How Eight Former Ohio State Basketball Players Have Performed in the NBA This Season

By Griffin Strom on February 20, 2023 at 10:10 am
Mike Conley, Malaki Branham
Daniel Dunn – USA TODAY Sports
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We don’t need to remind you about Ohio State’s lack of success on the hardwood this season.

But given the increasing influx of Buckeyes into the NBA in recent years, perhaps the professional exploits of a number of former scarlet and gray hoops stars will help take your mind off OSU’s 2022-23 struggles.

Monday marks the day after the NBA All-Star Game, which makes it the perfect time to check in on fresh faces like Malaki Branham and Duane Washington Jr., veterans like Mike Conley and D’Angelo Russell and every NBA Buckeye in between. Below we recap the season so far for the eight former Ohio State basketball players who have been under contract with NBA teams this season.

D’Angelo Russell

  • Team: Los Angeles Lakers
  • Year: Nine
  • Stats: 17.9 PPG, 46.4 FG%, 39 3FG%, 6.2 APG

D-Lo played the first 54 games of his ninth NBA season with Minnesota, where he averaged nearly 18 points and more than six assists per game as a fourth-year member of the Timberwolves. Before the trade deadline, Russell was dealt back to the Los Angeles Lakers, who initially drafted him out of Ohio State as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Russell played only three games with LeBron James and company prior to the All-Star break, but helped lead LA to wins in two of those contests.

In his first game back at Staples Center Crypto.com Arena, Russell dropped 21 points and seven dimes in an 18-point win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. The Lakers will need a lot more where that came from in order to climb back into playoff contention, though, as they currently sit in 13th place in the West.

Mike Conley

  • Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Year: 16
  • Stats: 10.5 PPG, 40.4 FG%, 35.8 3FG%, 7.6 APG

The longest-tenured NBA Buckeye started his fourth season with the Utah Jazz (and 16th overall) in 2022-23, but was traded to the Timberwolves as part of the same three-team deal that landed Russell back in Los Angeles. Through 43 games with the Jazz and three in Minnesota, Conley’s averaging his fewest points (10.5) since his rookie season in Memphis. But Conley’s 7.6 assists per game would be the most of his career should he finish the season with the same average. While the Jazz sit in 11th place in the Western Conference, Conley will now be in the thick of the playoff hunt with the Timberwolves in eighth place entering All-Star Weekend.

Malaki Branham

  • Team: San Antonio Spurs
  • Year: One
  • Stats: 9.1 PPG, 44.5 FG%, 31.5 3FG%, 2.1 RPG

Chris Holtmann’s first-ever first-round NBA draft pick has started 12 games in his first 45 appearances as a rookie, and his scoring average of 9.1 points per game is ninth among all rookies league-wide. Branham hit his stride in the final eight games before the All-Star break, putting up 18.1 points per game on 51.8% shooting from the field and 41.3% from 3-point range and starting the final seven games of that stretch.

The former Buckeye set a new career-high mark in scoring in three separate contests in that period, scoring 22, 26 and then 27 points in a five-game stretch. However, the Spurs are in second-to-last place in the Western Conference and Branham was not selected to play in the Rising Stars Challenge over the weekend.

Keita Bates-Diop

  • Team: San Antonio Spurs
  • Year: Five
  • Stats: 8.1 PPG, 49.3 FG%, 35.6 3FG%, 3.3 RPG

In his third season with the Spurs, Bates-Diop is putting up the best numbers of his five-year NBA career. The 2018 Big Ten Player of the Year is averaging career-highs with 8.1 points per game, 20.1 minutes per game and a 35.6% clip from beyond the 3-point arc. He’s also started 23 games, already nine more than he’s ever had in a season, through his first 45 appearances. The 6-foot-8 forward hit double-digit scoring figures in eight of the Spurs’ final 12 games before the All-Star break and started 11 of those games.

Duane Washington Jr.

  • Team: N/A
  • Year: Two
  • Stats: 7.9 PPG, 36.7 FG%, 36 3FG%, 2 APG

After going undrafted in 2021, Washington was something of a surprise success story with the Indiana Pacers as a rookie, averaging 9.9 points in 20.2 minutes per game in 48 appearances during his first season. Despite earning a multi-year contract as a result, Washington was cut by the Pacers in July. Washington then signed a two-way deal with the Phoenix Suns, but played just 31 games before being waived at the start of February. Now the former All-Big Ten guard is looking for a new home in the NBA, which would be his third landing spot in his first two seasons.

Jae’Sean Tate

  • Team: Houston Rockets
  • Year: Three
  • Stats: 7.7 PPG, 45.2 FG%, 30.8 3FG%, 3.9 RPG

Tate averaged 11.6 points per game on 50.1% shooting with 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists across 148 appearances in his first two seasons with the Rockets, but injuries have limited him through the first half of his third year. The 2020-21 All-Rookie Team selection has only appeared in 20 games for Houston thus far with just five starts. Tate’s numbers have suffered as a result, as he’s putting up 7.7 points on 45.2% shooting in 2022-23. Houston is also trending toward its third straight last-place finish in the Western Conference, as the Rockets hold a 13-45 record heading into the break.

E.J. Liddell

  • Team: New Orleans Pelicans
  • Year: One
  • Stats: N/A

As expected, Liddell has yet to make his NBA debut after suffering a torn ACL during a Summer League contest in July. The second-round 2022 draft pick and consensus All-American at Ohio State signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans in October; as of January, The Athletic’s Will Guillory reported that Liddell had progressed to some light on-court shooting. Holtmann told media members earlier this season that Liddell’s recovery was going well and the Pelicans remain invested in him.

Micah Potter

  • Team: Utah Jazz
  • Year: Two
  • Stats: 3 GP, 1.3 PPG, 1 RPG

The former Buckeye-turned-Wisconsin Badger bounced around from Summer League roster spots to G League opportunities and even a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons since going undrafted in 2021, but inked a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 season. Potter’s only appeared in three games for the Jazz this season, but is averaging nearly 15 points per game in 12 games with the G League’s Salt Lake City Stars. The 6-foot-10 forward underwent elbow surgery on Jan. 27 and is expected to be re-evaluated in either late February or March.

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