Hello, NBA basketball fans! It’s that exciting time of year again: Opening Night of the NBA season! It was a busy offseason with lots of moves, including trades, free agent signings and training camp workouts that involved some of our former University of Kentucky Wildcats. I’ve made a list of who ended up where, based on roster lists on NBA.com.
It’s still early days, and even earlier this year, because the NBA season has been moved up to try to reduce the number of back-to-backs in the interest of player health. Teams have a long way to go before their 15-man rosters must be finalized; all contracts did not become guaranteed until January 10th in 2016-17. We still have months before we see rosters reaching their final forms. Expect changes as games are played and teams figure out who they want to be.
That being said, let’s have a look at what former University of Kentucky Wildcats are currently in the league, shall we?
Charlotte Hornets: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Malik Monk
Dallas Mavericks: Nerlens Noel
Denver Nuggets: Trey Lyles, Jamal Murray
Indiana Pacers: Alex Poythress
Los Angeles Lakers: Julius Randle
Memphis Grizzlies: Andrew Harrison
Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo
Milwaukee Bucks: DeAndre Liggins
Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns
New Orleans Pelicans: DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Darius Miller, Rajon Rondo
New York Knicks: Enes Kanter
Oklahoma City Thunder: Dakari Johnson, Patrick Patterson
Phoenix Suns: Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Brandon Knight, Tyler Ulis (note: Knight may miss the entire 2017-18 season due to a torn ACL injury from July)
Sacramento Kings: Willie Cauley-Stein, De’Aaron Fox, Skal Labissiere
Washington Wizards: Jodie Meeks, John Wall