Clemson head coach Brad Brownell has seen some of the program’s best players in recent seasons, and they are continuing to see recent opportunities at the NBA level.
Center Viktor Lakhin becomes the most recent player under the Tigers’ head coach to join the 2026 Summer League campaign, which kicked off this weekend. He will be playing for the Sacramento Kings, who began their session on Saturday with a 79-76 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Lakhin didn’t play in the game, but he has a strong chance to continue to see more minutes over the campaign. He spent his last season with Clemson in 2024-25, becoming a fan-favorite in his only year with the program.
That season, the Anapa, Russia, native finished the year with 11.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in his redshirt season. Lakhin was the first starting center after star big man PJ Hall had one of the strongest careers in a Clemson uniform, and he did a solid job keeping production at the position.
From a shooting standpoint, the Cincinnati transfer was efficient on all levels. He shot 50.7% from the field and 37.5% from three, making almost a trey per game for the Tigers. That included five games with two or more made threes.
Especially down the stretch, that’s where Lakhin was at his best for the program. To end the regular season, he recorded double-digit points in seven of his last eight games. That included back-to-back performances of 20 points or more against No. 2 Duke and North Carolina.
He is the fourth player to be on an NBA Summer League team this July. Guards Chase Hunter and Jestin Porter were both selected to teams, going to the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies, respectively. Meanwhile, former teammate Ian Schieffelin ended his experiment in football to go play for the Miami Heat’s Summer League team.
2026 will be Lakhin’s second stint in the summer campaign. He was an undrafted signee by the Oklahoma City Thunder last season, but he missed it due to a lingering injury. He played 31 games with the OKC Blue, averaging just over 10 points per game throughout the process.
Most recently, he was playing in Puerto Rico for Cangrejeros de Santurce, contributing 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 13 games through limited time.
Now, Brownell will be cheering on another one of his former players, but it will be one who will look to take advantage of the opportunity over the upcoming weeks.
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