One day after his four-year, $9.3 million contract became official, Trevon Brazile gave the Denver Nuggets the best possible follow-up: 32 points in a 106-103 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Pavilion in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. It was the third-highest single-game total of this Summer League, and it moved Denver to 2-1 in Vegas.
Brazile shot 11-of-19 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds, carrying an offense that built a 31-22 lead through the first 10 minutes and spent the rest of the night protecting it. Bryce Hopkins added 14 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes, Erik Stevenson posted 12 points, seven boards and four assists, and Osayi Osifo delivered 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench — his second productive cameo of the week after his 5-for-5 outing against Minnesota.
Oklahoma City nearly stole it late. The Thunder poured in 32 fourth-quarter points and trailed by one with 22 seconds left, but after a Hopkins bucket pushed the lead to three, Payton Sandfort and Bennett Stirtz both missed from deep on the final possession. Six Thunder players scored in double figures: Stirtz led with 22 points and six assists, Sandfort scored 19 off the bench, Josh Dix had 14, Aday Mara put up 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Brooks Barnhizer recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double. The balance didn’t matter — Oklahoma City fell to 0-3 in Las Vegas, still searching for its first summer win.
For Denver, the timing is the story. The Nuggets guaranteed the first two years of Brazile’s deal on Monday, a modest commitment to a No. 35 pick. A 32-point night against a Thunder group loaded with 2026 draft picks is exactly the return the front office wanted to see before training camp, when Brazile will compete for frontcourt minutes on a roster that has real questions behind its stars.
Both teams return to the floor Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center — Oklahoma City faces Dallas at 4 p.m. ET, and Denver meets Portland at 10 p.m. ET.
On the fantasy side, Brazile is a deep-dynasty stash rather than a redraft target: his roster spot in Denver is now secure, but a summer scoring binge doesn’t clear the path to rotation minutes in a veteran frontcourt. Stirtz is the Thunder name worth monitoring in dynasty formats — 22 points and six assists is his second 20-point game in three outings, and Oklahoma City’s guard depth chart will eventually make room for shot creation like that.
