Nine former IU basketball players have or will play the game at the highest level during the 2020-21 NBA season. We will be monitoring their seasons with weekly updates.
Below we summarize their year to date performance with NBA stats and notes through 19 weeks of the season and provide a brief update on each player.
Victor Oladipo – Miami
Victor Oladipo played in four games for the Miami Heat before getting injured. While the first two games were a struggle at times, he was just starting to get his feet under him before exiting the April 8 matchup against the Lakers due to a right knee injury.
He has not returned since and there have been limited updates on his status. According to an April 18 report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Oladipo is expected to come back this season.
While he is making progress, it is unclear exactly when he will return.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 33/33
MPG – 32.7
Points – 19.8
Rebounds – 4.8
Assists – 4.6
Blocks – 0.4
Steals – 1.4
FG% – .408
3FG% – .326
FT% – .754
Eric Gordon – Houston
According to a March 12 report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Gordon will be out 4-6 weeks with a groin strain. There has not been much update on Gordon’s timetable for return since then, as he remains sidelined for the Rockets.
Before going out with an injury, Gordon was averaging 17.8 points per game in just over 29 minutes of action.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 27/13
MPG – 29.2
Points – 17.8
Rebounds – 2.1
Assists – 2.6
Blocks – 0.5 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.5
FG% – .433
3FG% – .329
FT% – .825
OG Anunoby – Toronto
Anunoby played in four of the Raptors five contests this past week, sitting out Sunday’s win against the Lakers with a strained left calf.
He continued his solid play recently, scoring at least 20 points in three of the four games.
The only game he did not record at least 20 points was in a 106-102 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday. He finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 41 minutes.
The Raptors have made the playoffs seven consecutive seasons. That streak is in jeopardy this year, as they are the 11 seed in the Eastern Conference and are 2.5 games back of the 10 seed Washington Wizards.
Toronto has three games this week, starting Tuesday at the Los Angeles Clippers. Thursday they host the Washington Wizards and Saturday are at home to face the Memphis Grizzlies.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 43/43
MPG – 33.3 (Career High)
Points – 15.9 (Career High)
Rebounds – 5.5 (Career High)
Assists – 2.2 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.7 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 1.5 (Career High)
FG% – .480
3FG% – .398 (Career High)
FT% – .784 (Career High)
Thomas Bryant – Washington
Bryant continues to be sidelined, as he suffered a torn ACL to his left knee during the first quarter of a 128-124 loss to the Miami Heat on January 9 that will keep him out for the remainder of this season.
The injury came at a time when Bryant was starting to play consistent basketball and was averaging career highs in both minutes played and points per game.
However, the focus for Bryant now shifts towards coming back even stronger next year.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 10/10
MPG – 27.1 (Career High)
Points – 14.3 (Career High)
Rebounds – 6.1
Assists – 1.5
Blocks – 0.8
Steals – 0.4
FG% – .648 (Career High)
3FG% – .429 (Career High)
FT% – .667
Cody Zeller – Charlotte
Cody Zeller saw action in two of Charlotte’s four games this past week.
In a 120-111 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Zeller played 17 minutes and scored 16 points to go along with 4 rebounds.
The 16 points were on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting from the field, 1-for-1 from three, and 3-of-4 from the foul line.
He appeared briefly on Sunday against the Miami Heat. In a 121-111 loss, Zeller played 5 minutes, scoring 2 points and grabbing 1 rebound.
The Hornets are currently eighth in the East with a record of 31-33 as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
They are a half game ahead of the nine seed Indiana Pacers.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 40/20
MPG – 20.5
Points – 9.0
Rebounds – 6.7
Assists – 1.9
Blocks – 0.4
Steals – 0.6
FG% – .544
3FG% – .154
FT% – .731
Romeo Langford – Boston
The Celtics had four games last week, going 2-2. Langford saw action in two of the contests.
He played 22 minutes in a 119-115 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday and finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds.
Furthermore, on Sunday he played 14 minutes in the Celtics 129-119 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, finishing with 2 points.
The 22 minutes Langford played Tuesday were his third highest this season, trailing only the 32 minutes he played against the Phoenix Suns and the 25 minutes played against the New York Knicks.
Boston is 34-31 and currently seventh place in the Eastern Conference, trailing the fifth seed Atlanta Hawks and sixth seed Miami Heat by one game.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 14/3
MPG – 15.4 (Career High)
Points – 2.4
Rebounds – 2.1 (Career High)
Assists – 0.6 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.3 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.3 (Ties Career High)
FG% – .317
3FG% – .267 (Career High)
FT% – 1.000 (Career High)
Juwan Morgan – Utah
Juwan Morgan briefly saw action in two games last week. On the season, he has appeared in 25 games for the Jazz, who, at 46-18, are tied with the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the league.
Morgan’s best game last week was in a 121-100 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday. He played 9 minutes and scored 5 points.
Arguably Morgan’s top two performances of the season are against the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a 127-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on April 17, Morgan had arguably his second best game of the season. In 20 minutes, he had 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Still the highlight of this season for Morgan was his January 29 performance against the Dallas Mavericks, which was televised on ESPN. He finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals in 21 minutes of action. Also impressive was his efficiency, shooting 5-8 from the field and 2-4 from three point range.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 25/0
MPG – 5.1
Points – 1.3
Rebounds – 1.0
Assists – 0.4 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.0
Steals – 0.2 (Career High)
FG% – .500
3FG% – .308
FT% – .429
Yogi Ferrell – Los Angeles Clippers
Yogi Ferrell signed with the Los Angeles Clippers for the rest of the season and appeared in two of the Clippers three games last week.
Ferrell played 8 minutes and scored 6 points to go along with 2 assists in a 120-103 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on April 26. He also had a brief appearance in a 109-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
Ferrell appeared in two games for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. However, his 10-day contract with them ended with him being waived.
Ferrell was in attendance for the NBA G League regular season, running from February 10 to March 6 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
He played in and started 14 games for the Salt Lake City Stars. He averaged 15.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game in 28.3 minutes per contest. The Stars went 4-11.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 5/0
MPG – 13.8
Points – 6.6
Rebounds – 1.6
Assists – 3.0
Blocks – 0.2 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.8
FG% – .387
3FG% – .400 (Career High)
FT% – .600
Noah Vonleh – Free Agent
Noah Vonleh appeared in four games for the Brooklyn Nets this season after being signed on February 8. He averaged 2.8 minutes per game.
Vonleh was waived by the Nets on February 23.
In 339 career games played, he has averages of 4.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.
2020-21 YTD Stats:
Games/Games Started – 4/0
MPG – 2.8
Points – 0.0
Rebounds – 0.3
Assists – 0.3
Blocks – 0.0
Steals – 0.0
FG% – .000
3FG% – .000
FT% – N/A (Has Not Attempted)
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