The former Duke Basketball steady big man Amile Jefferson has flirted with a double-double all week at the NBA Summer League and he finally grabbed it on Tuesday afternoon.
How Amile Jefferson isn’t a mainstay on an NBA roster yet is beyond me.
He gives 110% on every single play, he can defend multiple positions, he has good lateral movement and footwork, and he can give you some baskets if needed.
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The former Blue Devil did all of that and then some in the Orlando Magic’s third Summer League game on Tuesday afternoon against the Miami Heat.
Jefferson finished the game with team-high 24 points and 15 rebounds in addition to three assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action with no turnovers.
Shooting 11-of-17 from the field, while making both of his free throw attempts and accumulating 11 of his rebounds on the defensive side while the other four offensively, the forward was a force to be reckoned with all afternoon.
This was the second consecutive game Jefferson was in the starting lineup as Magic rising star Mo Bamba played and started in the Magic’s first Summer League Game last Friday.
On Sunday against the Denver Nuggets, Jefferson fell one rebound shy of a double-double and this afternoon, Jefferson fell one rebound shy of a double-double in the first half as the National Champion went into the short intermission with 14 points and nine rebounds.
It didn’t take long for one more rebound to come Jefferson’s way as the always tenacious rebounder found another board less than two minutes into the second half.
As for the game outside of Amile Jefferson, it was a very competitive game that went down the wire, with Miami edging out Orlando 96 – 92.
In the 2018-19 season, Jefferson averaged 18.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in 34 total games with the Orlando Magic’s G-League team, the Lakeland Magic, while only appearing in 12 games with the Orlando Magic this season.
With a 1-2 record in Las Vegas, Amile Jefferson and the Orlando Magic will look to make a final push to solidify a spot for the Summer League Playoffs on Thursday, July 10 at 5:30pm EST against the Brooklyn Nets, who have been playing some of their NBA rotation players, and the game can be seen on ESPNU.