3 studs, 2 duds from Mavericks Summer League opener vs. Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks opened up their Summer League slate on Saturday afternoon with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to walk away victorious.

Dallas dropped the game to Oklahoma City, 91-80, starting their campaign with a tough loss to a very good Thunder Summer League squad, who is led by Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren was the second pick in the 2022 NBA Draft but missed the entirety of this past season with an injury. Now, he’s set to tackle his first year in the NBA with very high expectations.

The 21-year-old rookie finished the game with 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and two blocks while shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.

That being said, it was rookie Cason Wallace who stole the show for the Thunder. The youngster finished the night with 20 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 shooting from behind the three-point line.

The Mavericks had their fair share of solid performers, too, but they also had some players who struggled to find their footing in their Summer League debuts.

With Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way next year, Dallas has taken this offseason to balance the roster and put solid pieces around their core group.

Summer League will provide the team with an opportunity to identify young talent and find guys who could be solid developmental projects or, in an ideal world, Day 1 contributors.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at three studs and two duds from the Mavericks’ first Summer League game.