From one of the NBA’s top rookie prospects to a few guys trying to get their footing in the league, Duke players are busy during the NBA summer leagues this month.
Brandon Ingram, the No. 2 overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft, starts his NBA career tonight with the Los Angeles Lakers’ team in the NBA’s Las Vegas circuit. The Las Vegas Summer League is the longest of the three NBA summer schedules. Teams in Las Vegas play from Friday through July 18 with 24 teams involved.
Quinn Cook, a starting guard on Duke’s 2015 NCAA championship team, will also play in Las Vegas. Cook is with the D-League Select team. After going undrafted last summer, Cook starred with the Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, last season when he was named the D-League Rookie of the Year.
Three other former Duke players started their summer league play earlier this week in the NBA’s Orlando Summer League. Justise Winslow has played in two games for Miami’s team, averaging 18 points per game while making 11 of 30 shots. He also averaged 3.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. After Miami drafted him with the No. 10 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Winslow averaged 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds while playing in 78 games as a rookie last season.
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Two other former Blue Devils have less certain futures so their summer league performances are extra important. Guard Andre Dawkins, part of Duke’s 2010 NCAA championship team as a freshman, played with the Dallas Mavericks team in Orlando. In three games, he averaged 10.0 points while making 10 of 23 shots overall. That included making 5 of 13 3-pointers.
Dawkins has played in four NBA games in his career. They all came early in the 2014-15 season when he made the Miami Heat roster out of training camp. Last season, he played in 12 games with the Texas Legends in the D-League and averaged 15 points per game while making 43 percent of his 3-pointers.
Marshall Plumlee, the 7-foot center who completed his Duke career last March, signed an undrafted free agent deal with the New York Knicks. He started all four games for the Knicks’ team in Orlando, pulling down 19 rebounds (4.8 per game) while averaging 6.0 points. He only committed five fouls in the four games.