Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Release: Wednesday 07/17/2013
Release: Wednesday 07/17/2013
July 17, 2013
Several former UCLA basketball players will be playing for different teams in 2013-14, as multiple former Bruin standouts have changed NBA teams during the offseason.
Most notably, the Los Angeles Clippers recently re-signed Matt Barnes and Ryan Hollins in addition to acquiring Darren Collison. The team’s introductory press conference on July 10 featured six Clippers, three of which competed for UCLA during the 2000s.
The Clippers signed Barnes to a three-year deal and Hollins to a one-year contract. Collison inked a two-year deal after having played for the Dallas Mavericks in 2012-13.
The 2013-14 season will mark Barnes’ fourth consecutive year playing in Los Angeles. The former four-year UCLA product competed for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before playing for the Clippers in 2012-13.
The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to terms with free agent guard Jordan Farmar on July 17. Farmar, a two-year standout for UCLA in 2004-05 and 2005-06, was the 26th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He spent four years competing for the Lakers, one season with the New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn) before playing in Israel (2011-12) and Turkey (2012-13).
Other former UCLA players to have changed teams include Jrue Holiday (New Orleans Pelicans), Malcolm Lee (Phoenix Suns), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Shabazz Muhammad (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Earl Watson (Portland Trail Blazers).
Holiday was acquired by the New Orleans Pelicans in a draft-day trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. The former UCLA guard was introduced on July 12 at a New Orleans press conference. Holiday and rookie guard Pierre Jackson were acquired by New Orleans in exchange for Nerlens Noel, the Pelicans’ first-round draft selection, and the Pelicans’ 2014 first-round draft pick.
Malcolm Lee was sent from Minnesota to the Golden State Warriors on a draft-day trade before being shipped to the Phoenix Suns later that evening. Lee starred at UCLA for three seasons (2009-11) and has played in 35 games the last two seasons for Minnesota.
Mbah a Moute, a three-year standout for UCLA (2006-08), was acquired by Sacramento in a trade announced by the organization July 12. After having played his first five NBA seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Mbah a Moute was traded to Sacramento for two second-round draft picks. He has two years remaining on a four-year deal that he signed as a restricted free agent before the 2011-12 season.
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA’s leading scorer in 2012-13, agreed to terms over the weekend with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Muhammad was selected No. 14 overall in the NBA Draft on June 27 by the Utah Jazz. His rights were rights were acquired by Minnesota in a draft-day trade with the Utah Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Trey Burke, taken by Minnesota with the ninth overall pick.
Muhammad, who averaged a team-best 17.9 points per game for UCLA as a freshman last season, signed his first professional contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves last weekend.
Watson, a 12-year NBA veteran, signed as a free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers on July 10. Watson was a four-year standout for the Bruins (1998-2001) and has spent his career playing for Seattle, Memphis, Denver, Oklahoma City, Indiana and Utah.
UCLA currently has 13 former basketball players listed on NBA rosters. In addition to Barnes, Collison, Farmar, Holiday, Hollins, Lee, Mbah a Moute, Muhammad and Watson, that list features Arron Afflalo (Orlando Magic), Trevor Ariza (Washington Wizards), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).
No comments:
Post a Comment