You’ll see a former UK basketball star in almost every NBA playoffs series
The University of Kentucky’s dominance of NBA rosters is common knowledge at this point. This year the Cats could have a major say beyond the regular season, too.
Of the 29 former UK basketball stars on NBA rosters prior to the league’s postponement of play in March, 13 will participate in the NBA playoffs, which tip off Monday. Across eight total series, only one — the Eastern Conference’s matchup between the reigning champion Toronto Raptors and No. 7 seed Brooklyn Nets — won’t see an ex-Cat take the floor. Nine teams — 56.3 percent of those remaining — have at least one former UK hooper, and four have at least two.
Let’s quickly break down each playoff series through a local-minded lens.
Los Angles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Ex-Cats: Anthony Davis (LAL), Rajon Rondo (LAL) and Wenyen Gabriel (POR).
The Lakers’ offseason acquisition of Davis, who led UK to the 2012 NCAA championship, paid off as handsomely as hoped; they ended the regular season with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and their first playoffs berth since 2013. He’s averaging 26.1 points per game (10th in the league), 9.3 rebounds (18th) and 2.3 blocks (third). He is a finalist for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. This is Davis’ third career playoffs appearance; his first two came as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 2015 (a 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors) and 2018 (a 4-0 sweep of Portland followed by a 4-1 loss to the Warriors). Alongside three-time NBA champion LeBron James, Davis has made Los Angeles one of the front-runners for the league title.
Rondo, a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics (2008), missed the Lakers’ entire restart after suffering a fractured right thumb prior to play resuming in July. He currently is in quarantine and should be available for the postseason. He has averaged 7.1 points and 5.0 assists this season.
Gabriel went undrafted out of Kentucky in 2018 but was signed to a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings, who converted it to a standard contract prior to this season. He was traded in January to Portland, for whom he has played in 19 games. His contributions during the restart were sparse until Saturday, when he played nine minutes in the Trail Blazers’ 126-122 win over Memphis to secure the No. 8 seed. Gabriel could continue to see heightened minutes if Portland big Zach Collins, who had an ankle injury flare up early in Saturday’s game, continues to suffer from that ailment.
Prediction: Lakers win the series 4-1.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks
Ex-Cats: Patrick Patterson (LAC), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (DAL).
Patterson is averaging 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds predominantly as a reserve for the Clippers, with whom he signed last August. He’s in his 10th NBA season and playing for his fifth team in the league.
Kidd-Gilchrist began this season with the Charlotte Hornets, the team that drafted him No. 2 overall behind Davis in 2012, but he was released by that organization and signed by the Mavericks shortly thereafter. He played in four of the Mavericks’ restart games, including 21 minutes in their loss to Phoenix to close the regular season.
Ex-Cat Willie Cauley-Stein also is a member of the Mavericks’ roster but chose not to rejoin the team for its restart because of the birth of a child.
Former Western Kentucky University standout Courtney Lee is in his second season with Dallas. The 12-year veteran is averaging 4.5 points in 14.4 minutes per game. Montrezl Harrell, a former standout at Louisville, is in his fifth NBA season and third with the Clippers, whose restart he missed due to a family emergency. Harrell, a Sixth Man of the Year finalist, is expected to be cleared to return in time for the postseason.
Prediction: Clippers win the series 4-1.
Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz
Ex-Cats: Jamal Murray (DEN).
Murray is in his fourth season with the Nuggets, who drafted him No. 7 overall in 2016. This season he averaged a career-high 18.5 points per game and matched his career high with 4.8 assists. He missed the Nuggets’ first four restart games because of a hamstring injury but played in the final four.
This series is the best bet for a UK-U of L face-off; opposite Murray for the Jazz is Donovan Mitchell, whom Denver selected 13th overall a year after Murray but traded to Utah on draft night. Mitchell, a former Cardinal who was named to his first All-Star team this season, is averaging career highs of 24.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two squads since 2010.
Prediction: Denver wins the series 4-2.
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Ex-Cats: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC), Hamidou Diallo (OKC), Nerlens Noel (OKC).
The Thunder, coached by former Florida Gators head man Billy Donovan, boasted more former Wildcats than any team in the league this season. They all play, too.
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way, averaging 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists while playing 34.7 minutes each night. He was considered the central piece in the Thunder’s trade of Paul George to the Clippers, and he has lived up to the billing while playing alongside future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.
Noel, the elder statesman among Thunder ex-Cats at 25 years old, is averaging 7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per night in 18.5 minutes of action, the most since he was a member of the Mavericks in the 2016-17 season.
Diallo, a former second-round pick whom the Thunder acquired during the 2018 draft, is averaging 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.5 minutes a night in his second season. He scored a career-high 27 points and played a career-high 39 minutes in OKC’s final game before the postseason.
Houston does not currently have a former Wildcat on its roster but longtime Rocket and UK Hall of Famer Chuck Hayes is in his third season as a scout in the team’s front office.
Predictions: Oklahoma City wins the series 4-3.
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Orlando Magic
Ex-Cats: Eric Bledsoe (MIL).
The owners of the league’s best record have a single ex-Cat in Eric Bledsoe, their starting point guard. The fourth of five former Wildcats selected in the first round of the 2020 draft (he went 18th overall behind John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patterson; Daniel Orton was picked 29th overall) is in his 10th NBA season and third with the Bucks.
Bledsoe is averaging 14.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds with Milwaukee, which finished 56-17 overall but was 3-5 in its eight restart games.
Prediction: Milwaukee wins the series 4-0.
Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets
This is the only series in which an ex-Cat won’t take the floor, but it’s worth noting that Jamaal Magloire — a Toronto native who played 13 seasons in the NBA — is a basketball development consultant for the Raptors, with whom he ended his playing career.
Prediction: Raptors win the series 4-1.
Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Ex-Cats: Enes Kanter (BOS).
Kanter is the lone former Wildcat in this series. Boston is the fifth team that Kanter has played for in five seasons, but seemingly the one with whom he’s found the best fit. His 9.9 net rating — a measurement of how much better a team is on the floor with a certain player — is a career high; his next best mark in that category came during his second season (5.1). He’s averaging 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 16.9 minutes a night.
Prediction: Boston wins the series 4-1.
Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat
Ex-Cats: Bam Adebayo (MIA), Tyler Herro (MIA).
Miami team president Pat Riley is a former Wildcat star himself, and he, as well as head coach Erik Spoelstra, have put their money where their mouth is in singing the praises of Kentucky’s talent development.
With its two most recent first-round picks — 2017 and 2019 — Miami grabbed Adebayo and Herro, respectively, and each turned out to be significant selections despite occurring late in the lottery.
Adebayo made the 2020 All-Star team, his first time making the cut in just his third season, and averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 2019-20, the second youngest player to achieve that stat line after Oscar Robertson. He is one of three finalists for the NBA’s Most Improved Player trophy.
Herro, a rookie, averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in a little under 30 minutes, mostly coming off the bench. In the Heat’s eight restart games he averaged 16.4 points per game, scored a career-high 30 in one game, and nearly had a triple-double (25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds) in another.
Prediction: Miami wins the series 4-3.
NBA playoffs
Monday on ESPN
1:30 p.m.: Jazz vs. Nuggets
4 p.m.: Nets vs. Raptors
6:30 p.m.: 76ers vs. Celtics
9 p.m.: Mavericks vs. Clippers
Tuesday on TNT
1:30 p.m.: Magic vs. Bucks
4 p.m.: Heat vs. Pacers
6:30 p.m.: Thunder vs. Rockets
9 p.m.: Trail Blazers vs. Lakers
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 6:35 AM.
