The Memphis Grizzlies held a workout for Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner on Wednesday, a team visit reported by Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal and flagged by Hoops Rumors — and it came on the same day Tanner faced an 11:59 pm Eastern deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft and retain his NCAA eligibility.
The timing matters because the Grizzlies enter the draft week with significant assets — the third, 16th and 32nd overall picks — and Tanner has been described as a potential first‑round pick. The workout, which Hoops Rumors said included other college prospects such as Chase Ross (Marquette), Sam Alexis (Indiana) and J’Vonne Hadley (Louisville), put tyler tanner squarely in front of executives before the withdrawal clock ran out.
The account of the workout comes from Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, relayed by Hoops Rumors, which also highlighted the deadline: the cutoff for early entrants to remove their names from draft consideration and keep NCAA eligibility was 11:59 pm Eastern on Wednesday. That single timestamp turned a routine team evaluation into a consequential stop on Tanner’s draft timeline.
Context is simple and immediate: Tanner is a Vanderbilt prospect who has been described in scouting conversations as a potential first‑round pick, and he can return to Vanderbilt for his junior season if he withdraws from the draft before the deadline. For a player in that position, a workout with an NBA team — particularly one with lottery and first‑round assets — is both a job interview and a data point for his advisers as they weigh the final choice.
There is a tension between evaluation and decision. The Grizzlies’ exercise with Tanner shows a team actively gathering information; the prospect’s status as “not yet finalized” underlines the narrow margin for action. With the withdrawal cutoff at 11:59 pm Eastern, Tanner and players in the same position had only hours after private workouts and meetings to decide whether to remain in the draft or return to college ball. Hoops Rumors’ report that Memphis scheduled sessions with multiple early entrants underscored how teams compressed evaluations into the final stretch before the deadline.
What happens next is straightforward and consequential for Tanner: he either withdrew before the 11:59 pm Eastern deadline and preserved the option to play another season at Vanderbilt, or he left his name in the draft and became part of the pool teams will select from on draft night. The Grizzlies’ interest — demonstrated by the workout — means his decision will be watched closely by a franchise holding the third, 16th and 32nd overall selections.
For Tyler Tanner, Wednesday’s workout was less a public spectacle than a pivot point. By the time the clock struck 11:59 pm Eastern, the choice he made would determine whether the session in Memphis translated into another year of development at Vanderbilt or the start of a professional path.
