Kennedy Chandler has been a surprising contributor during the Sixers’ preseason
Chandler, who last played in the NBA in 2022-23, totaled 16 points, five assists, and four steals in Friday's home exhibition loss to the Orlando Magic.
Kennedy Chandler spent the bulk of his offseason in Nashville, where he “kept waiting, waiting, waiting” for another NBA shot.
The call finally arrived in late September, with an invitation to join the 76ers’ training camp on an Exhibit 10 contract. Chandler has since become a surprising contributor in three exhibition games — including totaling 16 points, five assists, and four steals in Friday’s 128-98 loss to the Orlando Magic at Xfinity Mobile Arena — as part of the point guard’s long road back to tasting the sport’s highest level.
“When you’re in that position, you’ve got to come to work every day and show something new every single day,” said star teammate Tyrese Maxey of Chandler. “You can’t have days where you’re just, like, coasting, and he hasn’t had any days where he’s coasting.
“Every single day, he’s picking up full-court. Every single day, he’s putting pressure on the rim, scoring, [shooting] floaters [and] jumpers. He’s had a really good camp. A really good preseason. I think that’ll serve him really well.”
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A cynic will say that Chandler has only been on the floor because the Sixers’ deep guard group has suddenly been depleted. VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, Jared McCain, and Kyle Lowry were all out Friday. Maxey only played the first quarter, scoring 17 points in 12 excellent minutes.
But the preseason can offer opportunity to some fringe players. Though Chandler is still far more likely to spend this season with the Delaware Blue Coats — or elsewhere in the G League — coach Nick Nurse said he has been pleased with the guard’s ability to run an offense, burst past defenders, and connect on three-pointers.
“I’ve been impressed with his knowledge of the game,” Nurse said following Thursday’s practice, “and the way he’s picked things up, and the way he’s kind of transferred that to keeping the team fairly organized.”
The 23-year-old Chandler also is leaning into the tidbits he has accumulated throughout his limited NBA experience — including this brief stint in Philly.
When asked about the soft touch on his floater that he flashed Friday, Chandler said he coincidentally learned that from Orlando’s Tyus Jones while they were teammates during the 23-year-old’s rookie season with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022-23.
Former Sixers fan favorite T.J. McConnell, meanwhile, was the 6-foot, 170-pound initial model for how small guards stick in the NBA. More recently, Chandler has been peppering the also-undersized Lowry — who morphed into a six-time All-Star and NBA champion — for advice on how to use his hands and forearms as a defender in the paint, along with how to avoid driving too deep with the ball while playing in the pick-and-roll.
And Chandler has become Maxey’s personal defensive “pest” during these early practices, pressuring the 2023-24 All-Star as he brings the ball up the floor.
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“I’m fast, but it’s Maxey,” Chandler said. “ ... He’s been helping me be better on that end, because I know if I can stay in front of him, I can stay in front of anybody else on the NBA court.
“He’s been a big part of why my energy is like a spark on the bench.”
Chandler, a Memphis native, played one college season at Tennessee before the Grizzlies selected him in the second round of the 2022 NBA draft. He then appeared in 36 games as a rookie, before spending the next two seasons in the G League with the Long Island Nets and Raptors 905. In July, Chandler was a strong performer on the Houston Rockets’ summer league team, thenhe endured the wait to join the Sixers in September.
“You can’t be in a dark place,” Chandler said. “You can’t be just overthinking everything, like, ‘When’s it going to happen?’”
Playing time immediately arrived for Chandler on the Sixers’ two-game trip to Abu Dhabi, because McCain had undergone thumb surgery, Grimes was away from the team because of a lingering contract saga, and Lowry was resting ahead of his 20th NBA season. Chandler amassed 10 points, two assists, and two steals in 21 minutes of the Sixers’ first game against the New York Knicks, then another 15 points and six assists in those teams’ second matchup.
Edgecombe’s addition to Friday’s injury report with hip soreness created another chance for Chandler to play significant minutes against the Magic. Though Chandler’s family could not make the trip to Philly, his agent, financial adviser, and personal trainer were in the crowd. So was his friend Ethan Roberts, who plays for Penn.
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They all relished Chandler receiving another taste of the NBA, as a surprising contributor during the Sixers’ preseason.
“It’s been a hard journey,” Chandler said, “trying to get back to the league and where I want to belong and where I feel like I can be. I’ve just got to continue to take it day-by-day, and that’s what I’ve been doing.
“Just putting in the work in the summertime, and when I got the call, I was ready to go.”