NBA Summer League schedules & results: Billy Baron, Javon McCrea, Mitchell Watt, Jordan Heath

By Nick Veronica | @NickVeronica

Four local college products have signed on with teams for the NBA’s summer league. Teams are guaranteed at least four games.

Some games will be shown live on NBA TV while a package for every game can be purchased for $14.99 through NBA Summer League Live.

Schedules for the Big 4 products are listed below and will be updated with stats after each game:

Billy Baron (Canisius) — Chicago Bulls

Games in Las Vegas

Saturday, July 12 vs. Los Angeles Clippers — W 86-70, 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 19:06 off the bench; 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, no turnovers (box score). Also made summer league’s top plays with this shot:

Sunday, July 13 vs. Denver Nuggets — W 103-76, 3 points on 1-of-4 3-pointers, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 foul, no turnovers in 15:45 off the bench (box score).

Tuesday, July 15 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – W 107-73, 8 points on 2-of-6 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, no turnovers in 17:02 off the bench (box score).

Playoffs

First round, Wednesday, July 16: First round bye

Second round, Thursday, July 17: Overall No. 1 seed Bulls vs. 16-Philadelphia 76ers — W 79-68, 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls in 17:07 off the bench (box score).

Quarterfinals, Saturday, July 19: 1-Bulls vs. 8-Sacramento Kings, 8 p.m. – L 80-61, 3 points on 1-of-11 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers in 23:02 off the bench (box score). Season over.

Final stats: 5.6 points per game, .257 field goal percentage, .263 on 3-pointers, 3.4 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game, 2.2 fouls per game, 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Averaged 18.4 minutes off the bench. (Excluding the July 11 game where he was 1-for-11 shooting and 1-for-7 behind the arc, Baron shot .333 from the field and from 3-point range.)

Javon McCrea (UB) — Dallas Mavericks

Games in Las Vegas

Friday, July 11 vs. New York Knicks — L 76-64, 2 points on his only shot in 4:31 of game time (box score).

Saturday, July 12 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves — W 93-85, 3 points on 1-of-3 shooting, 1-2 from the line, 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls in 10:25 off the bench (box score).

Monday, July 14 vs. Toronto Raptors — W 88-57, 7 points on 2-of-5 shooting, 3-4 from the line, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 5 fouls in 16:41 off the bench (box score).

Playoffs

First round, Wednesday, July 16: 10-Mavericks vs. 23-Charlotte Hornets — L 82-81, 2 points on 1-of-2 shooting, 1 steals, 0 rebounds in 7:35 off the bench (box score).

Consolation round, Friday, July 18: Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns — W 88-62, 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, 4 fouls in 18:40 off the bench (box score). Season over.

Final stats: 4.8 points per game, .625 field goal percentage, 1.4 rebounds per game, 0.8 assists per game, 0.6 turnovers per game, 2.8 fouls per game. Averaged 11.6 minutes off the bench.

Mitchell Watt (UB ’12) — Golden State Warriors

Games in Las Vegas

Friday, July 11 vs. Charlotte Hornets — W 70-58, 8 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls in 20:46 off the bench (box score).

Saturday, July 12 vs. Phoenix Suns — W 74-72, 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls in 20:31 off the bench (box score).

Monday, July 14 vs. Los Angeles Lakers — L 89-88, 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 5-8 from the line, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 7 fouls in 22:02 off the bench (box score).

Playoffs

First round, Wednesday, July 16: 11-Warriors vs. 22-Atlanta Hawks — L 68-65, 2 points on 1-of-3 shooting, 3 rebounds, 4 turnovers, 6 fouls in 17:40 off the bench (box score).

Consolation round, Friday, July 18: Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks — L 79-74, 6 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal, 7 fouls in 19:58 off the bench (box score). Season over.

Final stats: 6.0 points per game, .480 field goal percentage, 5.6 rebounds per game, 1.4 blocks per game, 2.4 turnovers per game, 5.2 fouls per game. Averaged 20.2 minutes off the bench.

Jordan Heath (Canisius) — Detroit Pistons

Games in Orlando

Saturday, July 5 vs. Houston Rockets – W 95-89, did not play, coach’s decision

Sunday, July 6 vs. Memphis Grizzlies – W 85-82, did not play, coach’s decision

Tuesday, July 8 vs. Miami Heat – W 80-78, did not play, coach’s decision

Wednesday, July 9 vs. Boston Celtics — L 92-90, did not play, coach’s decision

Friday, July 11 vs. Orlando Magic (5th place game) — L 96-87, 6 points on 3-of-3 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 fouls, 1 block in 16:10 of game time (box score).

[Note: this post originally overlooked Mitchell Watt, who graduated from UB in 2012. It has been corrected.] 

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Billy Baron joins Chicago Bulls summer league; McCrea to Dallas, Heath to Detroit, Watt to Golden State

By Nick Veronica

Former Canisius guard Billy Baron will join the Chicago Bulls for summer league, his agent, BJ Armstrong of Wasserman Media Group, confirmed via email.

The Bulls were the first of 10 teams Baron worked out for ahead of Thursday night’s draft. The others were Atlanta, Utah, Milwaukee, New York, Cleveland, Houston, Washington, San Antonio and Detroit.

[RELATED: Summer league results & schedules for Baron, McCrea, Watt, Heath]

The summer league, held in Las Vegas, will give Baron another shot to impress NBA teams after going undrafted.

The Bulls traded for Creighton stud Doug McDermott and selected New Mexico’s Cameron Bairstow in the draft.

Armstrong also represents Bulls star Derek Rose.

UPDATE: UB’s Javon McCrea will play with the Dallas Mavericks summer league team.

Canisius’ Jordan Heath announced earlier this week he will play summer league with the Detroit Pistons.

Mitchell Watt, who graduated from UB in 2012, will play with the Golden State Warriors.

Billy Baron works out for third NBA team ahead of draft

By Nick Veronica

Screen Shot 2014-06-02 at 4.31.15 PM

Former Canisius guard Billy Baron had this third pre-NBA Draft workout today, this time with the Utah Jazz. He spoke with Utah’s media relations after the workout.

“It would mean everything in the world for me to get drafted,” Baron said. “I’d do anything for whatever program drafts me. I’d do anything for them. … I’m scratching and clawing like so many other guys are.”

“You work your whole life for this,” he added. (Full video here, it won’t embed.)

Baron has already worked out for the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks. He has workouts with the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks later this week, per ESPN.

The NBA Draft is June 26.

Most draft analysts do not expect Baron to be drafted. CBS, for example, does not rank Baron among its top 100 prospects. DraftExpress ranks Baron the 44th-best senior in the draft, but not among its top 100 prospects, which obviously include many underclassmen and international players.

Related: Could Marist coach to Pistons help Baron?