The Clippers will have their most anticipated Summer League since 2018 due to the presence of prized rookie Keaton Wagler. But what about the rest of the roster? Here’s a quick rundown on everyone the Clippers are bringing to Vegas, ranging from potential franchise cornerstones to guys you will probably never see again.
The Rookies
Keaton Wagler – Wagler is the Clippers’ highest draft pick since Blake Griffin back in 2009 (boy that makes me feel ancient), and has correspondingly high expectations for Summer League. What I will emphasize is process over results. It’s a small sample size, and shots going in or not does not matter much. Nor do “production” stats like rebounding and assists. What I want to see are Wagler’s skills, like ballhandling, vision, and shot creation, regardless of results. Summer League can be rough on young guards, so some ups and downs can be expected. But Wagler will have the ball in his hands early and often, and I hope he makes at least a bit of magic happen in Vegas.
Baba Miller – The 36th pick in the 2026 Draft, Baba is quite raw despite being an older rookie, as he didn’t pick up playing basketball until high school. Baba’s potential is mostly based on his physical traits, so the main thing I’ll be looking for in Summer League is how much he pops athletically. Summer League is not really high-quality play, but the athleticism is much higher compared to college, so I’m interested to see how much Baba stands out against players who are nearly all going to be professional players in some capacity. If he still looks like an athletic monster that moves faster and more fluidly than other guys his size, that’s most of what I need to see. Anything else is a bonus.
Nick Martinelli – The 55th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Martinelli is an older prospect whose offensive game should be relatively pro-ready. There are two things I will be watching for closely in Summer League. The first is Martinelli’s three-point shot. He was an ok shooter from deep in college, but not an especially high volume or percentage marksman, and that will be probably need to change if he’s going to have a real NBA career. Secondly, I will be curious to see how his defense on the perimeter looks. Summer League does not involve complex schemes and players have very few practice reps, so there’s not much to take away, but I am curious how he looks athletically on that end of the court. If the shot or the defense looks decent, I will feel good about Martinelli.
The Roster Guys
Kobe Sanders – I get why Kobe is playing in Summer League. Even though he was a rotation player for the Clippers most of his rookie season, he is still just a second-year guy, and it’s not like he was a Flagg, Kneuppel, or Edgecombe level rookie. That being said, Kobe was good enough his rookie season and I feel sure enough about his NBA skills that I don’t really care how he performs in Summer League. If he flashes better ballhandling, or a quicker three-point shot release, or more playmaking, that would be great, but if he’s just ok in Summer League I won’t take anything away from him.
Cam Christie – You could very easily make the case that the player for whom a strong performance in Summer League is most critical is Christie. Christie is going into his third season in the NBA, but is still the second-youngest player on the Clippers’ roster behind Wagler. Christie played in more games last year than you might remember (55), but most of those appearances were garbage time exclusives. His contract for next season is non-guaranteed, and originally had a guarantee date in late June, but was pushed until after Summer League. If he has a good Summer League, the Clippers might guarantee his deal, and if not, they could cut him without any loss. As a third-year player with at least some actual NBA reps, Christie should look good in Summer League – I’d like to see him look strong in driving to the hoop and aggressive in getting three-point shots up.
Sean Pedulla – The Clippers signed Pedulla to a two-way deal in mid-February after promoting Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller to full roster spots. Pedulla, a 6’1 point guard, appeared in seven games for the big club the rest of the season, all in garbage time. Pedulla is 23 (turning 24 in October) and was a rookie this past season after playing four college seasons at Virginia Tech and Ole Miss. There’s not much to look at in his NBA appearances, but he was a monster in the G-League, averaging 23.6 points and 6.3 assists on excellent scoring efficiency in 28 games. My guess is he will start next to Wagler to get Wagler prepped for playing big minutes next to Darius Garland, another small point guard. Pedulla is probably not a true NBA rotation player, but if he’s the level of shooter he was in the G-League he could be an interesting depth piece.
Norchad Omier – Omier is a 6’7, 248 pound forward who was signed to a two-way deal late last season and played in six games for the Clippers, all garbage time. A very strong, physical player, Omier averaged 18.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks across 39 G-League games while scoring at a highly effective rate. Omier is almost 25, but he was a very good college player his last two years at Miami and Baylor, and was productive enough in the G-League to keep an eye on for the last two-way spot.
Jamhyl Telfort – Telfort is someone the Clippers clearly like: he was on their Summer League roster last year as an Exhibit 10, went to training camp, and actually got the Clippers’ last two-way spot going into last season. He played eight games for the Clippers before being waived mid-season. A 6’7 wing, Telfort is just a solid all-around player that can shoot a bit, handle a bit, and play some defense. His lack of any one standout trait will probably hold him back from the NBA full-time, but the Clippers have shown enough interest that he’s someone to monitor.
The Rest
Fletcher Loyer – Loyer was a four-year player at Purdue who started all 149 games he played in college, an impressive stat for a basketball powerhouse school like Purdue. Loyer is 6’4, 185 pounds, making him pretty small by NBA off-guard standards. His case for a professional career is simple: he shot around 44% from three across his last two seasons in college while taking over 400 combined in those years. There’s not a ton else there, but the shooting is legit, and if he can just hang on defense he could scratch out an NBA career.
Themus Fulks – Fulks is a 24-year-old point guard who last played at UCF, but spent six years in the college circuit. Fulks is a good example of modern NCAA basketball, in that he played at five different schools in his six collegiate seasons: South Carolina St., JUCO, Louisiana, Milwaukee, and UCF. A 6’1, 185 pound guard, not much about Fulks’ stats stand out, outside of that fact that he led his conference in assists per game two times (2023 at Louisiana, 2025 at Milwaukee). I have never seen him play, but nothing about his profile suggests an NBA player. My guess is he’s here as point guard depth and that’s all.
Riley Kugel – Kugel is another four-year college player who also finished his NCAA career at UCF, but is a bit different than Fulks. Riley was actually a top-recruited high school prospect (around 60 in 2022) who was All-SEC Freshman at Florida in 2023 and considered going into the NBA Draft that year. He probably should have, because his college career tapered off from there, with one more season at Florida followed by one-season stints at Mississippi State and UCF. Kugel is just 22 years old and has some pedigree so I’m curious to see how he looks in Summer League, but nothing really stands out about his college stats. Kugel is a 6’5, 207 pound guard that I’d expect to see come off the bench behind Christie.
Zach Freemantle – Zach signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers last fall but was waived before training camp and preseason. He did stick around the San Diego Clippers, however, and started 30 of the 49 games for the team, including 29 of 35 during the “regular season”. He averaged 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in addition to 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. A 6’9, 227 pound forward, Freemantle took a decent number of threes in the G-League (3.4 per game) but hit them at only a 28.4% rate. Already 26 years old, it feels unlikely Freemantle is an NBA guy, but he might be someone the Clippers like having in the G-League.
