2023 summer league is officially in the books, which means the undrafted rookies and G Leaguer portion of the participants put in their final impressions before teams start to fill out their three two-way spots.
While the Las Vegas extravaganza is known for showcasing the top rookies in their first games with their new teams, the majority of players are there to keep their NBA hopes alive.
With the addition of a third two-way spot, the backend of NBA rosters grew to absorb 30 new players who are on the edge of being in and out of the league.
For The Win’s Bryan Kalbrosky decided to break down the 10 best undrafted rookies who should be offered a two-way spot. The Oklahoma City Thunder have a couple of familiar names in the rankings.
Perhaps the Thunder could offer one or both of these players a two-way spot as only second-round rookie Keyontae Johnson is under a two-way deal.
Caleb McConnell
“Caleb McConnell is a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who stood out on the defensive end of the floor for the Thunder during the NBA 2K24 Summer League.
Among all undrafted players in the Salt Lake City Summer League who were not signed to a two-way deal, McConnell finished with the second-best score in the HoopsHype catch-all metric Global Rating.
McConnell averaged 8.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.7 blocks per 40 minutes while on the floor for Oklahoma City during all of his NBA Summer League games.”
KJ Williams
“K.J. Williams had a solid showcase in NBA Summer League for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He averaged 18.0 points, 16.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 steals per 40 minutes for Oklahoma City.
Williams, who was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2022 before transferring to LSU, is a solid perimeter defender. He held his opponents to shoot 7-of-35 (20.0 percent) when contesting 3-pointers last season, per Stats Perform, which ranked as the best (minimum: 20 attempts) among undrafted free agents…
Even when the ball is not in his hands, however, he still made an impact. Williams averaged 0.24 off-ball screens per offensive chance at LSU, per Stats Perform, which ranked third-best among UDFA. He was also one of the leaders in second-chance points scored, per CBB Analytics.”
