Last Tuesday and Wednesday were probably incredibly long for Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler. He had to sit around for 48 hours just to go without hearing his name called in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Fortunately, his phone rang shortly after and the Utah Jazz offered him an Exhibit 10 contract which is essentially an invite to the NBA Summer League.
Obviously he wanted a better turnout from the draft, but he signed with his home-state organization that he grew up watching but he knows that he’s going to have to work relentlessly to even sniff the roster.
Right after getting drafted, he got to work and showed up to the Powder League — a Utah-based Pro-Am — and put on a show.
According to the Powder League’s Instagram, Kohler showed up to the Pro-Am to put on a show, and he didn’t disappoint. While he wasn’t quite putting up Moneyball numbers, the competition was definitely tougher and he still managed to finish with 32 points, 21 rebounds, and five assists.
This isn’t just some unknown event either. NBA stars like Scottie Barnes and Keyonte George have participated in the event over the years and they’ve obviously put up crazy numbers.
George could be Kohler’s future teammate if he can stick around with the Jazz long enough. He put up 44 points and 10 assists when he rolled up to the Powder League’s on a random Tuesday last summer.
Pro-Ams usually don’t feature much defense, but grabbing 21 rebounds and dropping 32 points in the process as an undrafted free agent is crazy impressive.
Kohler is going to work as hard as he can to make that Utah Jazz roster.
Michigan State’s rookie bigs have a lot to prove
We already touched on Kohler needing to prove himself in the NBA Summer League, and getting a nice warmup at the Powder League had to be a confidence boost. He’ll now prepare for the Summer League with the Utah Jazz and hopefully do enough to at least earn a two-way contract.
Carson Cooper, on the other hand, already signed a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies within 24 hours of the 2026 NBA Draft concluding. He’ll be around the Grizzlies’ organization throughout the season under this two-way deal and we might even see the former IMG B-teamer play some NBA minutes this season. He, too, has a lot to prove though.
Tom Izzo prepared both of these guys for this situation and I know I’ll be watching both closely when they begin Summer League action later this week.
Cooper and Kohler will actually face off on Monday, July 6, at 9 p.m. ET. Both of them will play their first games on the 4th of July — Cooper at 3 p.m. and Kohler at 5 p.m.
I know what I’m doing over the holiday weekend.
Add us as a preferred source on Google