Portland’s Trendon Watford named MVP of NBA’s Summer League championship game

Former LSU standout Trendon Watford led the Portland Trailblazers' summer league team to a championship Sunday. PHOTO COURTESY: LSU athletics.

Former LSU basketball players had some good moments over the course of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, including Trendon Watford being named the MVP of the championship game Sunday won by his Portland Trail Blazers.

Watford had 19 points, seven rebounds and made 7-of-15 field goals, including three treys in the 85-77 championship game win over the New York Knicks. Watford was a unanimous MVP pick

In five games, Watford averaged 13.6 points, 7.8 rebounds along with 2.0 steals and 2.0 assists a contest.

Also having good performances in the event were first-round draft picks the last two years – Cam Thomas (Brooklyn, 2021) and Tari Eason (Houston, 2022), who were both were named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team.

Thomas led the league in scoring average at 27.4 points for five games, also dishing out 4.2 assists. He had scoring games of 31 points (Milwaukee), 26 (Philadelphia, Minnesota), 29 (Memphis) and 25 (Boston).

Eason impressed Houston fans with his play during the summer, averaging 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals. He had four double-doubles in five games with a high of 22 points against San Antonio, while his best rebound effort of 13 was against Orlando in the summer’s opener.

Forward Darius Days averaged 13.7 points in three games with the San Antonio Spurs along with 10.0 rebounds. After that third game, he was signed to a two-way contract with the Miami Heat for the 2022-23 season. To make room on their roster for Days, the Heat had to waive former LSU point guard Javonte Smart. The former Scotlandville Magnet star had averaged 15.0 points and 2.5 assists with Miami.

Other numbers from the summer league:

Josh Gray (Portland), 1 game, 0 points
Shareef O’Neal (LA Lakers), 4 games, 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds
Duop Reath (Phoenix), 2 games 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds (11-7 vs. LAL)
Tremont Waters (Memphis) 1 game, 16.0 points (vs. Minnesota), 2 assists

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