Jake Layman’s Portland Trail Blazers are in the NBA Summer League Final

The NBA Las Vegas Summer League playoffs started Wednesday, and at the end of the weekend, only the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers remain. Portland wouldn’t be here without former Maryland standout Jake Layman.

In the Blazers’ four playoff games, Layman has averaged 16.5 points and five rebounds. He posted 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Portland’s tournament-opening win against Toronto, then led all scorers with 23 points in the quarterfinals against San Antonio. In Sunday’s semifinal against Memphis, he notched nine points and five boards.

Layman, who’s entering his second season in the NBA, has had plenty of help from journeyman Jarnell Stokes and rookie Caleb Swanigan. Stokes had 15 rebounds against Chicago and 17 against Memphis, while Swanigan is averaging a double-double for the summer.

Both Portland and Los Angeles have reached the final after going 1-2 in the first weekend. The Lakers made it here thanks largely to Lonzo Ball, who’s famously been switching shoes every game but continues to dominate; he has both a 36-point outburst and a triple-double in the playoffs. Layman will most likely be matched up with either Kyle Kuzma, who’s also having a breakout summer, or Iowa State’s Matt Thomas.

Monday’s final tips off at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

In other news

Four-star wide receiver Daniel George, who was one of Maryland’s top targets left on the board, committed to Penn State on Sunday night.

Fred Funk, the pride of Maryland golf, finished sixth at the Senior Players near Baltimore.

It was a busy weekend for Profiles in Terpage. We’ve focused in on seven defensive linemen in the last three days, with more on the way.

In basketball news, four-star small forward Jamarko Pickett has been released from his Ole Miss NLI. He’s from DMV, and Maryland makes plenty of sense.