Nine former Tigers open play in the NBA Summer League
Nine former LSU basketball standouts, including recent Houston Rockets first-round draft choice Tari Eason, open NBA Summer League play this weekend.
The summer league starts with two games each Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco, followed by eight games Tuesday through Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Thursday is the opening day of the 60-game Las Vegas Summer League (plus 15 playoff games) that runs for 11 days and ends July 17.
Eason and Darius Days, two of LSU’s starters who led the Tigers to the 2022 NCAA tourney, face each other on July 11 when the Rockets (Eason) plays the Spurs (Days) at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Here are the ex-Tigers participating:
Tari Eason, F (Houston Rockets)
Pro experience: Rookie, 1st round pick No. 17 overall
LSU experience: Transferred to LSU this past season after playing as freshman at Cincinnati a year ago. As a sophomore for the Tigers, he was voted All-SEC first team and was named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 16.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.1 blocks, 1.9 steals and 24.4 minutes.
Darius Days, F (San Antonio Spurs)
Pro experience: Rookie, undrafted free agent
LSU experience: Was an All-SEC team honoree last season as a senior, averaging 13.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 29.7 minutes. Finished his career with 1,305 points (28th in school history), 830 rebounds and 125 steals (10th). Is one of just 10 LSU players to have 1,300 points and 800 rebounds in a career. Played in 89 LSU victories, the most of any player in the last 25 years of Tigers’ basketball.
Shareef O’Neal, F (Los Angeles Lakers)
Pro experience: Rookie, undrafted free agent
LSU experience: Transferred from UCLA after his freshman redshirt season in 2019-20. Spent most of his two years at LSU from 2020-22 injured, playing in just 24 games while averaging 2.8 points, 3 rebounds and 11.5 minutes.
Trendon Watford, F (Portland Trail Blazers)
Pro experience: 1 year, undrafted in 2021 NBA draft, signed a two-way contract with Portland last August which was converted into a standard deal last Feb. 21. Averaged 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 18.1 minutes in 48 games with 10 starts for Portland.
LSU experience: All-SEC first-team selection as a sophomore in 2020-21 and All-SEC Freshman in 2019-20. Averaged 16.3 points (6th in SEC) and 7.4 rebounds (5th) as a sophomore.
Josh Gray, G (Portland Trail Blazers)
Pro experience: 6 years, undrafted in 2016 NBA draft. Played in 7 NBA career games (5 with Phoenix in 2017-18, 2 with New Orleans in 2019-20) with career averages 4.9 points, 2 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 15.6 minutes. Has played with three NBA G-League teams and was the G-League’s leading scorer in 2020 averaging 22.5 points.
LSU experience: Transferred to LSU in 2014-15 and averaged 6.3 points, 2.8 assists and 20.1 minutes playing in 63 career games with 29 starts in two seasons.
Ja’Vonte Smart, G (Miami Heat)
Pro experience: 1 year, undrafted in 2021 NBA draft, signed a free agent contract with the Miami Heat and was waived after averaging 5 points and 10 minutes in 4 games. He then signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks and averaged 2.4 points in 12.3 minutes in 13 games before being waived last Jan. 13. A month later, Smart re-signed a two-way contract with the Heat and averaged 21.1 points (16th in the league), 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 steals for the Heat’s G-League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
LSU experience: Played in 93 games, started 76 for the Tigers from 2018-21. Was 11th all-time in assists at 321, 12th 3-pointers (157), 23rd in steals (112) and 31st in scoring (1,184) career points. Was 7th LSU player in history with 1,200 career points, 300 assists and 111 steals. Named All-SEC second team in 2020-21 when he averaged 16 points and led the SEC in playing time (35.33 minutes) and 3-point percentage (40.3).
Tremont Waters, PG (Memphis Grizzlies)
Pro experience: 3 seasons, drafted in 2019 by the Boston Celtics No. 51 overall in second round, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics, averaged 3.8 points, 2.1 assists and 9.6 minutes in 37 games (with four starts) in two seasons with Celtics while being named G-League Rookie of the Year in 2019-20 averaging 18 points for the Maine Red Claws. Signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks last September, was waived prior to the season, returned to the G-League where he averaged 17.2 points in 13 games for the Wisconsin Herd, signed 10-day contracts with the Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards and waived both times, returned to the Wisconsin Herd and averaged 15.4 points before being traded to the South Bay Lakers where he averaged 10 points in 15 games. He then joined the Puerto Rican pro team Gigantes de Carolina and averaged 17.8 points and 8 assists in 32 games.
