Halperin leads Sonics in assists in NBA summer league finale

Yotam Halperin led the Seattle Supersonics with seven assists in their 91-87 loss to the Dallas Mavericks' squad.

By JOSEPH DLEO GIOSUÈ ROBBINS
basketball 88 (photo credit: )
basketball 88
(photo credit: )
Yotam Halperin finished his NBA debut with a strong showing Friday in the final game of the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 53rd overall pick in this year's NBA draft led the Seattle Supersonics with seven assists in their 91-87 loss to the Dallas Mavericks' squad. The output tied his summer-league high and it was the second time the guard recorded seven assists in a game. Halperin bounced back after playing just three minutes, and resting the majority of the game, during Seattle's close 88-86 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. Overall, Halperin's first NBA voyage was as rocky statistically as the league he played in, as he averaged 4.5 points, 3.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds, one-third of a steal and 1.7 turnovers in 19.5 minutes of play. However, Halperin did show the Seattle SuperSonics that he can produce, as his almost 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio showed he can be relied upon in the role of floor general. Overall, the 2006 Rocky Mountain Revue should be viewed by the Sonics as a positive experience for Halperin. Still, expect Seattle to opt for the young Israeli to spend one more year with Maccabi Tel Aviv before joining their squad, much like what the Houston Rockets are having Lior Eliyahu, the 44th overall pick in this year's NBA draft, do.