Warriors vs Clippers Summer League preview: Will we see a healthy and productive Jacob Evans?

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas could potentially influence key roster decisions for the upcoming season (that’s not too catchy, is it?). And that makes it a lot of fun!

After going undefeated in the four-team California Classic this week, the Golden State Warriors are moving on to the big summer item: Las Vegas Summer League. And their first game comes against a team in their own division, the Los Angeles Clippers, tonight at 8:30 p.m. PT.

There’s a lot of excitement that always surrounds the Vegas Summer League, so there’s a lot to look at as it gets underway. Here are some things to watch for tonight.

Jacob Evans - healthy and ready to contribute?

The Warriors are hoping to get big contributions from their first-round draft pick. So far, though, we haven’t had a chance to see him much. Evans sat out of the Summer League opener with a toe injury, and only played six minutes in the finale, due to rib soreness. So for all intents and purposes, we’ve only seen him once.

Evans’ journey to play meaningful minutes as a rookie starts this summer, so it will be fun to see how he looks in Vegas.

Tracking the two-way contracts

After waiving Chris Boucher, the Warriors have a pair of two-way contracts that they can offer. As Quinn Cook proved last year, a two-way contract can have an enormous impact on a team, even a contender.

After the California Classic, the leaders for the two-way spots would appear to be Kendrick Nunn and Marcus Derrickson. So those two are worth keeping an eye on.

A first glance at the new-look Clippers

For a while, the Clippers were a really good team. But Chris Paul left a year ago, then they traded Blake Griffin during the season, and DeAndre Jordan just left a few days ago.

The Clippers are back to being a rebuilding team. Which means the important players on the team will be playing in Summer League. Most noteworthy is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 11th pick in the draft who, in the eyes of many analysts, was the top point guard in the draft.

Also of note is the 13th pick, Jerome Robinson. These players are now the face of the Clippers franchise, and we’re about to see what they’ve got.

A Golden State of Mind programming note

Golden State of Mind is sending a contingency of three to Vegas: Myself, Charlie, and our fearless leader, Nate. In addition to our standard coverage, we’ll bring some in-depth articles, videos, and interviews.

We’ll be uploading a lot of videos on Twitter, so be sure to give us a follow at @unstoppablebaby so that you can catch everything!