UConn's Alex Karaban posts breakout performance in NBA Summer League after slow start

Alex Karaban's life as a professional basketball player has started slowly since being drafted in the first round of last month's NBA Draft. 

The former UConn men's basketball great missed all of the California Classic with an ankle sprain and struggled to find his shooting touch as the NBA Summer League tipped off in Las Vegas last week. Karaban snapped out of this slump in a big way Wednesday evening, finishing with a team-high 21 points and five 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds as his Sacramento Kings faced the Boston Celtics.

Touted as a consummate winner in the pre-draft process, Karaban's hot shooting fittingly showed up during crunch time, knocking down three 3-pointers over the final 3:00 - this scoring run trimmed Boston's lead from 12 points down to just two with under a minute left. Karaban's Kings ultimately lost 82-76 against his hometown Celtics, dropping to 1-3 in NBA Summer League play. 

Alex Karaban, the 29th overall pick, led the Kings in scoring tonight at @NBASummerLeague!

21 PTS (team-high)
8 REB
5 3PM (game-high) pic.twitter.com/sPLNUwxOlp

- NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2026

"I've got to let it fly, that's something the coaches have been telling me," Karaban told reporters after Wednesday's game. "It's been an adjustment for me with the pace of the game and the athleticism. It's a different game compared to college. It took me some time to get used to it, but I'm more comfortable with it now."

Karaban made a surprising jump into the NBA Draft's first round last month, initially selected by Cleveland before being dealt to the Kings on draft night. The power forward joined Sacramento's three-man draft class, which includes No. 7 overall pick Darius Acuff Jr. and second-rounder Emanuel Sharp. 

His summer league debut came last Thursday against the Clippers, going 0-6 from the field while committing three turnovers, and Karaban entered Wednesday's game shooting a combined 3-15 and 1-9 from 3-point range. However, with Acuff among several major absences against the Celtics, Karaban thrived in an expanded role to post a breakout performance. 

Karaban and the Kings will next take the floor Friday evening against Charlotte, where he'll face off against former UConn teammate Liam McNeeley. The action will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and can be streamed on Prime Video. 

This article originally published at UConn's Alex Karaban posts breakout performance in NBA Summer League after slow start.