Former Clemson guard Jestin Porter is getting another shot to show what he can do, this time with the Memphis Grizzlies in NBA Summer League next month.
Porter, a graduate transfer who spent one season with the Tigers in 2025-26, signed a contract last weekend to play in the summer tournament, according to Director of Scouting Jon Chepkevich from DraftXpress. Clemson didn’t have a player selected in the 2026 NBA Draft, but Porter is among the former Tigers from last year’s team landing post-draft opportunities.
The 6-foot-1 guard arrived in Clemson after back-to-back All-CUSA seasons at Middle Tennessee State, and the jump to the ACC came with some adjustment. Even so, he settled in and gave Brad Brownell’s team real scoring punch. Porter opened his Clemson run by taking home MVP honors at the Charleston Classic in November after strong wins over West Virginia and Georgia, then followed that up with a stretch of four double-digit scoring games in five outings.
He was also Clemson’s most reliable big-shot scorer at times in league play. Porter was the only Tiger to score 20 or more points in multiple games during the 2025-26 season, and he finished his lone season in orange and purple with averages of 9.6 points, 1.3 assists and a career-high 1.2 steals per game.
His best nights included a 16-point, three-steal performance against Louisville in what was Clemson’s most important ACC game of the season. He also reached double figures against Duke and North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
Now the next step is all about standing out in Las Vegas. Porter will try to use Summer League - held in mid-July in various locations across Las Vegas - to position himself for a longer NBA opportunity. A strong showing could lead to an Exhibit 10 contract, a one-year minimum salary deal with no bonuses that lets teams bring a player into training camp and Summer League with a chance to upgrade the contract.
Clemson saw a version of that path last season with Chase Hunter, who signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. Hunter played in Summer League before becoming an everyday starter for the Birmingham Squadron in the G-League.
Porter will now try to follow that route and make his case in a place he knows well from his college days.
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