A handful of former Tennessee basketball players are set for a shot at the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
First up is Jaden Springer, a former one-and-done guard from the 2020-2021 Tennessee basketball team. While starting the season with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2021, Springer was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team deal at the trade deadline in early February.
Springer has played 17 games for the East’s top team since the trade, with an average of 2.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per contest. Springer is averaging just under eight minutes per game with the Celtics heading into the playoffs.
Before two specific injuries, the Eastern Conference’s play-in bracket was certainly the best time to watch former Vols in action. The Miami Heat are set for the play-in tournament as the No. 8 seed but are without former Tennessee guard Josh Richardson after shoulder surgery put him on the shelf a month ago. Richardson had been averaging 9.9 points and 2.4 assists in 43 regular season games before his injury.
The Miami Heat will take on former Vol Tobias Harris and the 7-seed Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. Harris, a longtime veteran in the NBA, is averaging a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game while also adding in an average of 17.2 points each game.
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The other Eastern Conference play-in game will feature the Chicago Bulls. Rookie forward Julian Phillips competed with Tennessee during his one season in Knoxville from 2022-2023 and has found an increased role with the Bulls in the back half of the season. Phillips is only averaging 2.2 points and 0.9 rebounds per game this season but has logged an average of 3.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 13 minutes per game during March.
Phillips, though, is also out indefinitely with an injury. Phillips sprained his foot in mid-March and did not play in Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks.
VFL Admiral Schofield signed a two-way contract with the Orlando Magic before the season and has seen action in 23 games this season. While Schofield doesn’t play a lot of minutes (3.7 MPG) for the Magic, the four-year NBA player is a standout piece in Orlando’s locker room. Schofield and the Magic are the 5-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
And that’s it for all of the former Vols in the NBA playoffs this year. If you want to watch a VFL, go ahead and make yourself familiar with the Eastern Conference. Former Vol Grant Williams looked to have a path to the playoffs with the Dallas Mavericks but was traded to the Charlotte Hornets at the trade deadline. The only other Tennessee player in the NBA is Keon Johnson with Brooklyn (two-way contract), who averaged 6.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in five games with the Nets.
NBA Playoffs
No. 8 Miami Heat (Josh Richardson) at No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers (Tobias Harris)
No. 10 Atlanta Hawks at No. 9 Chicago Bulls (Julian Phillips)
No. 1 Boston Celtics (Jaden Springer) vs Play-In No. 2 (76ers/Heat)
No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs No. 5 Orlando Magic (Admiral Schofield)
