A slew of former Tennessee players made their 2023 NBA Summer League debut over the weekend across the western portion of the United States. All in all, eight former Vols were rostered prior to the start of the summer tournament.
With the Philadelphia 76ers playing in the Salt Lake City Summer League location, former Tennessee one-and-done guard Jaden Springer had the opportunity to play in three games before any other former Vol could suit up.
Springer got better with each game that he competed in over the Monday-Wednesday-Thursday-Saturday stretch last week. The rising third-year NBA player found more minutes than the last game in all four of his appearances so far and had more points than the last game in three. Springer is averaging 17.25 points per game and 28.75 minutes per game.
July 3
- Memphis def. Philadelphia 94-92
- Jaden Springer: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 26 minutes
July 5
- Philadelphia def. Utah 104-94
- Jaden Springer: 18 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 27 minutes
July 6
- Oklahoma City def. Philadelphia 100-91
- Jaden Springer: 17 minutes, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 30 minutes
July 8
- Philadelphia def. New York 110-101
- Jaden Springer: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 32 minutes
More from RTI: Eight Former Tennessee Players Set For NBA Summer League Action Across Seven Teams
With the start of the weekend came the start of competition in the Las Vegas tournament location, which holds the most teams from the association. Julian Phillips, Keon Johnson, Kennedy Chandler, Yves Pons, Jordan Bowden, and Kyle Alexander all made their 2023 debut at some point across the weekend. Uros Plavsic has been rostered by the Hawks but has not seen the court in Atlanta’s first two games.
If Jaden Springer had not have had a dominant week leading up to the tournament’s first big weekend, Kennedy Chandler would have been the big talking point on Monday from a Tennessee perspective. After left searching for a team following a cut from Memphis late in his rookie season, Chandler began to chart a new course with the Brooklyn Nets, which is already paying off.
In just two summer league games so far, Chandler is averaging 13.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 27 minutes on the court.
Tennessee’s lone draftee from the 2023 NBA Draft, Julian Phillips, did not play in the Bulls’ opening game but did find 24 minutes of action in their second contest. Possibly a little timid to shoot the ball in his first outing, Phillips only had two total shot attempts from the floor during the contest on Saturday night. Fortunately for Phillips, though, NBA superstar and teammate DeMar DeRozan is here to help.
From the Atlanta perspective, the only NBA summer league team to house two Volunteers, Yves Pons did see a total of 16 minutes of action during the Hawks’ opener on Friday night. Pons and Plavsic would both go on not to play due to coach’s decision during the second game on Sunday.
Former Vol and Knoxville native Jordan Bowden struggled to find his shot during the Clippers’ opening game on Saturday but did see 17 minutes of action on the hardwood. Bowden went 0-5 from the floor with four of those attempts coming from behind the three-point line. The former G-League player did add in a pair of rebounds and assists, though.
And, lastly, Kyle Alexander is an interesting player to watch with Washington. The former Tennessee big man upped his stats and minutes from game one to game two and was quite productive in the Wizards’ second game.
Here’s a look at the stats from the former Tennessee players participating in the 2023 NBA Summer League over the starting weekend:
July 7 (Friday)
- Chicago def. Toronto 83-74
- Julian Phillips: DNP
- Houston def. Portland 100-99
- Keon Johnson: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 minute
- Cleveland def. Brooklyn 101-97
- Kennedy Chandler: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 29 minutes
- Sacramento def. Atlanta 80-76
- Yves Pons: 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 16 minutes
- Uros Plavsic: DNP
July 8 (Saturday)
- Philadelphia def. New York 110-101
- Jaden Springer: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 32 minutes
- Memphis def. Chicago 87-80
- Julian Phillips: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 24 minutes
- Utah def. Los Angeles Clippers 105-99
- Jordan Bowden: 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 17 minutes
- Indiana def. Washington 91-83
- Kyle Alexander: 2 points, 4 rebounds, 9 minutes
July 9 (Sunday)
- Brooklyn def. New York 98-80
- Kennedy Chandler: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 25 minutes
- Portland def. San Antonio
- Keon Johnson: DNP
- Washington def. Boston 103-98
- Kyle Alexander: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 17 minutes
- Atlanta def. Denver 98-93
- Yves Pons: DNP
- Uros Plavsic: DNP
