Though it’s highly unlikely he’ll be drafted in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft, Tennessee center Kyle Alexander has been getting workouts with different NBA teams over the last month. On Thursday, he received an invitation to work out with another team heading into next week’s draft.
According to Brian Seltzer, a digital content creator for the Philadelphia 76ers, Alexander was one of a handful of players invited to work out with the 76ers as part of their final pre-draft workout group. That session starts today.
76ers announce final pre-draft workout group of the week – session will be tomorrow.
Kyle Alexander (Tennessee)
Daulton Hommes (Point Loma Nazarene)
Mahir Johnson (Goldey-Beacom College)
Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky)
Jordan Poole (Michigan)
Isaiah Roby (Nebraska)#HereTheyCome— brianseltzer (@brianseltzer) June 13, 2019
Philadelphia is in a unique position in the 2019 NBA Draft. While they only have one pick in the first round (No. 24 overall), the 76ers have four picks in the second round. It remains to be seen if Philadelphia will keep all their picks or attempt to trade some away.
Alexander has worked out with the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks over the last month, and it’s likely he’s picked up interest from other teams in that time as well. The 6-foot-11 starting center for the Vols has a lot of developmental upside for teams, and he likely provides a lot of intrigue for teams looking for a player to train and keep an eye on in the G League.
When Tennessee signed Alexander, he was a scrawny 6-foot-9 forward out of Milton, Ontario in Canada who had only played basketball for a couple years. By the time he finished his four years of basketball with the Vols, he was a 6-foot-11 center who finished high up in Tennessee’s record books in both blocks and rebounding.
Alexander was forced into action as a true freshman in Rick Barnes’ first year as head coach because of the Vols’ utter lack of frontcourt depth. Alexander could’ve used a redshirt year, but Tennessee couldn’t afford that luxury. Instead, the Canadian big man appeared in 32 games and made 11 starts, averaging 1.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game.
Alexander’s minutes and production steadily increased over the next couple years, and it culminated in him starting the final 71 games he played as a Vol. In his last season with UT, Alexander averaged 7.3 points and 6.6 rebounds a game while shooting 61.4 percent from the floor in 23.8 minutes a game while starting all 37 games during the season.
The 64 blocks Alexander totaled as a senior are the second-most in a single season in school history, trailing only CJ Black’s 73 rejections he had in the 1997-98 season. Alexander finished his UT career with 185 career blocks, the second-most in a career in program history. He, again, trailed only Black in that category. Black finished with 212 career blocks. Alexander’s 1.37 blocks per game in a career were also second all-time in UT history, trailing Black’s mark of 1.80 swatted shots a game.
Not only that, but Alexander finished fifth all-time in school history in career offensive rebounds (287), and his 2.12 offensive rebounds per game in a career are 10th all-time in Tennessee history.
Alexander’s 135 career games with the Vols places him fourth all-time in most games played at Tennessee. In those 135 contests, Alexander averaged 4.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.37 blocks, and shot 58.5 percent from the floor in 17.8 minutes per game.
