John Tonje proves why he belongs in the NBA with a stellar Summer League performance

After a disappointing Day 1 of NBA Summer League for Wisconsin Badger fans that saw both Nick Boyd and Steven Crowl receive coach's DNPs, Badger fans got a breath of fresh air, as John Tonje reminded the world exactly who he is. Despite showing some flashes in his rookie year, the former All-American was left unsigned heading into Summer League, forcing him to run it back with the Boston Celtics in hopes of proving himself once more.

Things got off to a slow start for Tonje, as he was held scoreless in the first half. Most of his impact in the first half came on the defensive side of the ball, doing a nice job of playing physical when guarding the ball and doing his part in slowing down the Toronto Raptors' guards.

However, seemingly the moment the second half kicked off, Tonje turned it up a notch. Maybe all he needed was to flip baskets or possibly use the bathroom at halftime. Whatever it was, he came out ready to play down the stretch. After being scoreless in the first half, Tonje rattled off five threes in the second en route to a 20-point performance, capped off by a game-sealing steal and slam.

Tonje was dominant on both ends of the floor, playing with confidence on offense and taking whatever the defense gave him. On the other side of the floor, he was arguably just as impactful, constantly speeding up opposing ball handlers and forcing multiple key turnovers. Along with that, Tonje was turning defense into offense, knocking down a couple of spot-up threes while trailing the break.

What the Future Holds

In short, it was a stellar outing for Tonje and a second half to remember. As for what it means for his future in the league, that's relatively unknown. What is known, however, is that this performance undoubtedly won't hurt him.

Most of the questions surrounding him as a prospect were based on his ability to impact the game without the ball in his hands. In this matchup versus the Raptors, Tonje showed he can do just that, giving truly elite minutes on both sides of the floor en route to an overtime victory.

Now, the next step for him is to build off this performance and prove it's sustainable. No NBA team will give a guy a contract purely based on one performance. Rather, they take into account the entire sample size of what they see and make an educated judgment based on that.

In Tonje's case, he has years of tape that work against him in many ways, and he is looking to use his time here this week to rewrite that. It's a tall task to ask anyone to replicate the kind of performance he had today, but if Tonje can even give 85% of what he did today over the rest of Summer League, he is a surefire bet to find himself on an NBA roster come fall.

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