Center excited to see former Auburn teammates in NBA 2K26 Summer League
Former Auburn center Dylan Cardwell will make his first appearance in a Sacramento Kings uniform on Thursday night in an NBA 2K26 Summer League game against the Orlando Magic in Las Vegas.
“I’m just excited to play in general,” Cardwell said on Wednesday. “The pre-draft process, for me, was grueling because every day was a different team. And so now I have my own team. I’m on a team again. I’m just really excited about being on the team. And so I don’t care who we’re playing. We can play the Harlem Globetrotters for all I care. I’m just happy to be on the Sacramento Kings.”
Cardwell did not get drafted, but he’s a step ahead of most of the players on the rosters of the 30 NBA teams gathered for 11 days of summer-league competition. Those players are hoping to get an invitation to training camp.
The Kings signed Cardwell to a two-way contract, which will allow him to play for Sacramento’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, and be on call for the NBA team if needed.
Cardwell said signing with Sacramento was an easy choice.
“They believed in me,” Cardwell said. “They’re the only team to offer me a two-way out of, I guess, undrafted free agency. And it showed me they had a deep belief in me. And I don’t really care where I’m at. I just want to go where I’m appreciated and where they see a future for me. And so I feel like, you know, (Kings general manager) Scott Perry, (assistant general manager) B.J. Armstrong, they believed in me. And so I’m going to work every day to pay them back.”
Cardwell said the Kings executives have told him they want to see “professionalism, grit, determination, accountability, really just being a vet pretty much. I’m 23, but I can’t afford to come in here like a rookie. I have to be pretty mature. And that’s my five years at Auburn. Bringing my maturity and physicality, toughness, rebounding, energy, just being the ultimate glue guy.”
Cardwell helped Auburn reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament last season, but he averaged scoring only 5.0 points per game. Cardwell said he is using Ben Wallace from Central High School in Hayneville as his NBA blueprint. Wallace averaged 5.7 points per game during a 16-season NBA career, but he is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame because of his defensive and rebounding contributions.
“My role is energy, rebounding and defense, toughness and physicality,” Cardwell said. “And I try to be the Ben Wallace of this team. …
“Playing defense, make them feel us. That’s our slogan. It’s MTFU — make them feel us. We want to be on the ball. We want to guard the ball 94 feet.”
Cardwell said in Sacramento’s preparation for its NBA 2K26 Summer League schedule, he’d learned the basketball moves up and down those 94 feet quickly in the NBA.
“Oh, man, pace,” Cardwell said about the difference between NBA and college basketball. “That was the wakeup call this week. You know, (Kings summer-league coach Dipesh Mistry)’s done a great job of integrating it into the team. But when I was at Auburn, we were one of the slowest paces in the country. …
“Here in the NBA, they’re prioritizing getting up and down for more possessions. And so that’s probably the biggest difference for me. Vegas is going to be a track meet. And so it’s about getting in the best shape.”
A draw placed the Kings in the NBA 2K26 Summer League group with the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns. Sacramento will play each of those teams in Las Vegas, starting with the Magic at 6:30 p.m. CDT Thursday.
The group results will lead to a fifth game for each of the 30 teams, and the two teams with the best showings will play for the league championship at 9 p.m. July 20.
“I heard it’s like AAU,” Cardwell said. “You know, it’s a small amount of warmup time for the tournament, so everybody’s on the sideline with their slides, ready to go hoop. And so I’m excited for that. And then to see my (Auburn) teammates — Johni Broome and Miles Kelly, Chaney Johnson, Denver Jones, Jaylin Williams. I’m excited to see my guys again.”
Players from Alabama high schools and colleges on NBA 2K26 Summer League rosters include:
- Forward Brooks Barnhizer (Alma Bryant High School), Oklahoma City Thunder. Barnhizer joined the Thunder from Northwestern in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
- Center Garrison Brooks (Auburn High School), Detroit Pistons. Brooks played for Wolves Twinsbet in the Lithuanian Basketball League last season.
- Forward Johni Broome (Auburn), Philadelphia 76ers. Broome joined the 76ers in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
- Forward Kobe Brown (Lee High School in Huntsville), Los Angeles Clippers. Brown played for the Clippers of the NBA and San Diego Clippers of the NBA G League last season.
- Guard Jaden Campbell (Samford), New York Knicks. Campbell played for USK Praha of the Czech Republic National Basketball 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 High School, 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 High School in Alabaster, Auburn), Cleveland Cavaliers. Johnson signed with the Cavaliers as a rookie free agent.
- Guard Denver Jones (Buckhorn High School, 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 High School, 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.
- Guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals High School, 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.
Eight teams got a jump on the rest of the NBA 2K26 Summer League field by participating in three-day summer leagues in the past week. The Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs played in the California Classic Summer League in San Francisco, and the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz played in the Salt Lake City Summer League.
DeMarre Carroll will serve as the coach of the Phoenix Suns’ NBA 2K26 Summer League team. A former prep standout at John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham who played 11 seasons in the NBA, Carroll is as assistant on the staff of new Phoenix coach Jordan Ott.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
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