Tear City Mix won two consecutive games against the Santa Cruz Warriors in the first two games of the season-opening championship. The team's main players are G League draft pick and former Thunder champion forward Dillon Jones, second-year player Blake Hinson and two-way rookie Jawante Cook. The main rotation inside is the 26-year-old 7-foot center Liam Robbins and the space-based fourth position Andrew Carr who has played in the NCAA for 5 years. Mix also plays with a small lineup most of the time, and these two insiders don't play much time (averaging about 20 minutes per game).
The Valley Suns and South Bay Lakers had back-to-back duels in the first two games of the season-opening championship. In the end, the South Bay Lakers easily won two consecutive victories.
The Valley Suns have almost no inside players. The rotation of the center position is mainly handled by CJ Huntley who is 2.06 meters tall and Samuels who is 2.03 meters tall. The former is a space type and the latter is a short and stocky type. The main outside players are Kobe Brea, the No. 41 pick in 2025 (Summer League three-point shooting percentage: 42.9%), who is extremely capable of shooting, and third-year player Damien Bowe.
The South Bay Lakers have abundant internal reserves and almost crushed the Valley Suns in the first two games. In the 39-point victory in the first game, Drew Timmy, the 2.06-meter-tall post player, scored 34 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. In the second game, he scored 29 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. In addition to Timmy, the South Bay Lakers also have 7-foot center Kyler Kelly and 2022 No. 33 pick Christian Kolok inside. The main outside players are two-way rookie Chris Manon and North Carolina star player RJ Davis.