LSU experience: Voted All-SEC first-team in his second and final season as a sophomore in 2018-19 and was also SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year for the Tigers’ SEC regular season title team that advanced to the NCAA tourney Sweet 16. Averaged 15.3 points (8th in the SEC) and led the league in assists (5.8) and steals (2.9).
Cam Thomas, G (Brooklyn Nets)
Pro experience: 1 season, the No. 27 pick overall in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft. Was named 2021 Las Vegas Summer League MVP after averaging a league-leading 27 points. Played in 67 games as a rookie last season starting twice, averaged 8.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.6 minutes. Scored 20 or more points 10 times including a career-high 30 vs. Utah
LSU career: Played one year, led all NCAA Division 1 freshmen and the SEC in scoring averaging 23 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 33.9 minutes a game. Averaged 28.5 points in his two NCAA Tournament games (27 vs. St. Bonaventure, 30 vs. Michigan). Had 22 20-point games, the most 20-point games of any LSU player since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992. Had the fourth-highest scoring average for a first-year player on the LSU team topped only by Pete Maravich as a sophomore in 1967-68 (43.8), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as a freshman in 1988-89 (30.2) and Bob Pettit as a sophomore in 1951-52 (25.5).
Duop Reath, C (Phoenix Suns)
Pro experience: 4 years, undrafted in 2018 NBA Draft, played three years pro in Serbia, played last season for Illawara Hawks in Australia and averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds. Was member of 2020 Australian Olympic team.
LSU career: Played two seasons (2016-18) after transferring from Lee College in Baytown, Texas. Averaged 12.3 points in his Tigers’ career in which he started in 58 of the 64 games he played. Had 10 career double doubles.
Here’s when and how to watch the former Tigers (All times Central) in summer league action
San Francisco
July 2 (Saturday)
Lakers (Shareef O’Neal) vs. Heat (Ja’Vonte Smart), 4 p.m., ESPN2
July 3 (Sunday)
Heat (Smart) vs. Sacramento Kings, 4 p.m., NBA-TV
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Golden State Warriors, 6:30 p.m., NBA-TV
July 5 (Tuesday)
Heat (Smart) vs. Warriors, 2 p.m., NBA-TV
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Kings, 4:30 p.m, NBA-TV
Salt Lake City
July 5 (Tuesday)
Grizzlies (Tremont Waters) vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 6 p.m., ESPN2
July 6 (Wednesday)
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 6 p.m., ESPN2
July 7 (Thursday)
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Utah Jazz, 7 p.m., NBA-TV
Las Vegas
July 7 (Thursday)
Rockers (Tari Eason) vs. Orlando Magic, 9 p.m., ESPN
Trail Blazers (Trendon Watford, Josh Gray) vs. Detroit Pistons, 11 p.m. ESPN
July 8 (Friday)
Spurs (Darius Days) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 4 p.m., NBA-TV
Nets (Cam Thomas) vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 6 p.m., NBA-TV
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Phoenix Suns (Duop Reath), 9 p.m., ESPN2
July 9 (Saturday)
Heat (Smart) vs. Boston Celtics, 4:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Rockets (Eason) vs. Thunder, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Los Angeles Clippers, 8:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Trail Blazers (Watford, Gray) vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 9 p.m., ESPN2
July 10 (Sunday)
Nets (Thomas) vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 2:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Suns (Reath) vs. Washington Wizards, 4:30, NBA-TV
Spurs (Days) vs. Warriors, 6:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Charlotte Hornets, 8:30 p.m., NBA-TV
July 11 (Monday)
Rockets (Eason) vs. Spurs (Days), 6 p.m., ESPN
Trail Blazers (Watford, Gray) vs. New York Knicks, 10 p.m., ESPN2
July 12 (Tuesday)
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Nets (Thomas), 5 p.m., ESPNU
Heat (Smart) vs. Atlanta Hawks, 6 p.m., NBA-TV
Suns (Reath) vs. Dallas Mavericks, 9:30 p.m., ESPN
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Clippers, 10 p.m., NBA-TV
July 13 (Wednesday)
Heat (Smart) vs. 76ers, 8 p.m., ESPNU
July 14 (Thursday)
Spurs (Days) vs. Hawks, 2 p.m., ESPN2
Grizzlies (Waters) vs. Celtics, 2:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Trail Blazers (Watford, Gray) vs. Rockets (Eason), 8:30 p.m., NBA-TV
Nets (Thomas) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 9 p.m.. ESPN
July 15 (Friday)
Suns (Reath) vs. Sacramento Kings, 7 p.m., NBA-TV
Heat (Smart) vs. Toronto Raptors, 9 p.m., NBA-TV
Lakers (O’Neal) vs. Pelicans, 10 p.m., ESPN2
July 16 (Saturday) and July 17 (Sunday)
Playoffs