An update on Michigan Basketball players in the NBA
We take a look at what’s happening with former Michigan basketball players in the NBA with a look at each former Wolverine in the association.
Although football has been dominating the headlines for months at Michigan, basketball season is full-go, with college and the NBA all in mid-season forms.
Today, we check in with some former Michigan basketball players to see how they are faring in the NBA. As of this writing, there are nine former Wolverines on NBA rosters.
Some are getting more playing time than others, as some have gotten sent down to the G-league, called up again because of COVID roster shortages, and sent back down again.
Others have been starting since the first game of the season. Others have benefited from injuries to players ahead of them on the depth chart. And a few others get spot minutes here or there but are still active members of their rosters.
Ignas Brazdeikis
So far this year, former one-and-done Michigan basketball player Ignas Brazdeikis hasn’t really played in a ton of games. He’s averaging 1.8 ppg, 1.4 reb, and 0.5 assists per game.
Ignas has played in 18 games this year, with his most minutes recently coming on December 30th, where he played 21 minutes and scored 9 points.
Iggie is on the Michigan 2.0 Orlando Magic roster, who already have former Michigan basketball players and brothers Moe and Franz Wagner, and did have Jon Teske for a few games, but he is in the G-league.
It’s not really surprising that Ignas hasn’t come on strong to the Magic because although the Magic are rebuilding, and have young unproven talent, they still have a lot of guys vouching for playing time, as they are bad, so since Ignas doesn’t stick out, he gets passed on the depth chart and/or sent back down to the G-league.
In order to be a consistent NBA-caliber player, Ignas really needs to hit his outside shots and play better defense. It’s simple as that. He’s a streaky shooter (as all Michigan fans know from his time wearing a Michigan jersey) and his defense hasn’t always been the best. He’ll need to make major improvements to see a big uptick in minutes.
One way that can happen (kinda cheating) is COVID. If the Magic need bodies and Ignas is in the G-league, or he’s on the active roster but is a healthy DNP, he’ll probably play. Hopefully though, Ignas can earn more minutes in the future, because he is still a talented player.