BYU product Keba Keita posted a contract-winning performance at the NBA Summer League

AJ Dybantsa was the main draw for BYU basketball fans at the NBA Summer League circuit, but you knew that.

Richie Saunders is out, still nursing an ACL injury that kept him off the floor for his new team, Memphis. Egor Demin has been transcendent, no doubt, but this is his second trip to the Summer League -- no disrespect toward the sequel to Luka Doncic, but we've seen Egor on an NBA court already. The only other former Cougar taking the court in the summer is Keba Keita, and he's hiding on Indiana's bench.

Or at least he was hiding on the bench until he erupted in a rout against New Orleans.

In this outing, the 6'9" center entered the game to score 14 points (6-for-7 field goal efficiency), haul in 7 rebounds, a pair of steals, and three rejections.

All this in 16 minutes of floor time.

Keita entered the NBA Draft process following a down senior season in Provo. He ran with other longshot NBA hopefuls in the G-League Combine. He's undersized for his position and has little shooting, passing, or dribbling ability. Despite what head coach Kevin Young said about NBA scouts' excitement surrounding the former Coug, Keba Keita never came off the board through 60 draft picks, and approached this opportunity with the Indiana Pacers with cautious optimism -- a strong Summer League performance can lift a player beyond pre-draft expectations and win a professional contract, but out-of-nowhere summer success stories rarely stick at the highest level.

But performances like this can put a player on the map.

I don't expect Keita to sign a two-way contract before the start of the NBA season, primarily due to his obvious inabilities and undersized frame. At the NBA level, there simply isn't precedent for a player his size or shorter to thrive at the center position unless they are an exceptional passer or shooter -- Keita is neither, despite his alien athleticism and superhuman strength.

Keba Keita's size will block him from the NBA ranks

There have been players Keta's size that have carved out a place in the NBA, but those exceptions were often the beneficiaries of a different era, styles of play, or positional versatility.

Ben Wallace, one of the best defenders of all time, likewise stood at 6'9" with little offensive ability or a wide skill set. But he thrived in the early 2000s, where three-point shooting didn't space the floor, the paint was often clogged, and switchability was a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.

Keita's lack of a jump shot and inability to make free throws could make him a liability on the court. He could be a highly switchable defender, however, with athleticism and length to bother players of any size.

Draymond Green (6'6") and PJ Tucker (6'5") have played plenty of minutes at the center position throughout their careers, thriving in small ball packages that lived to space the floor and rush opposing defenses down the court. Both of these players are offensively versatile, however, and Keita is ineffective outside the paint.

We live in an age where size must be combined with versatility -- athletes are more skilled today than ever before. And while Keba Keita has many tantalizing abilities, his limitations will likely keep him from breaking onto the scene.

Keita could have been a revolutionary prospect two decades ago, but it's a different time today. Perhaps stat lines like his most recent outing could sway an NBA franchise with a two-way opening.

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