The 2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League is over. The Charlotte Hornets defeated the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night in the final game from Sin City to claim their first Vegas Summer League title. Among the many standouts in the event, two of them -- Nique Clifford from the Kings and Kon Knueppel from the Hornets -- were participants in the title game.

With summer league in the books, we're going to take a look at the biggest winners and losers from Las Vegas.

Winner: Yang Hansen becomes well-known name

One of the biggest stock risers in Las Vegas was Yang. Portland's first-round pick made multiple highlight plays throughout summer league and finished the event averaging 10.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Where Yang really turned heads was with his passing. He is an elite passer for a big man and should be able to provide some of that playmaking to a Portland team looking to make a jump next season.

When this pick was made, I was initially shocked because I thought Yang would be a mid-second-round pick. It was a bold decision. I wrote about on draft night that this pick could age as one of the best or one of the worst picks in draft history. Although summer league is a small sample size, it appears Portland made the right decision. Regardless, Yang looks like a player you stay up late to watch on a random Tuesday night on NBA League Pass. For that, he is a major winner.

Why Blazers' Yang Hansen, aka 'Chinese Jokić,' is already looking like the hidden gem of the 2025 NBA Draft

Colin Ward-Henninger

Loser: Top rookies bow out early

If you went to Las Vegas to watch some of the top picks from last month's draft or hoped to see your favorite rookie play extended games/minutes, this summer league wasn't for you. Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper played in just two games in Las Vegas. VJ Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick, logged just one game. Ace Bailey, who was one of the biggest talking points in the weeks leading up to draft night, didn't play in Las Vegas after playing in two games during the Salt Lake City Summer League.

The good news is, if you were a fan of the Hornets or someone who wanted to watch No. 4 overall pick Kon Knueppel play, it was a good summer league. Knueppel helped Charlotte take home the summer league title and played in five games. It makes sense why some of the top rookies were shut down early because, quite frankly, they didn't have much to prove. It was still a bummer that basketball fans didn't get to see the top rookies log extended summer-league minutes. They will just have to wait until the fall.

Winner: Former Duke stars shine during summer league

CBS Sports released our annual All-Summer League teams earlier this week. Three former Duke players (Flagg, Knueppel and Kyle Filipowski) were all on it. Filipowski was our pick for MVP, while Knueppel landed on first-team after winning MVP honors of the championship game. Flagg landed on the second-team after appearing in just two games in Las Vegas, which included a 31-point outburst in his final game.

All-NBA Summer League picks: Former Duke star is MVP, Cooper Flagg and Reed Sheppard on Second Team

Cameron Salerno

Filipowski finished as the leading scorer (29.3 points per game) and also recorded 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in those three games. Filipowski's performance could prove to be a major development for a Jazz team that looks poised to play the lottery game again next May ahead of a loaded 2026 draft class. After appearing in 72 games (27 starts) as a rookie, it wouldn't be surprising to see those numbers increase next season. Overall, it was a very strong showing for those three former Duke stars.

Loser: Dalton Knecht struggles

One of many second-year players I had my eyes on was Knecht. I thought summer league would be a great opportunity for him to grow and solidify himself as the best second-year player on the Lakers' roster. That wasn't the case. He struggled during his stint in the California Classic -- similar to last year -- but bounced back with a strong fourth-quarter performance in his final game. In Las Vegas, he couldn't build on that momentum, averaging just 10.3 points on 27.9% shooting from the floor.

It was stunning that Knecht fell all the way to pick No. 17 last summer. Many people, including myself, thought Knecht would be a lock to go in the lottery. He was one of the best scorers in college basketball during his lone season at Tennessee and had moments during the first half of last season where he shined. He hasn't been the same player since the botched trade that nearly saw him go to the Hornets in exchange for big man Mark Williams. His performance in summer league doesn't inspire confidence that he's due for a Year 2 jump in a veteran-heavy Lakers rotation.

Winner: Buy all the stock you can in Ron Holland

There might not be a rising sophomore I'm buying stock in more than Holland. Holland's athleticism has never been a question. It's part of the reason why the Pistons selected him with the No. 5 pick last summer. He has an elite motor with the potential to become an impactful two-way player at the NBA level. It's the shooting that has always been a question mark dating back to his time with G League Ignite.

Holland shot just 23.8% from the 3-point line during his rookie year and looked uncomfortable doing so. However, in Las Vegas, his shot showed significant signs of improvement. He shot 46.7% on 15 attempts and averaged 21.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. He looks poised for a major leap heading into Year 2. Buy all the stock you can in him now.

Loser: Derik Queen suffers multi-week injury

The downside of summer league is that players (sometimes) suffer injuries that cut into their rookie campaign. Last year, Denver Nuggets forward DaRon Holmes ll suffered a torn Achilles and missed his rookie season because of it. Although the surgery Pelicans rookie Derik Queen had to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist won't sideline him for a significant amount of time, it's still likely he could miss the start of training camp with a timeline of 12 weeks that puts his return around mid-October.

Derik Queen injury: Pelicans' first-rounder has surgery for torn wrist ligament, to be re-evaluated in October

Cameron Salerno

When Queen did play, he showed flashes of why he was one of the best offensive bigs in college basketball. He's a score-first forward/center capable of putting up big numbers. However, he did struggle with turnovers. Queen turned the ball over seven times in his debut and eight times against the Trail Blazers. While the turnovers themselves aren't entirely concerning, the way they happened at times was. The concerns about what he will be on the defensive end of the floor are also valid. Queen is going to be a very entertaining player to watch at the next level, but there will be some growing pains along the way. It doesn't help that he (likely) could miss some of the preseason, too, if that timeline holds firm.

Winner: Nique Clifford looks like the steal of the first round

The Sacramento Kings might've gotten the steal of the draft at pick No. 24 in Clifford. The Kings entered Day 1 of last month's draft without a first-round pick, but one of the worst-kept secrets in league circles was Sacramento's desire to trade into the draft. Clifford, a projected mid-first-round pick, fell to the end of the first round. Sacramento traded with Oklahoma City to move up to select the versatile guard out of Colorado State.

Clifford did a little bit of everything for Sacramento: Playmaking, rebounding, scoring and played high-level defense. With a team that projects to have multiple score-first guards such as Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine on the roster next year, Clifford can slot into the Kings rotation immediately and play a role.