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Every July, the NBA world descends on Las Vegas for Summer League and every July, so many are disappointed with the number of drafted rookies who are held out of playing in Summer League games.

Some are held out because of injury, some are held out because teams are fearful of an injury happening before the regular season begins, and some are held out because agents don’t want them to play for a variety of reasons — from clout and fear of embarrassment to level of talent or profile.

One of the things being discussed in Las Vegas, behind closed doors and in some of the various meetings of the NBA decision-makers, is the idea of either shortening or doing away with the “extra” summer showcases — meaning the California Classic and Salt Lake City Summer League.

The thought process behind potentially shutting down the other summer tournaments is that it would take away the potential for injury in games that occur prior to the Las Vegas Summer League and give incoming rookies and young players a longer runway to ramp up ahead of Vegas, again, lowering the risk of injury during the summer.

Some of the players in Las Vegas haven’t played competitively since April, whether in the most recent NBA season, or during the NCAA Tournament. But there are a good number of players who didn’t play in the NCAA Tournament and haven’t played a game since March. So, the risk of small injury is not surprising in the first couple of games in SLC, California or even Vegas.

There is, of course, the argument on the other side, which is that these 18-22-year-olds could definitely play through some of these minor tweaks and bruises without causing significant harm. For some, that’s definitely true, but some teams still want to bubble wrap their new investments out of fear of worsening injuries.

For the injuries that aren’t actually serious and are more of a ruse by an agent to keep a player out of summer games, having Las Vegas as the only summer platform could force the hand of some of the actors involved in making these decisions.

But one thing should be absolutely clear, these players want to play. It is not the players who are asking to sit out. It’s all of the other people and interests involved that are keeping players sidelined.

Fans who have become accustomed to attending the California Classic or SLC Summer League will certainly not like that some of the NBA brass are considering doing away with those events. But, the NBA sees the Las Vegas Summer League to be a mainstay and a major fixture, so any way they can boost viewership or attendance, they will. That’s not to say that anything has been decided — it hasn’t. But it is absolutely being discussed.

Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge and Taylor Hendricks talk as they and Keyonte George watch the Utah Jazz summer league game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News New with the JazzQuote of the week

“I’m gonna be a patient guy, but you know, if something happens over and over long enough, or I feel like I’m being disrespected, then of course, I’m gonna stand my ground.” — Kyle Filipowski

From the archivesExtra points

  • Jazz chose new route to the bottom of the standings (Deseret News)
  • BYU’s Egor Demin is adapting to the NBA game — and the NBA life (Deseret News)
  • Williams, Collier lead Jazz past Wizards for Las Vegas Summer League win (Deseret News)

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