Tracking the Latest NBA Summer League 2023 Standings and Team Performances
As I sit here scrolling through the latest NBA Summer League standings, I can't help but reflect on how this year's tournament has completely defied expectations. The Summer League has always been that fascinating space where raw talent meets opportunity, but 2023 has taken this to another level entirely. I've been following these summer sessions for over a decade now, and I've never seen such dramatic shifts in team performances from game to game. The reference to teams not expecting to launch ambitious bids after back-to-back losses particularly resonates with me this year - we're seeing franchises completely reinvent their approaches mid-tournament based on early results.
The Houston Rockets' performance has been nothing short of spectacular, winning their first four games by an average margin of 15.2 points before stumbling in their fifth outing. What's fascinating is how they've managed to turn those early victories into building blocks for their young core, rather than getting complacent. I've been particularly impressed with Jabari Smith Jr., who's averaging 22.4 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 48% from beyond the arc - numbers that would be impressive in the regular season, let alone summer league. The Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other hand, have shown that early setbacks don't necessarily define your tournament. After dropping two consecutive games by narrow margins, they've mounted an impressive three-game winning streak that's pushed them up the standings dramatically.
Portland's summer squad has been the real surprise package for me. I'll admit I didn't have high expectations after they lost their opening two games by double digits, but they've since rattled off four straight wins, including an impressive comeback victory against New Orleans where they erased a 17-point deficit. It reminds me of that reference about teams not expecting to launch ambitious bids after consecutive losses - sometimes the best campaigns emerge from early adversity. The Trail Blazers are shooting 38.7% from three-point range as a team, which is frankly ridiculous for summer league basketball where offensive cohesion is typically harder to establish.
What's stood out to me in tracking these standings day by day is how quickly narratives can change. The Sacramento Kings started strong with three consecutive wins, then hit a wall with two losses where their offense completely stalled, scoring under 80 points in both contests. But here's the thing about summer league - these fluctuations often reveal more about team depth and coaching adaptability than the actual wins and losses. I've found myself paying less attention to the final scores and more to how teams adjust their rotations and offensive sets from game to game.
The Lakers' summer team has been particularly interesting to watch from a developmental perspective. They're sitting at 3-2 currently, but what those numbers don't show is how dramatically their defensive intensity has improved throughout the tournament. In their first two games, they allowed opponents to shoot 47% from the field, but over their last three, that number has dropped to just 41%. As someone who values defensive fundamentals, I've been genuinely impressed with their coaching staff's ability to instill these principles in such a short timeframe.
From my perspective, the most valuable aspect of summer league isn't necessarily the standings themselves, but what they represent in terms of organizational development. The teams that typically perform well aren't always the ones with the most talented rosters, but rather those with the clearest developmental vision. Take the Memphis Grizzlies, for instance - they're currently 2-3, but they've been systematically testing different lineup combinations and offensive schemes that I suspect we'll see elements of during the regular season. Their commitment to using summer league as a genuine laboratory rather than just trying to stack wins has been admirable.
The individual performances have been equally compelling. Orlando's Paolo Banchero has been absolutely dominant, putting up 26.3 points per game while showing improved playmaking with 5.2 assists. But what's caught my eye even more is how certain second-round picks and undrafted players have used this platform to force their way into roster consideration. The Warriors' Lester Quinones, for example, has gone from camp invite to legitimate rotation candidate through his consistent two-way play across all five games.
As we approach the tournament's conclusion, I'm struck by how this year's summer league has mirrored that concept of unexpected success following early disappointment. Multiple teams have demonstrated that initial losses don't have to define your trajectory - it's about how you respond and build throughout the tournament. The standings will ultimately reset when the regular season begins, but the developmental foundations being laid here in Las Vegas could very well shape team fortunes for years to come. From where I sit, that's always been the real value of summer league - not the wins and losses themselves, but the stories they create and the potential they reveal.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
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