The 2024-25 NBA basketball season kicks off on Oct. 22, and with that, it is the perfect time to do the annual check-up on some former Syracuse alums in the NBA.
Grant is the most established Orange alum currently in the NBA. The forward inked a lucrative 5-year $160 million contract that kicked in starting last season. This contract will make him the 50th highest paid player in the NBA this year.
Grant, 30, is heading into his 12th season, and third with Portland. He averaged 21.0 ppg on 45.1 percent shooting from the field, and an impressive 40.2 percent from 3-point land on 5.1 attempts per game.
Grant is in a tough spot right now, as Portland finished last in the Western Conference last season with a record of 21-61. It was obvious Portland was entering a rebuild phase following the departure of Damian Lillard, and in hindsight, it is pretty confounding why they would sign Grant to such an expensive deal.
The one and only explanation is that they are hoping to sell off his contract to a contending team in return for draft capital and potentially some young players.
Grant will probably have a similar season to last year, get moved at the deadline, and step into a smaller role on a contending team.
Swider went undrafted in the 2022 draft and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He earned a two-way contract with Lakers and averaged 17.1 points and 4.8 rebounds for their G-League affiliate.
He was waived and quickly signed with Miami Heat which is where he spent all of last season, again, under a two-way contract, where he averaged an impressive 24.9 points for Miami’s G-League affiliate.
He was called up to suit up for 18 games last season where he only averaged 4.8 minutes per game.
Swider played for Miami throughout summer league where he averaged 13.5 points along with 49.1% from the field. Following the summer league, however, the Heat pulled their qualifying offer for Swider, and he signed a one-year non-guaranteed deal with Pacers where he is expected to compete for a roster spot.
Swider has had a hard time making the adjustment from the G-league to the NBA, but if given the right opportunity he could be a solid bench shooter for a lower-seeded team.
Mintz is the newest addition to this list.
The former Syracuse guard declared for the NBA Draft, but wasn't selected. This was a little surprising because all year he was projected to fall in the 45-50 slots in the draft.
Nevertheless, he signed an Exhibit 10 deal back in September with Philadelphia, which is a non-guaranteed deal for a season. Right now the 76ers have occupied their three two-way contract slots with players Justin Edwards, Lester Quinones, and Jeff Dowtin Jr.
It is possible his Exhibit-10 can be converted to a two-way, but Mintz will be competing with the three players mentioned earlier, along with Isaiah Mobley, Max Fielder, and Jordan Tucker.
It is likely Mintz will spend the next year in Delaware with 76ers affiliate, the Blue Coats.
Mintz averaged 12.4 games for the 76ers in Las Vegas over summer, on 46.9 percent shooting from the field in 5 games played. He also showed his knack for getting to the line in Summer League, getting to the charity stripe 7.6 times per game.
The main concern for Mintz as he tries to ascend to the next level is his 3-point shooting which was a glaring weak spot in his time at Syracuse.
Historically, however, players who struggled from 3 in college but were great free throw shooters, actually had a lot of overall shooting success in the NBA. Conversely, great 3-point shooters but bad free-throw shooters in college, struggle from three in the NBA.
As of right now, Brissett is an unrestricted free agent.
He has played in 227 games in the NBA, and won a ring last year with the Boston Celtics.
The small forward started his career in Toronto as a two-way player but was waived a quarter of the way through the season. He signed a couple of 10-day contracts with the Pacers before inking a fully guaranteed deal with them and spent three productive seasons in Indiana.
In his one season with Celtics, he was a minor rotational player, appearing in 55 games and averaging 11.5 minutes per game, but not close to what he had in Indiana. Brissett declined his player option and became a free agent; he has yet to be signed.
Son of Syracuse legend Jim Boeheim, Buddy, became somewhat of a social media sensation for his play in the G-League last season. He averaged 17.9 points per game on an impressive clip of 43.1 percent from 3.
Boeheim was on an Exhibit 10 deal most of last year until the Pistons converted his contract to a two-way deal in February.
Boeheim was then traded to the OKC Blue from the Motor City Cruise. Boeheim signed an Exhibit 10 Deal with the Thunder in July, though he struggled in Summer League, averaging just 7.4 points per game on 35.7 percent from 3.
The Thunder have one of their two-way spots unoccupied so Boeheim could convert at any time without the Thunder having to worry about making room for him.
As it stands right now he will spend the start of the season with the OKC Blue.
Boeheim is still young, but the clock is starting to tick for him to become a solidified NBA player, but he still possesses a quick, and accurate, trigger.
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