Does winning NBA Summer League indicate regular-season success?

CHARLOTTE (CAROLINA SPORTS LIVE) — As cool as it is that the Charlotte Hornets, who have won the least amount of games in the NBA over the last three seasons, won the NBA 2K26 Summer League, can it really predict how well a team will play in the upcoming regular season?

The short answer is no. There is no way to predict the future. We can’t tell how players or teams will perform, if players get injured, and how that could impact a team’s performance. However, recent trends could suggest otherwise.

The first Las Vegas summer league was in 2004, but it only had six teams. In 2013, it had its first championship game, and 2018 was the first year all 30 NBA teams participated.

Since the first championship game in 2013 (won by the Golden State Warriors), five of the 11 summer league winners made the playoffs that following season, with 5 being the average seed.

If a sub-50% chance isn’t optimistic enough, just take the last two seasons. The Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were summer league champions in 2024 and 2023, respectively, each went on to make the playoffs. Neither of them won their first-round playoff series, but that shouldn’t matter for the Hornets, who haven’t been to the playoffs in 10 years.

As far as individual success, that’s harder to gauge. The majority of summer league rosters are made up of players who won’t see significant NBA minutes in the upcoming season. The Hornets, however, are not like most teams.

Tidjane Salaun and KJ Simpson, both entering their second NBA season, were on the championship-winning summer league roster. Both were rookies a season ago and played substantial minutes. In the 2025 draft, the Hornets selected Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sion James, all of whom were on the summer league roster as well.

That’s already six players who will be at least somewhat involved in the Hornets’ 2025 rotation barring injury. That’s not including Jaylen Sims, who’s the G-League’s Greensboro Swarm’s all-time leading scorer. If he has a good training camp, he could easily work his way onto the active roster at the start of the season.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the NBA announced that both Simpson and Knueppel earned All-Summer League Second Team honors. Knueppel averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds on 34.3% from three-point range. His 21-point, five-rebound and two-assist performance in the championship game against Sacramento earned him the game’s MVP award. Simpson averaged 16 points, 5.5 rebounds and a team-high 5.7 assists.

Whatever happens this season, one thing is for certain: the Charlotte Hornets went 6-0 to win the NBA 2K26 Summer League and no one can take that away from them.

Next up for the Hornets will be training camp, which is expected to start at the end of September.