Fit for a King: Auburn's Dylan Cardwell reflects on stellar NBA rookie season

AUBURN, Ala. – When Auburn played Tulsa in the NIT championship game April 5 in Indianapolis, NBA rookie Dylan Cardwell supported his alma mater with a custom fit. 

Entering the Sacramento Kings’ home venue, Golden 1 Center, more than 2,000 miles from Indy, Cardwell proudly wore a custom-made Auburn hockey jersey.

“Big AU logo on the front, Cardwell 44 on the back,” he said. “I’m walking in, we’re up 20-5 against Tulsa, we’re fixing to win the NIT. I’m telling Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, ‘We got this in the bag, we won the NIT, we’re fixing to hang a banner.’” 

Sacramento’s game against the LA Clippers tipped off an hour after Auburn’s. By halftime of the Kings’ game, Auburn’s 20-point lead was gone and Dylan’s jersey was in peril. 

“At halftime of our game, Zach Levine checked the score and said, ‘Y’all are down four with eight seconds left,’” Cardwell recalled. “At halftime of our basketball game, they were threatening to burn my Auburn hockey jersey.”

As Auburn fans know, Kevin Overton saved the day – and Dylan’s jersey – by hitting a game-tying 3-pointer, then leading the Tigers to a 92-86 overtime win.

“Our game ended and somehow, some way, they were like, ‘Y’all won somehow,’” Cardwell said. “’I was like, that’s what we do.’ It was really fun.”

Now back in Auburn “getting to see the people I made history with,” including his brother, Drake, Dylan prepares for his second NBA season after averaging 5.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, leading NBA rookies in rebounds and blocks per game.

“Being sharp on defense, being in the best shape possible, continue to work on my free throws and touch around the rim, and being a leader,” he said. 

After starting for Auburn’s 2025 Final Four team, Cardwell hoped to be picked in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, but Dylan knew his age and his stats – 23 years old and averages of five points and five rebounds per game in his final college basketball season – worked against him. 

“I had a few really good workouts, and I had a lot of high hopes,” said Cardwell, who went undrafted but accepted an offer from the only NBA franchise offering a two-way contract, the Sacramento Kings.

For the Augusta, Georgia, native who spent five years on the Plains, Northern California felt like a world away.

“How’s this going to work?” Cardwell wondered. “I’ve lived in only two states my whole entire life.”

Dylan’s father-in-law shared Biblical wisdom from Proverbs 10:22 that comforted Cardwell.  

“It says the Lord’s blessings make us see wealth soon and there will be no sorrow attached to it,” he said. 

From summer league to training camp to averaging a double-double in the G League to earning a promotion to the NBA, Dylan delivered the same things that made him beloved by Auburn fans: elite defense and rim protection, high percentage shots and contagious enthusiasm. 

After only 25 NBA games, the Kings knew they’d uncovered a diamond. On Feb. 6, Sacramento converted Cardwell’s two-way contract to a much more lucrative, four-year standard NBA contract. 

“A lot of teams overlooked that,” Cardwell said. “Sacramento saw it and said, hey, we can build something around this. For me, it was really cool to see that I’m playing the best front courts in the NBA and I’m not just competing but I’m dominating. That’s what people saw.”

After recording two double-doubles in five college seasons, Cardwell accomplished that feat three times as an NBA rookie, including two on back-to-back nights. 

“It was fun for me to see my confidence growing around the rim and with defense, being free and having fun,” Cardwell said. 

When Dylan logged his first Auburn double-double against Monmouth in his final season, Bruce Pearl predicted Cardwell’s NBA future. 

“As good a teammate as any player I’ve ever coached,” Bruce Pearl said on Dec. 30, 2024. “Dylan can play in the NBA because of his ability to guard anywhere on the court. He can bang on the inside.”

Cardwell’s NBA emergence came as no surprise to Auburn head coach Steven Pearl.

“Dylan Cardwell is elite in his role,” Steven Pearl said. “He’s an elite finisher in the air, he’s an elite rebounder and he’s one of the best defenders I’ve ever seen.”

After each blocked shot and alley-oop slam, Cardwell does what he did at Neville Arena, gesturing to the crowd. 

“It gets me going,” Cardwell said. “Sacramento, they love it. It’s fun for me to go out there and be myself.”

“They’re embracing Dylan who he is, his personality,” Steven Pearl said. “That allows him to play with such confidence and courage. Really proud of him, happy for him but not surprised at all because we knew how capable Dylan was.”

Fueled by his faith, one of the most popular Auburn athletes of all time returned to the Plains as soon as his season ended. 

“I wouldn’t be in the NBA if it wasn’t for the Lord,” he said. “That’s the story of my year: growth in my faith, in being a man, in being away from home, and depending on the Lord. I can’t take credit for any of this. It’s my relationship with the Lord. He’s blessed me with everything.

“My verse for the year was Psalm 103:2, which says that all that I am, I will praise the Lord, and I’ll never forget all the good He does for me.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

“Getting to see the people I made history with, it means the world to me because I love Auburn to death.”

Back on the Plains after a productive @NBA rookie season, @Dylanupnext__ prepares for season No. 2 with @SacramentoKings

“A blessing beyond my wildest imaginations.” :arrow_heading_down: pic.twitter.com/8XPRSpwhqa

— Jeff Shearer (@Jeff Shearer) April 30, 2026