Syracuse in the NBA: Brissett returns; Edwards makes debut

March to early April is a rough patch of the season for the NBA. It gets overshadowed by the National College Tournament and marks the home stretch for the professional regular season. At this point in the season, players are either resting for the playoffs or resting to protect themselves from injury. With their season’s performance all but set in stone, let’s check-in on some Syracuse alum for a final time before the conclusion of the regular season.

Jerami Grant is about to finish what is already his 11th season in the NBA. This has been a brutal year for the veteran forward, one in which he saw a drastic decline in production along with a bunch of tedious injuries that have kept him sidelined for small stretches throughout the season.

He is currently dealing with right-knee tendonitis which has kept him sidelined for eight games, last playing on March 9. Ever since Grant signed the 5-year $160 million contract back in the summer of 2023, neither the Blazers nor Grant have gotten the return they wanted to see.

This just being the second year of that five-year deal makes it all the more concerning, considering the fact that these are supposed to be Grant’s peak years as he is about to get on the wrong side of 30.

In just 47 games for the Blazers this year, Grant 14.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 37.3% from the field. The points show a decrease of about 33% from the prior year.

Part of this decrease can be attributed to his decrease in usage% which fell from 25.7 to 19.5. A year-to-year trend analysis of his shot selection shows that he has become a very one-dimensional player, undergoing a drastic change in shot selection from last season.

Last season he was a versatile scorer willing to shoot from anywhere on the court, to heavily favoring the left side of the lane elbow jumpers and right wing/corner 3s. It may almost be time to feel concern for his career, aside from on-the-court changes, he hasn’t been fully healthy since he inked the new contract.

The first-year of his deal he only played 54 games, this season he has played just 47 and that may be all depending on his progression with the knee tendonitis.

Jesse Edwards made his NBA debut on March 2nd in a blowout against Phoenix, in which he played just 2 minutes and posted no stats. He played in the following game, again in garbage time, and again, posting no stats aside from a lone assist.

All year, Edwards has been playing for the Timberwolves G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves. He played in just 15 games for the Wolves, averaging 24.5 minutes per game. He has posted 10.5 points per game while grabbing 7.9 boards and blocking 2.1 shots per contest.

Edwards bolsters an impressive 61.6% true shooting percentage.

Overall, Edwards presents as a very useful back-up center for a G-League, and it remains to be seen if he can make the leap up to the NBA. The value he can provide is being a very mobile inside force, which may prove beneficial to some teams.

As the G-League season has progressed, Judah Mintz has started to shine bright for the 76ers G-League affiliate, Delaware Blue Coats.

After a slow start to the regular season, the rookie guard has come into his own and is making a case for rookie of the year, right beside Bronny James. On the season Mintz is averaging 21.2 points, 5.5 assists, and nearly 2 steals per game in 24 games.

All while having a true shooting that breaches 60%, sitting at 61.2%. Two advanced stats that have been very intriguing have been his pace and usg%. His pace is 101.9 and his usage% is at 24.0. These stats are very telling and say that he was able to be an effective player in a faster game setting and he is reliable, having a usage of 24 is very impressive for a rookie and shows that his team and the coaches have trust in him.

That reliability is quantifiable by just looking at his stats.

Mintz had the most impressive game of his career back in early February in a road game against the Long Island Nets. In which he posted a career high of 45 points while shooting 14/18 from the field and going 10/12 from the line.

Later on in the month he posted another 40-point game. This time again on the road at the Westchester Knicks. Mintz has shown a very keen ability to attack the rim at this level and has been getting to the line frequently which were both strengths of his at Syracuse.

Still, the one hole in his game is the three-point shooting which he needs to work on if he wants to jump to a standard NBA deal. It will be interesting to see if he gets elevated at any point this late in the season, considering the Sixers are so injury ridden.

Cole Swider started off the season with the Detroit Pistons G-League affiliate, Motor City Cruise. Just five games into the season, however, he was moved to the Los Angeles Lakers affiliate, South Bay Lakers.

In 13 games for the Lakers, Swider has gotten 36.2 minutes per game and scored 21.2 points and grabbed 6.2 boards in those 36 minutes. He shoots a large 9.2 3s per game, and connects on just over 44% of those attempts.

He has an otherworldly 68.8% true shooting percentage, and has a usage of 18.7%. Swider has only played in two NBA games this season, both back in November for the Detroit Pistons.

As the 25-year old Swider continues to wait in wings for an NBA spot, he is making good use of his time in the G-League, continuing to showcase his beyond-the-arc abilities.

Since the last check-in, Oshae Brissett spent a handful of weeks with the Brooklyn Nets G-League affiliate, Long Island Nets. Brissett was then picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers, signing an Exhibit-10 contract with them on March 14.

His 10-day contract expired on the 24th and the Sixers did not renew, electing to sign Marcus Bagely off the Delaware Blue Coats.

Brissett’s time in Philly was fairly productive and he was given a lot of run since the Sixers have been dealing with an absurd amount of injuries.

In the six games Brissett played he averaged 23.7 minutes while averaging 8.7 points and grabbing almost 4 rebounds a night.

Some individual night highlights include an overtime loss to Houston in which he played 43 minutes and scored 11 points, and a win against Dallas in which he scored 13 points.

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