Elijah Bryant wasn’t drafted, what’s next for the former Cougar?
By Shaun Gordon
BYU Basketball’s Elijah Bryant wasn’t drafted, but his professional journey has just begun. Here are the major options he has moving forward.
The NBA Draft has come and gone, and former BYU Basketball standout Elijah Bryant didn’t hear his name called.
This didn’t come as much of a surprise. Although he’s worked out with more than 1/3 of the NBA teams, no one expected to see him selected.
Bryant left BYU after graduation, although he still had one more year of eligibility. He left with the sole goal of fulfilling his dream of playing professional basketball.
So now what?
Bryant’s basketball career is far from over, and his NBA hopes aren’t dead either.
Just ask Kyle Collinsworth.
And Brandon Davies.
And the Utah Jazz’s Royce O’Neale.
None of them were drafted. All of them either played or are playing in the NBA, and each of them got there in a different way.
Let’s look at what Bryant can do to continue his career and chase his NBA dreams.
Summer League
With the number of NBA teams that invited Bryant to a tryout, he’s almost certain to find a spot on an NBA Summer League roster.
Kyle Collinsworth played in the 2016 summer league for the Dallas Mavericks. That jump-started his progression through the Mavericks’ system.
Brandon Davies played in the 2013 summer league for the Los Angeles Clippers. He later signed with the Clippers briefly before being waived, but his performance there caught the attention of the Philadelphia 76ers, who signed him.
Royce O’Neale played in two summer leagues. After a season overseas he played for the Golden State Warriors in 2016, then after another season overseas he played for the Jazz in 2017. He impressed the Jazz enough in the summer league that they offered him a contract, and he became a mainstay in the rotation.
For Bryant, the summer league will be a chance for him to catch the eye of an NBA team, either making enough of an impression to earn an NBA contract, or at least sign a deal for the next likely step in his NBA dream – the G-League.