NBA Summer League hits Las Vegas, with Flagg vs. Bronny as Thursday's Day 1 centerpiece

Opening night at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas has turned into an annual spectacle, and this year will be no different.

Cooper Flagg's debut is coming — against Bronny James, no less.

Flagg, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, and the Dallas Mavericks will open summer play Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, always a huge draw in Las Vegas, have 2024 second-round pick Bronny James — the son of NBA scoring king LeBron James — on their summer roster.

The game at UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center will be packed. Plenty of NBA players and personnel will be there. Some courtside tickets are being listed on the secondary resale market at more than $3,000 a pop. All this, mind you, for an exhibition game where the outcome is almost certain to be forgotten within a few days.

''I'm excited,'' Flagg said. ''I've been in the gym with the guys, and I'm excited to just get out there, get back on the court, play some 5-on-5.''

It will be a circus atmosphere for Mavericks-Lakers and Day 1 of the full-fledged, 30-team Summer League — other smaller summer leagues in Utah and California wrapped up earlier this week — is certain to be announced as a sellout.

The scene will likely resemble what awaited Victor Wembanyama for his San Antonio debut in 2023 (hundreds of people gathered around the tunnel with their phones out to grab a photo or video of him simply coming out for warmups that night) or Zion Williamson's debut in 2019 with New Orleans — when an earthquake centered in California shook Las Vegas enough for play to be stopped early for the night.

''I just want to go out, show I've improved, show I've gotten better," Flagg said.

Some of what to know about Summer League:

The schedule and format

It starts Thursday and runs through a championship game on July 20. All teams will play a four-game regular season, and then the top four teams will head to the playoffs for a semifinal game on July 19 and the title game one day later.

The 26 teams that don't make the playoffs will be matched up for one last game, a consolation bracket of sorts.

All teams will play at least five games in Las Vegas; the championship-game qualifiers will play six.

Quarters are 10 minutes long, instead of the usual 12 for NBA games. Nobody fouls out until they commit their 10th foul, instead of the usual six-and-you're-out rule. Overtimes are two minutes, not the usual five.

The ‘heave' rule

In place for NBA Summer League: a rule that says players who take those end-of-quarter shots from really, really deep won't count against their individual shooting percentage.

The so-called ''heave rule'' says any shot taken within the final three seconds of the first three quarters and is launched from at least 36 feet away on any play that starts in the backcourt will count as a team shot attempt — but not an individual one.

Many players have avoided taking the miracle 50-footer or deeper shot at the end of quarters to protect their personal shooting percentages. The ''heave rule'' fixes that.

As with many rule changes, it's getting tried out in summer leagues before likely being implemented as an NBA rule. It was used for the games earlier this month at the summer leagues in Utah and California.

What to expect

If form from past years hold, don't expect the high draft picks — like Flagg, No. 2 pick Dylan Harper of San Antonio, No. 3 pick VJ Edgecombe of Philadelphia and No. 4 pick Kon Kneuppel of Charlotte — to play in all five games for their teams in Las Vegas.

It's not uncommon for those top picks to be shut down after playing a game or two. Edgecombe was dealing with a mild thumb contusion and missed the final two games of Philadelphia's three-game run in Utah.

What else is happening

Think of Summer League in Las Vegas as the NBA's annual convention: A slew of players, coaches, agents and executives are there for at least some of the event. It has grown steadily over the last 20 years, with no end in sight.

There's also a Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas early next week, and it seems likely that Commissioner Adam Silver will announce plans for the league to formally begin looking at expansion — though there is no guarantee that the NBA will ultimately decide to add teams.

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