We continue our series of grading the roster players for the NBA 2K26 Las Vegas Summer League Champion Charlotte Hornets. We looked at Kon Knueppel’s mostly good performance yesterday. Today is about the Hornets’ other first round pick, Liam McNeeley.
McNeeley only got to play in two games because he was bothered by achilles tendinopathy. If you followed the NBA playoffs, you definitely understand why the team would be overly cautious with achilles tendon discomfort at this time of year. Still, we got to see more than enough of McNeeley to get the people excited.
In his first game, McNeeley came off the bench to deliver one of the best performances you’ll see from a one and done rookie making his summer league debut. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. He predictably didn’t sustain that in game two but still turned in a respectable line of 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. He made over 40% of his threes, but he brought a lot more to the table than that.
It felt like we got the Liam McNeeley that UConn was supposed to get. The Montverde Academy product was a 5 star prospect and top 10 recruit coming out of high school, but he didn’t deliver on those expectations in his one season at UConn. He was burdened by injuries and poor shooting, and that caused him to fall into the draft. Two summer league games suggest that the fall may have been unwarranted. The three ball fell and McNeeley brought an energy and aggressiveness that I don’t think casual fans knew was in his game. He was mic’d up for the first game, and that showcased his swagger and exuberance on the floor.
It goes without saying that McNeeley exceeded expectations in his short time playing the summer league. He was a surprise pick given the amount of similarities between he and Knueppel’s game, but it turns out that might be a good thing. I have no nits to pick with the way his summer league went, and I think anyone would be hard pressed to find anything to complain about. He seemed like a deep rotation piece for next season. Two summer league games make it look like he needs a spot in the rotation right away.
Final Grade: A+
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