Point guard prospect Kennedy Chandler put his faith in the Nets this summer. Did they see enough to return the favor?
In his quest for a two-way spot on the Nets’ roster, Kennedy Chandler has already faced strikes one and two. He has just one left.
Landing the final spot would be a home run for Chandler, keeping him in the NBA and giving him a chance to be Brooklyn’s latest reclamation project success story. Missing it would be a bitter pill, despite the money he’s still due to pocket from the Grizzlies, who waived him after his rookie season in April. Because if you ask Chandler, he’ll tell you it’s not about the cash.
It’s about the game, and getting back to his.
“Yeah, that’s the whole point of me playing this summer. I want to play every single game, kill, dominate whoever is in front of me,” Chandler said during his summer league stint with the Nets. “And not just worry about myself, honestly. You just worry about doing what I can do; then the rest will come.
“My agent will do what he do, and I’m going to do what I do. I told him I’m going to do my part, you do your part.”
During his stay in Las Vegas, Chandler was consistent at doing the things he does well; getting in transition and getting downhill with his impressive speed. But it’s the thing the young point guard has been inconsistent with that could keep him from landing Brooklyn’s last open two-way spot, behind rookie Jalen Wilson and Armoni Brooks.
It’s that shaky jumper. With Chandler, it always comes back to the jumper.
Shooting struggles
It’s no coincidence that Brooks and Wilson led the summer league team in 3-point shooting at .476 and .458, respectively. The former’s 20 3-pointers were second-most in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately for Chandler, he’s on the other end of that spectrum. The wrong end.
After struggling through a subpar 2-of-14 performance from 3-point range in Las Vegas — including 1-of-6 in Brooklyn’s summer league semifinal loss — to the Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s still very much an issue.
“Yeah, I think it’s always just confidence in his shot,” said Nets assistant Trevor Hendry, who served as head coach of the summer league squad.
“He took one on the wing (last week) right in front of our bench. I loved it. Keep shooting it. I have the utmost confidence in him to shoot the 3 and make the 3, no matter if it’s in games here, preseason, wherever he goes next. That’s his thing for me, his 3-point shot; because that’s the one thing holding him back.”
It was essentially the one thing that held him back in — and sealed his exit from — Memphis.
Chandler had arrived there as an in-state star. He played at Tennessee as a freshman and had become friends with franchise player Ja Morant going into last year’s NBA Draft, when he was expected to be a first-round selection. Concerns over his lack of size — and even more so his lack of an outside shot — saw him fall into the second round.
Walking in (and out of) Memphis
Technically drafted by San Antonio at No. 38 overall, the Grizzlies gave up a second-rounder and $1 million in cash to acquire Chandler. In a further show of how highly they regarded the guard, Memphis handed him a four-year, $7.1 million contract (the most for any second-rounder last year), three years and $4.9 million of that guaranteed.
It was a hefty investment, one that didn’t pay off.
Chandler had just 36 mostly-ineffective appearances as a rookie, eventually getting released.
He’s still owed $3.7 million by the Grizzlies — $1.7 million this upcoming season another $2.1 million the next. And he still has his elite athleticism, blistering speed and the skywalking 41 ½-inch vertical he flashed at the 2022 NBA Draft Combine.
It’s easy to see why Brooklyn — getting back to their player development roots — would take a flier on Chandler, still just 20-years-old with tons of room to develop.
But after shooting just .133 from 3-point range for Memphis as a rookie and .207 in the G League last year, Chandler was even worse for Brooklyn in summer league, at .143. Generously listed at 6-feet, those sort of shooting woes could make it tough to stick in the NBA, a shooter’s league.
Gambling on Las Vegas
Chandler did a little of everything else in Las Vegas, averaging 14.0 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds (belying his size) and even 2.0 steals.
“[The key was] don’t get sped up,” Chandler said. “As a rookie I didn’t get much minutes; it was more of a learning year for me, learning from Tyus (Jones) and Ja. So I could thank Tyus and Ja for sure just preaching to me — Tyus especially, for sure.
“I sat next to [Jones] on the plane rides after games, on the way to the game. So we talked a lot about basketball, and he was just a good mentor to me, him and Ja. So I told him the other day just from watching them, [I] don’t just watch the game; watch what they do on the court, watch what they see, the reads. I think it was like a learning year for me, and now I get to show that this year.”
Chandler shot .357 overall and finished a solid plus-9; but he needs to prove he can be more accurate.
That task was made harder in Las Vegas because up until the semifinals, teams inexplicably played him up and pressured him.
“I’ve been trying,” Chandler said. “I wanted to prove, I want to show it. [But] if a team, a player keeps pressing me, I’ve got to beat him downhill; so that’s on them if they don’t know the scout.
“Not saying they don’t know the scout, but I’m going to use my advantage, my God-given speed to go downhill and find my teammates open. But when the 3-ball is there, I’m going to take it.”
Chandler took them in summer league; but missing a dozen of the 14 he attempted didn’t help his cause. Still, the point guard insists he’s capable of hitting them; he just has to convince the Nets, or any other team looking at him.
“Maybe my percentage from last year [wasn’t great], but I barely played. It’s probably once every 10 games I shot it, or once every 20 games I shot a 3,” said Chandler. “So I don’t really judge from last year’s percentage how I can shoot. I know I can shoot the ball. But if teams keep pressing, I’m going to keep going downhill.”
But where? And for whom?
Brooklyn or bust
Brooks and Wilson — who looks like a steal with the 51st overall pick and his potential to be a regular part of the rotation as a 3-and-D weapon — are both inked to two-way contracts. Burly forward RaiQuan Gray had the third, but was waived after a poor showing in Las Vegas to open up a spot.
But has Chandler shown enough to get it?
That likely rests on things out of his control, such as who else might be available.
For Chandler, the Nets’ past success with turning D’Angelo Russell into an All-Star and Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris from waived castoffs to well-paid viable starters is a heck of a selling point. But could he follow a similar trajectory by signing directly with G League Long Island rather than with Brooklyn? Or getting an offer elsewhere?
At this point, is there anything else Chandler can show general manager Sean Marks, either positively or negatively? Or does it come down to what else is out there on the market this summer?
“I mean, I’m not sure,” Hendry said. “I think that stuff’s out of our control.”
And for the moment, out of Chandler’s.
