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The NBA Summer League is like an oasis in the desert for basketball bettors. The Summer League, which began in 2002, is an offseason basketball league that features rosters from all 30 NBA teams. The rosters are comprised of first- and second-year players along with G League players.
While it lacks the star power of the NBA regular season, the Summer League is an exciting showcase of the league’s young talent and has served as a launching pad for plenty of NBA careers.
Fortunately for bettors, the Summer League can also be wagered on at our favorite NBA betting sites.
If you’re thinking about betting on the Summer League or looking to spice up your betting this summer, here’s a guide for how to bet on it.
How To Bet on NBA Summer League
You can bet on the Summer League at any of our favorite online sportsbooks, similar to how you can bet on the NBA regular season and postseason.
As mentioned above, the Summer League consists of 30 teams and started in 2002 with the Orlando Pro Summer League. The Las Vegas Summer League started in 2004 with the NBA attaching its name three years later.
There’s also the Salt Lake City Summer League, which features the Utah Jazz playing three other teams. The California Classic Summer League usually features the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers playing against non-California-based teams.
Betting on the Summer League looks the same as betting on the NBA. Every game has a spread, moneyline and total to bet on, along with a variety of player props.
The player props sometimes look different, however, and tend to be more limited. The Summer League is similar to the NFL preseason in that games are more for player evaluation than team success. That can sometimes lead to inconsistent player rotations, which are hard to handicap.
Accordingly, some sportsbooks only offer milestone props (e.g., X player to score 10+ points, 20+ points, etc.) rather than setting a line for every player. We don’t recommend betting those markets due to the volatility of Summer League playing time.
It’s possible to place live bets on a Summer League game that’s already in progress. You can also place game props like quarter bets and half bets if you’re not interested in watching the whole game.
Some sportsbooks also offer the ability to place futures bets on the Summer League around which team will win the Las Vegas Championship. All 30 teams that play in Vegas are guaranteed four games, with the top four teams making the Summer League playoffs. The last team standing wins.
What Teams Have Success at NBA Summer League?
Historically, the best teams at Summer League are teams that finished the previous NBA regular season in the middle of the pack or lower. Only four of the last 10 Summer League champions were coming off a playoff berth, with three of those four losing in the first round.
One of the biggest reasons for that is that top teams tend to wrap their top NBA Draft picks in bubble wrap, which limits their Summer League impact. In 2023, San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama only played in two Summer League games before the Spurs pulled him out of the league. A year prior, No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero also played in only two games before the Orlando Magic shelved him.
For teams that made the playoffs or were on the bubble, the Summer League is an opportunity to showcase players who could theoretically fill holes on their roster, which can sometimes lead to them having rosters that are older and more talented than other teams.
Las Vegas Summer League MVP Winners
The first Summer League MVP award was given out in 2006. While there is usually only one recipient, two players have shared the award in several instances.
See below for the full list of winners.
- 2006: Randy Foye, Minnesota Timberwolves
- 2007: Nate Robinson, New York Knicks
- 2008: Jerryd Bayless, Portland Trail Blazers
- 2009: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
- 2010: John Wall, Washington Wizards
- 2012: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers; Josh Selby, Memphis Grizzlies
- 2013: Jonas Valančiūnas, Toronto Raptors
- 2014: Glen Rice Jr., Washington Wizards
- 2015: Kyle Anderson, San Antonio Spurs
- 2016: Tyus Jones, Minnesota Timberwolves
- 2017: Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
- 2018: Josh Hart, Los Angeles Lakers
- 2019: Brandon Clarke, Memphis Grizzlies
- 2021: Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings; Cam Thomas, Brooklyn Nets
- 2022: Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
- 2023: Cam Whitmore, Houston Rockets
Las Vegas Summer League Champions
While the Las Vegas Summer League has been around since 2004, it didn’t start holding a championship until 2013.
See below for the full list of champions and championship game MVPs.
- 2013: Golden State Warriors, Ian Clark
- 2014: Sacramento Kings, Ray McCallum Jr.
- 2015: San Antonio Spurs, Jonathon Simmons
- 2016: Chicago Bulls, Jerian Grant
- 2017: Los Angeles Lakers, Kyle Kuzma
- 2018: Portland Trail Blazers, K.J. McDaniels
- 2019: Memphis Grizzlies, Brandon Clarke
- 2021: Sacramento Kings, Louis King
- 2022: Portland Trail Blazers, Trendon Watford
- 2023: Cleveland Cavaliers, Isaiah Mobley
Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images.
