Despite being selected with the final pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, former Tennessee basketball standout Jahmai Mashack will not be on the organization’s training camp roster. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.
According to Jon Roser, the reason is that if he were named to the 21-man roster, the Grizzlies would be forced to waive him to reach the 15-man roster with three two-way players limit. If he were waived, other teams in the league would be able to sign him to either a full or two-way deal.
This shows there is some belief that Mashack could develop into someone who can contribute for Memphis in his career. He’ll likely start on a standard G-League contract, but if a two-way spot does open up, he’d should be a top contender to take it.
In the summer league, Mashack averaged 9.0 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. He wasn’t able to practice with the team until shortly before his summer league debut due to a pending trade. That didn’t stop him from making a strong impact with the team, though.
He was drafted with the final pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Grizzlies. After being selected with pick No. 59, 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.
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“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 6.0 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.
