The rosters for the summer-league versions of the NBA include five players who helped Auburn reach the Final Four of last season’s NCAA tournament and four who helped Alabama advance to the East Regional Final in that event.

Summer-league play for the NBA tips off on Saturday and continues for the following 15 days.

Auburn’s Johni Broome was a second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers on June 25. Alabama’s Mark Sears and Auburn’s Dylan Cardwell and Miles Kelly have signed two-way contracts, which will allow their teams to shuttle them between the NBA roster and their NBA Gatorade League affiliate as needed.

The other players, like most on the summer-league courts, are facing long odds to stick in the NBA.

But not all the summer-league players are trying to break into professional basketball. Some are hoping to return to the NBA.

Former Alabama guard Josh Primo is in the latter group after the former first-round draft pick did not play in the 2024-25 season. The Chicago Bulls have Primo on their roster for the NBA 2K26 Summer League, which plays from July 10-20 in Las Vegas with every NBA team represented.

Tipping off on Saturday are two four-team, three-day circuits. The California Classic Summer League in San Francisco features the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. The Salt Lake City Summer League will include the debut of Broome in a Philadelphia uniform at 8 p.m. CDT Saturday against the Utah Jazz. ESPN will televise the game. Also playing in the Salt Lake City Summer League are the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Players from Alabama high schools and colleges on NBA summer-league rosters include:

• Forward Brooks Barnhizer (Alma Bryant), Oklahoma City Thunder. Barnhizer joined the Thunder from Northwestern in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
• Forward Johni Broome (Auburn), Philadelphia 76ers. Broome joined the 76ers in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
• Forward Kobe Brown (Lee-Huntsville), Los Angeles Clippers. Brown played for the Clippers of the NBA and San Diego Clippers of the NBA G League last season.
• Center Dylan Cardwell (Auburn), Sacramento Kings. Cardwell signed a two-way contract with the Kings as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Aaron Estrada (Alabama), Memphis Grizzlies. Estrada played for the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League last season.
• Center Trey Jemison (Hoover, UAB), Los Angeles Lakers. Jemison played for the New Orleans Pelicans and Lakers of the NBA and South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League last season.
• Guard Chaney Johnson (Thompson, Auburn), Cleveland Cavaliers. Johnson signed with the Cavaliers as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Denver Jones (Buckhorn, Auburn), Cleveland Cavaliers. Jones signed with the Cavaliers as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Miles Kelly (Auburn), Dallas Mavericks. Kelly signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Kira Lewis Jr. (Hazel Green, Alabama), Miami Heat. Lewis played for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League last season.
• Guard TJ Madlock (Alabama State), Detroit Pistons. Madlock signed with the Pistons as a rookie free agent.
• Forward Grant Nelson (Alabama), Brooklyn Nets. Nelson signed with the Nets as a rookie free agent.
• Center Clifford Omoruyi (Alabama), Toronto Raptors. Omoruyi signed with the Raptors as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Josh Primo (Alabama), Chicago Bulls. Primo played for the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA and the Ontario Clippers of the NBA G League during the 2023-24 season.
• Forward Alex Reese (Pelham, Alabama), Philadelphia 76ers. Reese played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and 76ers in the NBA and the Rip City Remix and Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League last season.
• Guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Alabama), Milwaukee Bucks. Sears signed a two-way contract with the Bucks as a rookie free agent.
• Guard Jaden Shackelford (Alabama), Golden State Warriors. Shackelford played for the Valley Suns of the NBA G League last season.
• Forward Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Dallas Mavericks. Williams played for the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League last season. Williams played on Friday for the Winnipeg Sea Bears, as he has in every game for the team in the 2025 Canadian Elite Basketball League season.
• Guard Chris Youngblood (Alabama), Oklahoma City Thunder. Youngblood signed with the Thunder as a rookie free agent.

Primo sustained a stress fracture in the navicular bone of his left ankle in April 2024. The injury required surgery. The Bulls signed Primo for their NBA G League affiliate last offseason, but he never took the court for the Windy City Bulls in the 2024-25 campaign.

After Primo averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 30 games in his only season at Alabama, the Spurs selected the 6-foot-6 18-year-old at No. 12 in the 2021 NBA Draft. As a rookie, Primo averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 50 games, including 16 starts, for San Antonio.

The Spurs stunned the NBA when they waived Primo four games into his second season on Oct. 28, 2022, without providing a reason.

In November 2022, lawsuits were filed against Primo and the Spurs. In announcing the lawsuits, Houston attorney Tony Buzbee alleged Primo had exposed himself to Dr. Hillary Cauthen on multiple occasions when she worked for San Antonio. When Cauthen brought the matter to the attention of the NBA team’s management, she was assured it would be addressed, Buzbee said, but instead she was marginalized and, ultimately, lost her position as a consulting psychologist with the Spurs. Cauthen said because San Antonio’s management failed to address the matter, other women had to endure what she did.

The lawsuits were resolved without going to court about two weeks after they were filed.

On Dec. 8, 2023, the Bexar County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office announced the end of its criminal investigation of Primo and said he would not be charged with indecent exposure due to insufficient evidence.

Primo was out of basketball until signing a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Clippers on Sept. 29, 2023. On the same day that Primo signed with the Clippers, the NBA announced it had suspended the guard for four games.

Primo played in two games for Los Angeles — on Dec. 16 and March 1. He totaled two points and one rebound during 10 minutes on the court. Primo spent most of the 2023-24 season with the Ontario Clippers. In 35 NBA G League games, he averaged 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals.

The Clippers waived Primo on April 13, 2024, after he sustained the ankle injury.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.