Where are former Syracuse basketball, CNY players in NBA summer leagues?

Syracuse, N.Y. ― The NBA’s 2024 Summer League in Las Vegas will open this Friday, but summer league action has already started in California and begins today in Salt Lake City.

And there are Syracuse connections in each of the three sites for NBA summer league action.

While the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is the largest of the three summer leagues and, thus, gets most of the attention, but the games in California and Salt Lake City are just as important to the players involved as they look to earn either a contract with an NBA team or an invite to a team’s training camp or maybe a chance to play professionally overseas.

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The California League began on Saturday with teams playing in San Francisco and Sacramento. Former Syracuse player Cole Swider is playing for the Miami Heat in the California League.

On Monday, two more former Syracuse players will begin play in Salt Lake City. Buddy Boeheim, who is now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, will go up against Judah Mintz, who is an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers. That game will tip off at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN.

Here is a rundown of each former Syracuse University player participating in the NBA’s summer leagues plus another player from the Syracuse area.

Cole Swider

As mentioned above, Swider is playing with the Miami Heat, one of the few teams taking part in the California League. Swider has played well in summer league action in each of the last two years and he’s off to a great start this summer.

Swider, who played at Syracuse in the 2021-22 season after transferring from Villanova, is averaging 19.0 points in two games with the Heat. He scored 17 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday and then came back with 21 points in a 102-86 win over Sacramento on Sunday. Swider is 9-for-16 from 3-point range in the two games.

Swider has been on two-way contracts with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Heat in the last two seasons. He’s hoping to land a spot on Miami’s roster this year.

Buddy Boeheim

Boeheim has spent the last two years in the Detroit Pistons’ organization, but he’s with the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer. He recently signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Oklahoma City after Detroit decided to waive the second year of its two-way deal with Boeheim.

Boeheim has played well at the G-League level. He averaged 17.1 points per game this past season for Detroit’s G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, and made 43% of his 3-pointers.

Oklahoma City’s first game in Utah is Monday. The Thunder will face the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. Former Syracuse guard Judah Mintz is on Philadelphia’s summer league roster. The game will be televised on ESPN.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma City plays Utah at 9 p.m. on ESPN2. On Wednesday, the Thunder plays Memphis at 7 p.m. on NBA-TV.

Oklahoma City then switches to the Las Vegas Summer League, opening up play there on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors. Toronto’s roster includes former SU players Joe Girard and Quincy Guerrier. That game starts at 8:30 p.m. and will be on NBA-TV.

Judah Mintz

Mintz left Syracuse after his sophomore year to enter the NBA’s 2024 draft. He went undrafted and is with Philadelphia as a rookie free agent.

As noted above, the 76ers are taking part in the Salt Lake City summer league and their first game is Monday night against Oklahoma City. The game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

On Tuesday, the 76ers will play Memphis at 7 p.m. on ESPN and Wednesday, the Sixers play Utah at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

When Philadelphia moves onto Las Vegas, its first game will be on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Detroit. The game will be on ESPN2.

Jesse Edwards

Edwards spent this past season at West Virginia after playing four years at Syracuse. The 7-foot center signed a two-way deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves after he wasn’t selected in this year’s NBA draft.

Minnesota is only sending a team to the Las Vegas Summer League. The Timberwolves will face New Orleans on Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be on ESPN2.

Joe Girard and Quincy Guerrier

Girard and Guerrier, who both began their college careers at Syracuse and finished them at other schools, are reuinited on the Toronto Raptors’ summer league roster.

Girard played four years at SU before transferring to Clemson. Guerrier left SU after two years transferring to Oregon and then again to Illinois.

In their first game in Vegas, Girard and Guerrier will go up against former Syracuse teammate Buddy Boeheim as Toronto plays Oklahoma City on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The game will be on NBA-TV.

Charles Pride

Pride, a former standout at Liverpool High School, signed a summer league deal with the Charlotte Hornets as an undrafted free agent out of St. Bonaventure. Pride spent last season in Olean after playing at Bryant in his first four years of college ball.

Charlotte is one of the teams in the California summer league. He didn’t play in Charlotte’s win over San Antonio on Saturday, but he played four minutes but didn’t score in a 93-62 win over a team from China on Sunday.

Charlotte’s next game is on Tuesday against Sacramento. The game starts at 10 p.m. and will televised on NBA-TV.

When action moves to Las Vegas, Charlotte’s first game is on Saturday against New York. The game starts at 5 p.m. and will be on ESPN2.

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