The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is one of the biggest events on the calendar for outgoing college players to showcase their abilities to prospective pro teams, and Tyrese Samuel was able to earn a spot where he competed this last weekend.
This event is only for outgoing seniors (you might remember Zyon Pullin competed in it last year–resulting in a three-game suspension to start the season for competing in a non-certified event) so it’s all veteran college players that are polished and ready to start their professional careers. In attendance are front office personnel from the NBA, G League, and an underrated part of the event–the general managers from the best teams in Europe, and they are all looking for players who can be on their roster the upcoming season.
Currently Tyrese Samuel is not projected to be an NBA draft pick, so he is looking to prove himself at events like this to earn a two-way or G League opportunity, and he’ll certainly field offers from some great teams in Europe.
To start the event, measurements and athletic testing took place.
Listed at 6’10” at Florida, Samuel measured at 6’9.25”. More impressively, his wingspan came in at 7’3.5”, one of the longest wingspans of anyone at the event. His positive wingspan gives him the impact of a much taller player, and this is a measurement that will make teams very happy.
When it came to athletic testing, Samuel performed extremely well in the vertical leap portion where he had a 31.5” jump. This put him as one of the best leapers in the event, which is extremely impressive as generally it’s smaller players who have higher vertical leaps. This mix of athleticism and wingspan were extremely positive for Samuel’s pro prospects. He also performed decently in the other categories–the reaction shuttle, lane agility, and ¾ court sprint, putting up some of the better numbers among frontcourt players.
Overall, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament puts out a “combine score,” a cumulative number calculated from all the testing that says which players performed the best relative to their position. Samuel ended up finishing second in the entire event (64 players), so things couldn’t have gone much better.
The second part of the event is live games.
In game one, Samuel had 19 points to lead his team (which consisted of some names such as Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi, Ohio State’s Jamison Battle, and St. John’s Daniss Jenkins, among others) while adding 7 rebounds. He also went 1-1 from three, and showing his shooting range was a clear priority for him after a season at Florida where he never found his shooting touch. While it was a great game overall he did struggle with double teams turning the ball over 5 times and his free throws continued to plague him as he went 2-5.
In game two he was productive again, this time with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. While his overall impact was solid he settled for some tough midrange jumpers that didn’t fall, and defensively he was put into some tough spots.
Lastly, in game three he finished with 12 points and 2 rebounds.
Overall, Samuel was able to show his nose for the basket and his ability to score with length and physicality. The level of competition was extremely high at this event and still he was able to find ways to score consistently and that will be good film for teams evaluating him. On the negative side, he struggled defensively in pick and roll coverage (something he didn’t have to do a lot at Florida while he was playing the power forward spot) and his rebounding was lackluster. While he was able to be dominant on the glass with the Gators due to playing power forward he wasn’t known as a great rebounder at Seton Hall where he played center, and playing center at Portsmouth he was overpowered at times by bigger opponents.
Looking at the week in its entirety this was certainly a positive performance by Samuel. His physical measurements were really good, his athletic testing was excellent, and he was productive in each of the three games he participated in. Additionally, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament gives players opportunities to talk to a lot of general managers and multiple executives came away loving Samuel’s charisma and personality
While he might not be drafted, look for Samuel to sign a Summer League contract soon after the NBA Draft closes where he will then fight for a two-way or G League contract.