should look more advanced than most of his peers. While others scratch and claw for their first NBA opportunity, the 6'2" floor general already has 37 big league outings under his belt.

That said, he displayed a different brand of beyond-his-years wisdom late in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 81-79 win over the Toronto Raptors. With one smartly outstretched leg and an officiating decision that can only be described as "#summerleague," Jones helped the 24th-seeded Timberwolves shock the top-seeded Raptors.

"He was flying out with a second left," Jones told ESPN after the game. "I didn't catch it clean, so it would have been a terrible shot. Luckily, I got the call."

With 2016's No. 5 pick Kris Dunn again sidelined by a concussion, Minnesota needed some luck. Jones scratched that itch and then some, tallying 21 points, eight assists and a pair of game-winning free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining. It was his third straight outing of at least 15 points and eight dimes.

As good as Jones looked, though, Toronto's sophomore backcourt seemed on its way to controlling the contest. Norman Powell struggled to find his jumper (7-of-18 from the field, 1-of-5 outside) but still bulldozed for interior buckets and a team-high 17 points.

Delon Wright quietly stuffed his stat line with eight rebounds, seven points, three assists, one block and—maybe most importantly—zero turnovers in 22 minutes before exiting with a dislocated shoulder. His 6'5" frame kept a constant barrier between Minnesota guards and the basket, while his ability to quickly change speed and direction made him too slippery to contain.

All three second-year studs stood out for the right reasons. That may not matter much when the regular season starts—Powell could be a rotation player, but Wright and Jones are facing a minutes crunch—but the three guards looked how they should on this stage.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.