NBA Summer League Recap: Malaki Branham Shines, E.J. Liddell Returns to Action And Brice Sensabaugh Sits Out With Injury

By Griffin Strom on July 19, 2023 at 8:35 am
Malaki Branham
Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
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The Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship win over the Houston Rockets marked the end of NBA Summer League play on Monday.

Get your ticker tape ready and start the celebration (if you haven’t already), Cavs fans!

In all seriousness, the NBA’s annual offseason summer slate provided opportunities for a slew of former Buckeyes – whether well-established with a franchise or in pursuit of a roster spot in 2023-24 – to prove their merit and show improvement in front of league personnel.

Ohio State’s most recent NBA draftee, Brice Sensabaugh, was held out of Summer League play with injury, but several other Buckeyes exhibited their skill set in multiple cities over the past several weeks. Justice Sueing made his Summer League debut after going undrafted in June, E.J. Liddell returned from a yearlong injury layoff and Malaki Branham continued to look like a future star for San Antonio.

We recap the recent exploits of all the aforementioned scarlet and gray hoopers below, including a look at two OSU transfers who are fighting for more chances at the NBA level this offseason.

Malaki Branham – San Antonio Spurs

In his second year of Summer League action, the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft was consistently stellar for the San Antonio Spurs.

Branham appeared in four of the Spurs’ five games, in which the franchise went 3-2, and averaged 21 points in 29.2 minutes of action per contest. Branham hit 40.3% of his field goals and 48.1% of his 3-point attempts and added an average of 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists to his Summer League stat line.

The former Buckeye guard dropped a team-high 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting in a 10-point win over the Los Angeles Lakers on July 5 in Sacramento, California, which marked Branham’s first Summer League appearance of the year.

While generational NBA prospect and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama was the main attraction of San Antonio’s Summer League run, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game in two contests, Branham was even more productive as a scorer. Following a rookie campaign in which he put up 10.2 points per game on 44% shooting in 2022-23, Branham showed he’s ready to take a step up ahead of his second season in the NBA.

E.J. Liddell – New Orleans Pelicans

Liddell returned to the setting in which he suffered a season-ending ACL tear just weeks after being drafted in 2022, but his second Summer League stint was far more successful.

Nearly a year to the day that his rookie season came to an abrupt end, Liddell made his long-awaited return to the hardwood on July 7, scoring nine points in 20 minutes during a New Orleans Pelicans loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Las Vegas. Liddell recorded even better numbers in his three subsequent Summer League appearances and finished a four-game stretch with an average of 12.8 points on 55.2% shooting and three rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game. The Pelicans went 3-2 in Summer League competition and Liddell started in all four of the games in which he played.

Even before Liddell got back on the court, the Pelicans gave him a vote of confidence in the form of a new three-year, $6.2 million deal on July 6. Liddell previously signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans last October of which the financial details were not disclosed.

Now healthy and gaining steam after a rock-solid Summer League showing, Liddell will try to carve out a legitimate role for himself on the New Orleans roster as he takes a second crack at his rookie season.

Justice Sueing – Oklahoma City Thunder

The longtime Buckeye and six-year college basketball veteran wasn’t selected in the 2023 NBA draft, but he got a chance to show off his skills in front of league executives in Summer League play nonetheless.

Sueing came off the bench in two contests for the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring five points per game on 55.6% shooting and pulling down an average of four boards a night for OKC. During the pre-draft process, Sueing said he prioritized improving his 3-point stroke, but the Hawaii native didn’t hit a shot from beyond the arc in Summer League play.

Sueing’s brief Summer League stint may not be enough to earn him a spot on an NBA roster once the regular season begins, but he should have plenty of options for a professional future in basketball either way.

“Matching up with some of these players, these good players that are going through this process as well, I can see myself just really succeeding at this level and definitely being at the professional level,” Sueing said after a pre-draft workout in June. “I just put two feet in and I'm giving it my all.”

Brice Sensabaugh – Utah Jazz

After being selected 28th overall in the NBA draft by the Utah Jazz last month, Sensabaugh still had some wounds to lick at the start of the Summer League slate.

Sensabaugh suffered a knee injury in the Big Ten Tournament that caused him to miss the final two years of his freshman season at Ohio State, and despite returning from a subsequent surgery that allowed him to participate in some pre-draft workouts, Sensabuagh sat out of Utah’s Summer League run.

The former Buckeye’s injury situation was considered day-to-day as Summer League play began, and perhaps the Jazz medical staff erred on the side of caution with the organization’s first-round selection.

“I’ve obviously worked on it for the past three months, but I’m feeling good. I’m just kind of taking it day by day right now,” Sensabaugh said after being drafted. “I’m not looking too far into the future. But you know, I’m ready for anything. So, you know, whatever the medical (team) has for me, I’m willing to do.”

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Micah Potter – Utah Jazz

Sensabaugh didn’t have a chance to suit up for the Jazz, but another former Buckeye made the most of his opportunities with the franchise in Summer League play.

Potter, who has appeared in a combined 10 games for Utah and Detroit over the past two seasons while mostly playing in the G League, averaged 11.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game across eight contests in Summer League action. The Jazz played three Summer League games in Salt Lake City before a five-game run in Las Vegas with the rest of the league.

Potter signed a two-way contract with the Jazz last October and averaged 15 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for Utah’s G League affiliate team, the Salt Lake City Stars, in 17 appearances in 2022-23.

DJ Carton – Minnesota Timberwolves

Carton’s Ohio State tenure was fleeting, to say the least, but we’ll check in on his Summer League exploits nonetheless.

After averaging 16.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 24 G League games with the Iowa Wolves in 2022-23, Carton appeared in five Summer League tilts with the Minnesota Timberwolves. There, the athletic guard averaged nine points and 6.8 assists, knocking down 45.5% of his field goals in 25.8 minutes of action per game.

Carton has yet to appear in an official NBA game after going undrafted in 2021.

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