NBA Summer League has come and gone for the rookie class. And, man, did they put on a show.The 2026 NBA Draft class built significant enthusiasm throughout the last year, and it did not disappoint as fans got to see these players in NBA jerseys for the first time. All of the top-four prospects played absurdly well, and many selected beyond that top group also impressed.Let’s break down how I look at summer league, and then we’ll talk about the rookies.How I evaluate summer leagueThere are two important things to note from how I watch these games. First, is this performance an outlier in some sort of good or bad way? All the top four players looked like outliers. A few of the lower-drafted players also looked like outliers. Otherwise, I tend not to worry about summer league one way or another.I also really do not care about what we see from these players on defense in any way, shape, or form. These exhibitions are not indicative of NBA games on that end of the court. They’re useful evaluations because they show what players look like against better talent in NBA spacing, but they also feature absolutely zero defensive cohesion and a situation in which seemingly every possession ends up in some type of recovery. There’s far too much chaos to get anything resembling a real read of what a player will look like defensively.Finally, I don’t think anyone should get wildly excited about summer league stats. Again, these games are really loose. Last year, the leading scorers were Kyle Filipowski, Drew Timme and Quenton Jackson. The year before, they were Julian Strawther, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jordan Miller. The last time an All-Star finished in the top five of summer league scoring was in 2021 with Tyrese Maxey, and he’s the only player to finish in the top five of summer league scoring to become an All-Star since 2018.Given that AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson all finished in the top six of summer league scoring this year, I’m guessing that will change. But it’s not worth overreacting to these stats.In 2018, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not look like a future MVP on his way to averaging 19 points while shooting 46 percent from the field, 25 percent from 3 and 64 percent from the line. People questioned Cade Cunningham’s performances in 2021 when he averaged 2.3 assists versus four turnovers. Well, he finished second in the NBA in assists per game this year. Chet Holmgren only averaged 12 points per game, and Jalen Williams only averaged 10.5 points in 2022 summer league. Three years later, they were the second- and third-best players on an NBA title team. The examples go on and on.Now, let’s evaluate the rookies …AJ Dybantsa | Washington Wizards | No. 1Dybantsa was as advertised in his two games in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-9 wing lived in the lane as a downhill driver no matter who the Utah Jazz or Sacramento Kings put on him. The Wizards played him extensively on the ball, a role he doesn’t figure to play often this year while featuring in lineups next to Trae Young, and he consistently broke down the defense. He got out on the break in transition with regularity and with force. When he played off the ball and felt his man sag off him, he consistently caught and stampeded downhill immediately. But also in his on-ball reps, I thought Dybantsa showed solid poise and patience in letting plays develop around him before exploding to score at the rim. Dybantsa dropped 50 total points in his two games.Watch This: AJ Dybantsa with the strong Summer League slam in his debutDybantsa still must learn from skill and craftiness. At this summer-league level and in college, he could just stride out and draw fouls at will with his gathers and footwork around the rim. He drew 14 free-throw attempts, which is ridiculous in a setting where G League rules were in effect with players shooting one free throw for two points. He won’t get bailed out as easily in the NBA and will need to find answers as a shooter. The jumper was not working in Las Vegas, as he shot just 1 of 11 from 3. His percentages won’t be that bad in the NBA, but he’ll need to take the next two years to lock in and hone his jumper. The mechanics were messy this week.Still, I don’t know that any player looked more like what we expected than Dybantsa did. He looked like he has star wing upside. He drew fouls. And he looked like the dynamic athlete we’ve come to expect.Darryn Peterson | Utah Jazz | No. 2Peterson played four games between the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, looking every bit as advertised as Dybantsa did. Peterson drilled 3s with ease, hitting 38.5 percent of his nearly seven attempts from distance per game. He played on the ball a lot, showcasing dynamic athleticism to separate from his man when getting to pull-up jumpers on his way to averaging 25 points per game. He hit tough jumpers from all over the court and looks ready to step into a significant role for the Jazz.But I thought Peterson displayed some of the struggles that we saw at Kansas when it comes to getting all the way to the rim. The Jazz played him on the ball a ton, and Peterson was excellent at playing in ball screens and getting to his spot for a jumper. He also showcased passing acumen, dishing out 5.5 assists per game, including a killer performance in a showcase game against Cameron Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies where he found his teammates for 12 helpers. But it felt like he often settled for floaters in the 6-foot range instead of getting to the bucket. He drew fouls at a high clip in Las Vegas to mitigate that issue, averaging eight free-throw attempts in those two games. But given that this was at least a concern at Kansas, it’s something to watch moving forward.Much like Dybantsa above him, though, Peterson displayed everything you’d look for in a potential superstar on this level of competition. The shotmaking ability was out of control, and he had some positive moments on defense as well.