‘He was so impressive, it just feels like he’s very deserving of the spot.’
From Rocky Top to Salt Lake City then Las Vegas, former Tennessee forward Jahmai Mashack’s is steadying his eyes on an NBA contract.
In July he became the NFL’s version of ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ when the Memphis Grizzlies selected Mashack no. 59 overall. The final pick of the Draft.
Near immediately he was on the plane gearing up for the NBA Summer League. A chance to further showcase he’s qualified for a spot on the Grizzlies roster.
“He was advertised as sort of this defensive specialist player who was one of the best on ball defenders in college basketball,” said Drew Hill, a Grizzlies beat reporter for the Daily Memphian. “Like everyone thought. We knew what Jahmai was when it came to his defensive game, so, you know, he lived up to that.”
The same level of focus, preparation, and intensity Mashack had during his career at Tennessee, he brought with him to the Summer League.
Paige Dauer recalled a story from the beginning of the 2024 season when Vols’ assistant coach, Rod Clark revealed a story of just how dedicated Mashack is to his craft.
“A lot of people don’t know this, when we were in Baha Mar, for the tournament, I was coming out of my hotel room and you know how they have those benches right before you get to the elevator, and he’s laying on that bench stomach down watching his phone,” said Clark.
Clark soon discovered Mashack was watching highlights of the player he was about to guard later that day.
“This was completely on his own! No one asked him to do this,” said Clark.
Hill didn’t need a large sample size to pick up on that same intensity.
“I said, ‘This is a really simple, maybe stupid question, how do you avoid a screen,’” Hill asked Mashack. “Like, I’m five years old. How do you avoid a screen? And he went into an explanation that was probably longer than four minutes.
Hill continued,”In that moment, it was so clear like that, this is sort of the way he plays defense. Is that 99% of it is up here (points to his head). And that’s, I think, what really impressed the Grizzlies in the first place.”
Mashack’s relentless approach to being a student of the game quickly became his calling card.
It led to Mashack possessing a quality NBA teams deemed ‘rare’ where his defensive capabilities fit in the system but also allowed him to gamble more on defense and take more risks.
“They believe Jahmai had the rare ability to do both right, to be somebody that can be sound, but also gamble, because he’s able to recover so quickly, because he knows what’s coming, because he studies the game so much. So I think that that’s why the Grizzlies picked him. I know for a fact that’s why the Grizzlies picked him,” said Hill.
Hill later recalled a story he did with Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes, where the Hall of Famer drew connections to another legendary Grizzlies player.
“Rick coached against Tony Allen. He watched Tony Allen play a lot of games, and he said, ‘You know what? You know, Jahmai and Tony Allen, they have one trait in common, and that is, you know, no matter who’s playing against them, the opposing coach is going to look at what they can do on the court and say, ‘I want that guy on my team.'” said Hill.
During Mashack’s appearances in the Summer League he showcased his offensive ability.
An aspect of his game that will surely need continued improvement to secure that NBA contract.
He was 41% from the three-point line. More impressively, 31% of all his shots were three-pointers. Against Atlanta, he maybe had his best game where he poured in 15 points.
Efforts that help strengthen the chance the Grizzlies took on his selection.
“At his introductory press conference,” said Hill. “He said, you know, he’s going to embrace that, he’s going to accept that, he’s going to use it as motivation. And I think he wasn’t on a lot of draft boards, but the Grizzlies saw something in him and took a chance on him.”
Now, the waiting game continues on whether Mashack secures a contract with the Grizzlies.
“I think that the Grizzlies can afford to wait if they wanted to wait a little bit longer, take this into training camp, and then still have more competition for the two-way spot,” said Hill. “But very similar, everything that we saw from Jahmai at Summer League. He was so impressive, it just feels like he’s very deserving of the spot. And I would be surprised at this point if he doesn’t get that two way spot.”
