After wearing the Idaho jersey in the early years of their career, Victor Sanders and Brayon Blake will wear new jerseys this summer — the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sanders signed with the Nuggets June 27 for the 2018 NBA MGM Resorts Summer League in Las Vegas.
Victor Sanders
“I was ecstatic,” Sanders said in a news release. “My agent called me, like 10:30 in the morning and he asked me, ‘do you want to play Summer League?’ I almost answered with an attitude, like ‘yeah, what are you talking about?’ But I said yeah, and he said ‘well guess what? You got it, you’re playing with the Nuggets.’”
The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is one of three different leagues during the summer — Utah, Las Vegas and Orlando. Each team plays several games before the brackets are set and the teams move into tournament play. Summer League follows the NBA Draft and is an opportunity for young and newly drafted athletes to showcase their talents.
A Summer League contract does not guarantee Sanders a spot on the Denver roster in the fall. First-round draft picks are guaranteed a contract ahead of the summer league and the rest of the athletes have the summer to prove they are worth a permanent spot on the team.
Sanders moves on in his career having left his mark in the Idaho history books. Sanders led the 2017-2018 squad with 19 points per game, totaling 1,804 career points, the second most in school history. In his four years as a Vandal, Sanders notched 272 3-point shots and 4040 free throws, the most free throws by any Vandal.
In his time since Idaho, Sanders has not taken a break from basketball, going through combines and workouts with a number of NBA teams, including the Nuggets.
“They have a great staff, great people,” Sanders said. “Of course, they made me feel like I was at home for the time that I was there. I did my workout, I thought I did pretty well. It was crazy, no words can explain the feeling.”
Sanders traveled to his new team June 24 ahead of competition in Las Vegas, which begins July 6 with the opening match against Minnesota and the next day against the Boston Celtics. Both games will be on NBA TV. Denver’s final game of the opening round is set for 6 p.m. July 9 against the Milwaukee Bucks and will air on ESPNU. Tournament play begins July 11.
“Just do what I’ve been doing. Just play my game, stay true to what I do and don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary. They see me for what I am and what I’ve done, so just show them that.”
Brayon Blake joins Sanders in the Summer League after signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Blake proved to be a valuable fill for the Vandals on both sides of the ball. He led the team and the Big Sky with 9.6 boards and 17 points per game. Throughout his senior season, he recorded 12 double-doubles and put up more then over 20 points in 11 games.
Blake finished his career at Idaho with First Team All-Big Sky Honors as well as NABC All-District 6 Second Team recognition.
The NBA action will begin for Blake July 6 against the Washington Wizards on NBATV. The second game comes the next day at 6:30 p.m. versus the Chicago Bulls and televised on ESPN2. The third and final game before tournament play is July 9 against the Indiana Pacers on ESPN2.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]