Though he shared the court with the No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, Canadian rookie Ryan Nembhard turned some heads of his own in his Summer League debut.
The Dallas Mavericks' first-year guard, who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent, made quite the impression in a 87-85 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
Nembhard finished with an efficient team-high 21 points on 8-for-14 from the field and 1-for-2 from deep while grabbing two rebounds and dishing out five assists.
The Aurora, Ont. native showcased some skill from the midrange — much like older brother Andrew — breaking down defender Cole Swider and pulling up from the elbow for his fourth bucket of the first quarter.
Asked about his younger brother's performance in his debut and what Dallas can expect from the first-year guard, Andrew told ESPN's Katie George that the Mavericks got themselves a winner.
"I think they're getting a winner," the Pacers guard said. "A guy that wants to compete, do whatever the team needs, play hard on and off the ball, a guy that can playmake and make others around him better."
He did make it clear, however, that the older brother is still the top dog in the Nembhard family, saying that there's nothing Ryan can do better than him, but that "he's still working on it. He's young."
Ryan disagreed, saying "I'm a little quicker than him, little faster than him," when asked the same question by ESPN, but made it clear that "I take a lot from him."
The younger Nembhard, who is slightly undersized at six feet tall, made up for his height with some gifted playmaking, leading the West Coast Conference in assists with 9.8 in his final year at Gonzaga.
Over his four-year collegiate career, split between the Creighton Blue Jays and Gonzaga Bulldogs, Nembhard averaged 11.7 points, 6.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
Nembhard managed to put up his strong numbers while taking the floor alongside one of the most regarded prospects in recent years in Flagg, who finished with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block in his Summer League debut.
Despite the solid all-around boxscore, the 18-year-old struggled with efficiency, shooting 5-of-21 from the field and 0-of-5 from deep.
“Not up to my standard. I'm gonna regroup and I’ll be alright,” Flagg told ESPN after the game.
However, he did make some noise for his first NBA bucket, hammering down a one-handed slam in transition to help Mavericks fans forget about the loss of Luka Doncic.
"Ryan's incredible," Flagg said about his new teammate. "The way he can pass the ball, score the ball, do it at every level. He defends at a high level at his size. He's gonna have a long career."
On the other side of the court, Bronny James made a solid impression with eight points, two rebounds and two assists, while 2024 first-rounder Dalton Knecht netted 15 points for the Lakers.
Nembhard, Flagg and the Mavericks will get another chance to impress on Saturday as they take on the San Antonio Spurs and second overall pick Dylan Harper.
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