As the final pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, it was never a guarantee that Tennessee basketball’s Jahmai Mashack would make the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster.
However, as a part of the franchise’s Summer League roster, he’s making an extremely strong case. In his appearance on Tuesday, he put together possibly his best game of the event yet.
Despite the Grizzlies falling 96-84 to the Golden State Warriors, he finished with a staggering +/- of +17. This was far and away the best mark on the team.
Helping him reach this point was an effective day on both ends of the court. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 on threes. He also contributed five rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block. In 23 minutes on the floor, he committed just three fouls, but did turn the ball over five times.
When 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 leads to 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 😤 pic.twitter.com/wXfylBcDXd
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) July 16, 2025
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After being selected by Memphis with the No. 59 pick, Mashack was asked about the franchise saying they wanted to take ‘dogs’ in this draft. He’s clearly taking that mentality to heart to start his career.
“It’s something that I’ve always done,” Mashack said. “It’s not something that a coach asked me to do and I decided to buy into that. It’s something that I’ve been doing since I was 12, 13, 14 years old, when I told my dad that I want to become a great basketball player. He sat me down and he told me, it’s not going to be through making the most points or having the flashiest passes or looking at highlights, it’s going to be being the hardest working dog that you can be. I’ve embraced that ever since I was in high school and college and I don’t plan on doing nothing different now. I know what got me here. I know what works as far as winning and I know how to improve my game. And I know being a dog is No. 1 on that list. There’s no reason to change it now. It’s the formula I’ve always worked with and I feel like if I can grow that and mold that to something special, I can end up being a great winner in this league and help Memphis continue to evolve.”
Mashack played four seasons at Tennessee, where he became known as possibly the best defender in the country. As a senior, he was named the Field of 68 National Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts. He also averaged six points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while starting in all 38 contests.
He was a key part of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances, two of the three times the program has ever reached that point. While in Knoxville, UT went 109-36 and he played in the seventh-most games in program history (137). His nine appearances in NCAA Tournament wins are the most of any player at Tennessee, too.
