The NBA season is officially underway, so let’s take a look at which Hoos will be playing this season.
With the success the Hoos have had on the court, it is no surprise that we keep seeing more Hoos in the NBA. Though there are only four players on opening day rosters, there’s a few more who played during summer league. Some of those guys will stick around in the NBA Development League and may get called up at some point.
Let’s start by taking a look at the NBA guys, in order of their tenure in the NBA.
Mike Scott, Atlanta Hawks – At 28 years old, Scott is the elder statesman of Hoos in the NBA. He’s entering his 5th NBA season. For his career, he averaged just under eight points per game, along with three rebounds. In what may be a surprise to Virginia fans who don’t follow the NBA, Scott has become a pretty good three-point shooter. He’s shooting about 35% for his career, but was up at nearly 40% last year. As a rookie, he attempted just one trey all year, but he’s worked hard on it and has made almost one per game over the past three years.
Despite his off-court troubles, Scott has continued to play well for the Hawks. He will be a free agent after this season, so getting his legal matters solved would be beneficial to him. His last deal was for three years and $10 million. He could see another similar deal, but it may not be with the Hawks.
Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets – Joe missed most of last year after undergoing surgery on his foot. During that time, he was traded from the Cavaliers to the Orlando Magic and was subsequently waived by the Magic. During this offseason, he signed with the Brooklyn Nets.
Joe seems likely to get a lot of playing time on a pretty bad Nets team. He’s basically their backup SG, but starter Randy Foye is out with a minor hamstring injury. The Nets don’t have much in the way of shooters and Joe has made 36% of his treys in his brief NBA career. So he may get a lot of run as the designated floor spacer.
Justin Anderson, Dallas Mavericks – Justin just had his 2016-2017 option picked up by the Mavericks. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think he was a big part of this team going forward. The Mavericks are caught between the end of Dirk Nowitzki’s career and the beginning of a rebuild. Most of the team is on the old side, and they are a bit lacking in athletes. They picked up Harrison Barnes (and Andrew Bogut) this offseason from the Warriors.
Justin will be backing up Barnes this year. His role is as an energy guy and a defensive stopper. Justin only saw about 10 minutes per game, so he averaged just four points, two rebounds and about 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals per game. But given 20+ minutes per game, Justin could easily double those defensive stats and chip in a few points and boards.
The down side is that Justin shot just 27% from downtown. If he could get that number up to 35%, he could set himself up as one of the premier “three-and-D” wings in the NBA. That would make him an eight figure a year guy, maybe more with the NBA’s new higher salary cap.
Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks – The newcomer to this group, Brogdon was the 37th overall pick in this year’s NBA draft. It’s anybody’s guess how much playing time Brogdon will get this year, but the general consensus seems to be “not very much”.
The Bucks, even with starting SG Khris Middleton hurt, have a lot of young talent on the wings. Brogdon’s strength is defensively, and he’s really not quick enough to guard the league’s premier PGs. If Brogdon proves capable of consistently knocking down the open 3 he would get some run, especially with Middleton out. But as it is, the Bucks are content to go with guys who can shoot at that spot.
So that’s it. Just the four Hoos currently on NBA rosters.
Other Pros
There have been a number of former Hoos over the past few years who didn’t quite make it in the NBA, but are still playing pro ball. We’ll try to mention all of them here, but if we miss any, please let us know.
Mike Tobey – Tobey played summer league ball for the Charlotte Hornets and played in two pre-season games for them before being waived last week. According to Virginia Basketball’s Twitter, Tobey will be joining Charlotte’s D-League team, the Greensboro Swarm.
Anthony Gill – Gill was initially headed to Germany to play in, but failed a medical exam (he had been struggling with a lingering issue). He is now in Turkey with Yesilgiresun.
Darion Atkins – Atkins played summer league ball with the Spurs last year and then played with the Knicks in the pre-season. This year, he played with the Warriors in summer league. He has signed with Hapoel Holon in the Israeli League for this year.
Akil Mitchell – Mitchell played summer league for the Nets last year and the Knicks this year. He’s currently playing for the New Zealand Breakers, who play in the Australian Professional League. Mitchell also played for the Panamanian National Team this summer.
Jerome Meyinsse – Jerome spent the past three years playing professionally in Brazil for Flamengo. He was brought in by USA Basketball prior to the Olympics to help teach Team USA about basketball in Brazil. He has signed with a team in Argentina for this year, San Lorenzo de Almagro.
Sylven Landesberg – Landesberg has been playing in Israel since 2010. He first played with Maccabi Haifi, but moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2012. He’s still there. He is Jewish, and so has received Israeli citizenship, which makes him a valuable player (most European leagues have limits on the number of foreign players they can import).
Laurynas “L-A-R-S LARS LARS LARS!” Mikalauskas – The Virginia fan favorite has been playing professionally in his home country of Lithuania since he left the Hoos. He’s currently playing for Suduva-Mantinga.
Travis Watson – Watson has been playing professionally in Europe since 2003. He’s played for a handful of teams in Israel, Lithuania, Italy, Switzerland and Romania. He appears to be currently playing for the Lugano Tigers in Switzerland.
Chris Williams – Williams has played professionally all over the world. He won an MVP in the Australian basketball league in 2003. He recorded a quadruple double while playing in China in 2009. He is reportedly currently playing in Iran, but I’m unable to find a roster for his current team, so I can’t verify if he’s still there.
Adam Hall – Like Williams, Hall has played for a lot of different teams. Unlike Williams, Hall hasn’t traveled quite so much. Hall has played in Germany and Belgium for his entire career. He is currently playing for Royal IV Brussels.
Honorable Mention
Roger Mason, Jr. – Mason didn’t have a particularly successful NBA career, averaging just over six points per game in 518 career games. However, a 10 year NBA career is nothing to sneeze at. What Roger has done since his career ended might be more impressive. Mason was well respected among his NBA peers. He served as his team’s player representative for two years and then was elected to the union’s executive committee. He was then elected the vice president of the union.
When the union elected a new director, DC Lawyer Michele Roberts, Mason saw an opportunity to make a difference in the union. So he hung up his basketball shoes and was appointed to serve as Roberts’ deputy. This was two years ago, and Mason is still in that role, making him one of the more influential behind-the-scenes people in the NBA.
If we missed anybody, please let us know. As the NBA season progresses, we’ll keep you up to date on those four guys. It can be tough to keep track of the international guys, but if anything notable happens, we’ll be sure to mention it.