Texas A&M basketball alumni Dexter Dennis and Zhuric Phelps face off in NBA Summer League
The NBA summer league game between the Mavericks and Spurs earlier this afternoon was a contest of interest for sports fans in several respects. First, and most notably, this was a faceoff between the number one and number two overall selections from this previous draft in Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper— one that lived up to the hype with Flagg dropping 31 points on 50% shooting.
For Texas A&M fans, though, there was a subplot of interest. Each team boasted an Aggie alum on their roster in this matchup, and so whenever they hit the floor, they were sure to catch the eye of the Maroon and White faithful.
Dexter Dennis, now on the Spurs, has already been in the league for a year, logging minutes with both NBA and G-League squads. He had a great performance for Dallas last year in a game down in Houston, notching career highs. He was eventually released and had a stopover in Stockton before making his way to San Antonio.
There's some decent guard depth on the Spurs' squad, so Dennis's final home may not actually be down in SA. However, his counterpart on the Mavericks' Summer League team, Zhuric Phelps, could be in a more favorable position.
Phelps has already generated a bit of buzz for his sharp shooting in Summer League practice so far, and on a guard-depleted roster for the Mavs— especially while Kyrie Irving continues to recover from his ACL injury— he could make some noise.
Dallas has already dedicated two two-way spots to guard in Ryan Nembhard and Miles Kelly, but there's still yet one more spot that Phelps could snag. Even if not, if he stays part of the organization on the G-League level, it could mean an inroad in the future.
The doubtless-large section of Aggie fans who also wear Mavs blue would sure love to see that, as well as Dennis find a nice landing spot. Both of these players have NBA skillsets, and it would be awesome to see them find long-term homes.