Bucks Basketball in the summer
The 1-0 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 0-0 Phoenix Suns as summer league play continues on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. In Milwaukee’s summer league opener they were able to defeat the Nuggets 92-85.
There are technically two NBA summer leagues: the main one is in Las Vegas while a secondary league is located in Utah. Milwaukee will participate again in some summer league games in ‘sin city’. The games are always a good chance to see the young guys play. Milwaukee will also have some ‘bubble players’ involved as they look to lock down roster spots 12-15 for the upcoming season. Whereas last season those spots seemed strictly reserved for vets, this season everything feels more ‘on the table’ in terms of who wins those slots.
Related: Bucks beat Denver 92-85
Both teams, as expected, have young inexperienced rosters. Let’s see who might be set to play and who to look out for.
Related: NBA Draft Recap for the Bucks
Phoenix Suns Roster Notes
The Suns only had one official pick in this year’s NBA draft. Toumani Camara was drafted 52nd overall. He played basketball out of Dayton. The pick has been met with some criticism as Dayton did not face the greatest of competition out of the Atlantic conference.
Isaiah Todd is in his second year out of the G-League Ignite program. Todd came over in the Bradely Beal deal. He is expected to play a bunch this season off Phoenix’s bench.
Other notable players for the Suns are rookies Gabe Brown and Louis Olinde. Olinde is from Germany and the 6’10” forward can score.
Of course, the prized move for the Suns was acquiring Bradley Beal from the Wizards. He won’t play but he’ll pair nicely with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. That should be a pretty formidable group.
Phoenix will need a bench in the worst way if they are to compete for an NBA Championship. Starting to put those bench pieces together will have to start now, in the NBA Summer League, for Phoenix.
Related: Summer league Dates Announced
Milwaukee Bucks Roster Notes
Now that we know who started Game One of the Bucks Summer league team, it’ll be interesting to see if those same guys start again. Or will first year Head Coach Adrian Griffin shuffle some things around and even possibly play his own son?
Tacko Fall started at center against Denver. The 7’6” center had quite the presence in the paint.
He really took up a ton of space and helped the defense. He also scored 4 points, making 4 free throws.
Rookie draft pick Chris Livingston out of Kentucky also started for Milwaukee. He played 26 minutes against the Nuggets, scoring seven points with six rebounds. Andre Jackson Jr. started for Milwaukee and played well. He had some pretty awesome and amazing highlights.
Will the Bucks play more of the nine guys on the summer league roster who didn’t see a minute of floor time? Will MarJon Beauchamp start again and play that much again? We’ll have to see. Because this game is a back-to-back you’d have to think more guys will play.
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- New Bucks Head Coach Adrian Griffin played his rookie season for the Boston Celtics.
- Devin Booker played his college ball for the University of Kentucky. Grayson Allen played his college ball for Duke.
- Phoenix leads the All-Time Regular Season Series 77-73.
- The Milwaukee Bucks were founded in 1968. The Phoenix Suns were also founded in 1968.
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