Sacramento Summer League 2019: Jimmer Fredette Makes Warriors Debut, Lakers Lose
The 2019 NBA summer league tipped off its California Classic on Monday night in Sacramento, California.
The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers started the action at Golden 1 Center, and Miami rookie first-rounder Tyler Herro impressed in his first NBA outing.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was on-hand to watch his team's strong summer league opener, according to the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang.
The Heat's offensive explosion warmed the court up for the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings to close out the night.
Monday Results
Heat def. Lakers, 106-79
Kings def. Warriors, 81-77
Tuesday's Sacramento Schedule
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Miami Heat vs. Sacramento Kings, 11 p.m. ET on NBATV
View the full NBA summer league schedule at NBA.com.
Recaps
Heat 106, Lakers 79
Chiang wrote on Heat forward Duncan Robinson's desire to make Miami's final 15-man roster after spending last season with the organization's G League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce. The 2018 undrafted acquisition did well to make his case Monday night against the Lakers.
Robinson was the game's second-leading scorer at 17 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
"Duncan has bulked up and he looks like a Greek god with his shirt off," Heat summer league head coach Eric Glass told Chiang. "I think the extra weight will help him bang against some of the bigger guys. We really want to see him rebound and get on the boards and get his hands dirty."
Herro was the game's leading scorer with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range. The 2019 13th overall selection added four assists, three rebounds and one steal.
Miami collectively shot 15-of-29 from downtown (51.7 percent) opposed to the Lakers' 30.3 percent three-point conversion rate.
The Heat's starting lineup was rounded out by Chris Silva, Nick Mayo and Jeremiah Martin with all scoring in double digits.
The Lakers' starting lineup was headlined by rookie undrafted guard Zach Norvell Jr., whom L.A. announced as signing a two-way contract earlier Monday. The Gonzaga product scored 11 points while also contributing seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.
L.A.'s leading scorer was rookie undrafted forward Rosco Allen out of Stanford. The Hungarian scored 13 in 17 minutes off the bench.
Talen Horton-Tucker, the Lakers' lone 2019 draft acquisition, did not play.
Kings 81, Warriors 77
The Kings protected their home floor, but just barely.
Monday's second California Classic matchup was a back-and-forth, low-scoring affair.
The game's leading scorer was Kings forward Wenyen Gabriel, who spent last season with Sacramento's G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. Monday night, the 22-year-old Kentucky product scored 22 points and collected 12 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Semaj Christon joined the double-double party with 13 points and 11 assists. The 26-year-old last played in the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016-17 season.
Gabriel and Christon started alongside rookie second-round draft pick Kyle Guy, who is fresh off leading Virginia to a national championship. The guard scored 10 points to go with two rebounds and an assist. Justin James, whom Sacramento took with the 40th overall pick, posted seven points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist off the bench.
While the court was filled with mostly new faces, there was one familiar one: Jimmer Fredette. The former first-round pick played his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons (2011-2013) in Sacramento before being bought out and signing with the Chicago Bulls in March 2014.
Fredette returned to Sacramento as a member of the Warriors' summer league squad as he tries to once again make an NBA roster. Friday, Fredette spoke about his motivation entering summer league:
The 30-year-old scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench for Golden State on Monday night.
Golden State's 2016 first-round pick Damian Jones also bucketed 14 points, while second-year guard Jacob Evans scored a team-high 18.
Kings guard Buddy Hield and former player Chris Webber were in attendance.
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