After making his professional debut on Monday, Jahmai Mashack was right back in action with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, as well.
In his Summer League opener to begin the week, the former Tennessee basketball standout showed a lot of the reasons he was drafted. He played lockdown defense, was extremely aggressive and racked up nine assists with just one turnover.
In the recent game two, he showed an aspect that could be the reason he not only cracks Memphis’ regular season NBA roster, but sticks around the NBA for a long, long time.
Mashack knocked down three triples in the game. This tops his high of two made 3-pointers in a single game throughout his four years with the Vols. He set that mark eight times in his college career, including in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 win over UCLA this past season.
In the Grizzlies’ Summer League loss to the 76ers on Tuesday, Mashack got the start and played 24 minutes. His trio of threes helped him reach 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from range. He also contributed one rebound, one assist, three steals, one block and just one turnover. After fouling out with 10 fouls in his first game, he was whistled only three times.
The Rook is 3/3 from distance 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XG60dL4ozs
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) July 9, 2025
More From RTI: This Isn’t the Start That Dalton Knecht Was Looking For
If Mashack can carve out a role as a 3-and-D role player, he’ll be the exact type of player NBA teams love to add in attempts to make deep playoff pushes. We all know he can play defense as well as anyone in the game, regardless of level, but if he can continue to get these shots to fall, it could make all the difference.
For now, he’ll have four more scheduled Summer League games and at least one more yet to be determined to play in with the Grizzlies. As the No. 59 selection by Memphis in the 2025 NBA Draft, there’s a clear hope from Memphis that he could be a contributor in some form.
A common path for late second-round selections is a two-way deal that would see him split time between both the NBA and G-League. However, his exact role is yet to be determined.
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.
