Seven former FSU Basketball players flash in NBA's Summer League
During July action in the NBA’s Summer League, which concluded Sunday, seven different former Florida State men’s basketball players were on the court looking to improve the standing of their young careers.
The Summer League, which is a form of NBA preseason where younger, developmental players and rookies are given extended minutes, offered the former Seminoles a chance to impress front-office personnel and coaches. And several of them took full advantage, posting impressive statistics and highlights.
On the heels of those performances, a pair of former Seminoles have already signed new pro contracts in the past week.
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One of the stars of the summer was former Seminole Mfiondu Kabengele, who signed a two-way deal with the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics on Sunday before action had even finished.
In five games, Kabengele averaged 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks, while shooting over 58 percent from the floor. Last Tuesday, he put up 20 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, and he knocked down 7-of-9 from the free-throw line while going up against Golden State.
A first-round draft pick in 2019, Kabengele enters his fourth season as a pro looking to break through with the Celtics after spending his third year exclusively in the NBA’s G-League. Before that, he played in 51 games across two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers in limited minutes.
For the Detroit Pistons, former FSU center Balsa Koprivica appeared in four games, averaging 11.3 minutes, 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Koprivicia flashed his double-double potential and shot perfect from the field in more than one outing, including on Thursday when he was 5-of-5, scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds.
While he didn’t see action in the NBA during his first season as a professional, Koprivica appeared in 26 games in Serbia, averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 boards in 14.6 minutes.
RaiQuan Gray, who was the third FSU alum selected in the 2021 NBA Draft after Koprivica and Toronto Raptors Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, started five games at forward for the Brooklyn Nets.
In those five games for the Nets, Gray played a shade under 25 minutes with 7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a steal per-game. On Saturday versus the Celtics, Gray banged down low with Kabengele and came away with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a block. He also knocked down a 3-pointer.
After going undrafted in the 2022 Draft following his freshman season, forward John Butler made a big splash in his first Summer League with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Saving his best for last, Butler was one of the biggest stories during a busy final day of games on Sunday, scoring 25 points and shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the floor. He was 6-of-6 from long range, and he also had seven rebounds and a block in the 107-71 win.
Overall in four games, Butler averaged 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds, and he shot 75 percent from the field in 16.7 minutes for New Orleans.
Seeing limited action in three games with the New York Knicks, guard M.J. Walker averaged 4.7 minutes, 2 points and a rebound per game.
Another FSU big man who flashed potential during Summer League was rookie Malik Osborne, who scored 6.5 points, grabbed 2.8 rebounds and shot an extremely efficient 81.8 percent from the field with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Osborne appeared in four games, averaging 10.5 minutes per outing.
Finally, while fellow FSU rookie and guard Anthony Polite didn’t see a ton of action during the Summer League (3 points in one game played with the Spurs), he walked away with an international contract.
Polite signed with France’s ASVEL pro league, joining a long list of ’Noles to compete overseas, including his father, Michael Polite, who enjoyed a long career internationally after scoring over 1,000 points at FSU in the early 1990s.
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