His slide ends in the early second round.
After a draft night slide, Kennedy Chandler has finally come off of the board in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. The San Antonio Spurs picked Chandler with the 38th pick of the night.
Chandler was projected by just about everyone to go in the first round, but concerns about his size ended up keeping him out of the top 30 picks.
The Memphis Grizzlies quickly acquired Chandler via trade, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
Memphis is acquiring Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler in a trade with San Antonio at No. 38 for a future second-round pick and cash, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2022
Coming in as a five-star prospect, Chandler was immediately handed the keys to the car by head coach Rick Barnes. It was an up and down start, but eventually Chandler hit his stride. The Memphis native averaged 13.9 points per game in his one season as a Volunteer, doing his best work down the stretch.
Chandler scored in double digits in his final 11 games, helping to push Tennessee to an SEC Tournament title. He caught fire from three-point range during that span, pushing his season average to 38 percent from deep. Chandler averaged nearly five assists per game, while adding 3.2 rebounds.
The biggest knock on Chandler is his size, checking in at 6-1. That’s not exactly ideal for today’s NBA, but Chandler is ready to overcome it.
“My whole life people have criticized that about me,” Chandler told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.com. “I made it at every single level, and I’m going to do the same in the NBA.
“You don’t see many 6-foot guards in the draft or in the league, I’ll be the next guard that proves everybody wrong.”
Chandler now ultimately lands with his hometown team, backing up his close friend Ja Morant. Memphis is set to lose Tyus Jones to free agency, so Chandler could find some early time in the rotation filling his shoes.
Kennedy obviously wanted to go in the first round tonight, but you can’t draw up this landing spot any better.
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