Former Stanford big man Stefan Nastic will have a busy summer, taking part in two different summer leagues in the hopes of playing his way on to an NBA roster this fall.
Nastic’s summer will begin with a week-long stint with the San Antonio Spurs from July 3-9 in the Utah Jazz Summer League. After that, Nastic will head to Las Vegas to play with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Summer League, set to tip off on July 10.
While the stretch will certainly be a difficult one for Nastic, he’ll have a familiar face with him for most of it. The announcement comes just days after fellow Stanford graduate Chasson Randle secured a roster spot on the Warriors summer league team as well. The two will play on the 15-man roster that includes Warriors first-round pick and former Pac-12 rival Kevon Looney. The team, coached by Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, will play three preliminary games before officially starting the Summer League tournament on July 15.
Nastic, Randle and fellow graduate and current Los Angeles Laker Anthony Brown comprised the three-man battery that was responsible for most of Stanford’s offensive output in the past season. The three captains accounted for 66 percent of the team’s overall scoring.
Although two of the three went undrafted, the three seniors as a whole left a resounding mark on the Stanford program. Nastic, in particular, was a fan favorite known for his valiant effort and hustle on every play. While he frequently struggled with size match ups and had trouble asserting himself in the post, the strides he made in his final year at Stanford were incredibly admirable. From his penultimate year to his final year, Nastic saw his scoring numbers increase from 7.4 ppg to 13.4 ppg, while his rebounding numbers jumped from 2.8 rpg to 6.5 rpg.
Nastic is one of three true centers on the Warriors summer league lineup, and while securing a spot on the defending champions’ lineup is improbable, Nastic has certainly shown himself to be capable of surprising people before.
Contact Sandip Srinivas at sandips ‘at’ stanford.edu.