Kon Knueppel, Nique Clifford Make All-Summer League Teams

On Tuesday, the NBA released its All-Summer league teams, highlighting 10 players who made the most of their time in Las Vegas.

The list was mostly highlighted by second-years looking to take major jumps, but two rookies stood above the pack, seeing success fresh off the 2025 NBA Draft in June.

Kings’ guard-slash-wing Nique Clifford was likely the top newbie contributor, leading his team to the championship game against the Hornets. Across six games, he scored 15.2 points on 49% shooting, pouring on 6.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in do-it-all fashion.

Clifford’s early success makes sense. At 24, he was one of the older prospects in the ’25 draft, and has more experience than most across a variety of different roles. He played his early collegiate career in a small role at Colorado, before transferring in-state and starring for Colorado State as the lead option.

Still, Clifford’s ceiling may be higher than many previously thought, especially relative to his selection at No. 24. Clifford was flanked by MVP Kyle Filipowski, as well as David Jones-Garcia, Jordan Miller and Terrance Shannon Jr. on the First Team.

The only other rookie to was No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel, who helped lead Charlotte to a Summer League championship win. He scored 21 points in the final game, showing off his high feel across each and every matchup.

A big-bodied wing with a knack for making the right play, Knueppel saw a slow scoring start in his first contest, but quickly righted the ship to look like one of the more polished players in the event.

Knueppel was joined by Ron Holland II, Isaac Jones, Ajay Mitchell and KJ Simpson on the Second Team.

While Clifford and Knueppel have seen early success, the rest of the league’s rookies will have plenty of time to sharpen their skills this offseason ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.