Jake Layman leads Portland Trail Blazers to NBA Summer League title

Former Maryland forward Jake Layman is an NBA Summer League champion.

Layman’s third straight summer suiting up for the Portland Trail Blazers was his most successful individually, and his team followed up a runner-up appearance last season by knocking off the Los Angeles Lakers in a championship game rematch Tuesday night.

Five Blazers averaged double-digit scoring during the seven-game mini-season, but Layman tied Wade Baldwin IV for the team lead with 13.4 points a night, highlighted by a 23-point performance on July 7. He scored 10 points Tuesday, with most of them coming in the first half of what ultimately became a blowout.

Layman was drafted in the second round in 2016, but hasn’t seen much time in either of his first two years. The Blazers guaranteed the third year of his rookie contract, though, so he’ll be on the roster again this fall. If he can keep the momentum from these last few weeks going into the fall, a much larger role could be on the horizon.