Emanuel Sharp closed out his first NBA Summer League the way Sacramento would have scripted it, leading the scoring in a win. The Tel Aviv-born guard finished with 16 points, four three-pointers, three assists and three steals in 30 minutes on Friday in Las Vegas as the Kings held off the Charlotte Hornets 92–90 to close their fortnight in Nevada.
Sacramento built the platform early, taking the first quarter 31–19 and stretching the lead to 15. Charlotte clawed the deficit down to five by half-time, then later moved six points clear, in a contest that swung through eight changes of lead before the Kings regained control inside the final four minutes and protected a two-point edge to the buzzer.
For Sharp, the line mattered less for its size than its shape. He shot 5-of-12 from the field and 4-of-9 from distance, made his only free throw, and gave the ball away just once.
His Las Vegas appearances traced a familiar rookie arc in these pages: 23 points on scorching shooting against Brooklyn, then a laboured 4-of-13 evening against Boston. This closing performance sat neatly between the two — efficient without being hot, productive without monopolising the offence.
He had help. Jonathan Mogbo filled the sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks, while Alex Karaban added 14 of his own. Charlotte's resistance ran through Hannes Steinbach, whose 22 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting kept the Hornets within a possession until the end.
The result carried no silverware — both sides were playing in the consolation bracket — and the win took Sacramento to 2–3 for the tournament while Charlotte finished 1–4.
For a second-round pick, though, standings are largely beside the point. Sharp leaves Las Vegas having led the Kings' scoring in the finale, and having attached steals and quiet turnover columns to almost every outing — the unglamorous habits that tend to decide whether a 45th selection earns a role.
The Israeli interest in that progress is direct. Sharp was born and raised in Tel Aviv, the son of Derrick Sharp, the long-serving Maccabi Tel Aviv guard and captain, and represented Israel at junior international level before his college career at Houston. Sacramento's decision to spend the 45th pick of last month's draft on him promised nothing beyond an audition — and on the evidence of the finale, perimeter shooting that travelled, hands that keep producing deflections, decisions that held up late in a tight game, that audition has done enough to continue into training camp.
