The New Orleans Pelicans closed their Las Vegas schedule Wednesday with an 82-77 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing Summer League at 2-2. Kobe Bufkin sat the finale, and his audition was already complete by then: 21.3 points per game across three appearances, the leading scorer in New Orleans’ backcourt, per NBA.com — all of it on a Summer League contract that expires with the trip home.
Bufkin set the tone in the July 9 opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring a game-high 30 points on 8-of-16 shooting with five three-pointers in a 105-92 loss. New Orleans then beat Charlotte 95-91 and ran wire to wire past Phoenix before Wednesday’s loss ended the stay.
The week matters because of where Bufkin’s career stands. Atlanta drafted him 15th overall in 2023, injuries wrecked his first two professional seasons, and he entered this month without a contract. Vegas was his opening to show the scoring that made him a lottery pick had survived the detour — and for three games it did, with downhill drives, pull-up shooting and steady trips to the line against rosters full of players fighting for the same jobs.
New Orleans holds no rights here. Bufkin can sign with any team, and the Pelicans’ guard depth chart is the crowded kind that makes a camp invite a real decision rather than a courtesy. But the franchise that gave him the stage got the closest look at a 22-year-old who was, for a week, the most reliable bucket on its summer roster. Availability has been the whole problem in Bufkin’s career to date; he just put three healthy, loud games on film.
The sensible outcome is a training-camp deal — in New Orleans or elsewhere — with a two-way conversion as the realistic floor. Front offices rarely let 21-point Vegas scorers with lottery pedigrees reach October unsigned.
For fantasy purposes there is nothing to roster until a contract exists. If Bufkin lands a camp deal, he becomes a deep-dynasty watch-list name — a former lottery pick with fresh evidence he can score against NBA-adjacent competition — but Summer League scoring has never guaranteed regular-season minutes, and his path anywhere runs through making a 15-man roster first.
