July 7, 2016
By Wiley Ballard –
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Iman Shumpert are NBA champions and NBA training camp is still more than two months away, but there’s hardly an absence of hardwood happenings for former Yellow Jackets. Jarrett Jack and Thaddeus Young are no longer Nets, while Marcus Georges-Hunt is hoping impress Brooklyn’s brass in the NBA Summer League. Derrick Favors returned home to welcome the newest Yellow Jacket, while Anthony Morrow has offered advice to the latest rookie class. All of that and more can be found in this week’s Nissan #ProJackets Report.
NBA Summer League – Both Kammeon Holsey (2010-14) and Marcus Georges-Hunt (2012-16) spent four years and played in over 125 games on The Flats. Now both NBA hopefuls are seizing opportunities to play in the NBA’s summer league.
Holsey appeared in one game for the Pistons in Orlando last Saturday and added six points and three rebounds in 14 minutes. Holsey spent this past season with the Pistons D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, where he scored 8.2 points per game and pulled down 4.7 rebounds.
Georges-Hunt begins his professional career with the Nets who take the floor for the first time this coming Saturday in Las Vegas against Cleveland at 4:30 p.m. ET. Brooklyn also faces Atlanta on Monday at 4:30pm and Washington on Tuesday at 4pm before the playoffs. All three games can be seen on NBATV.
Follow Georges-Hunt and Holsey in the NBA Summer League here.
Chris Bosh – Throughout Chris Bosh’s blood clot saga, mum has been the word from both the Miami franchise and the Bosh camp. This summer has been no different (although Bosh appeared last night on Bill Simmons’ HBO program Any Given Wednesday to discuss his time in Miami with LeBron).
The only recent developments have been comments from teammates Josh Richardson and Udonis Haslem suggesting that the All-Star’s return is likely. Richardson speculated that there would be fewer shots available with Bosh’s return while Haslem disclosed that he and Bosh “plan to get a couple of workouts together.” The 32 year-old’s contract with Miami runs through the 2018-19 season.
In the meantime, Bosh recently published an off-the-court piece on his website, ChrisBosh.com, detailing his family cooking traditions.
Derrick Favors – With two more years remaining on his contract, it’s been a quiet summer for Derrick Favors on the basketball front. Away from the hardwood, Favors is enjoying his first offseason as a father with his two twin girls. Earlier this month Favors discussed family plans, his Atlanta roots and his time at Georgia Tech in an interview with Rolling Out. Favors also found time to greet new Georgia Tech basketball coach Josh Pastner in a return to campus last week.
Jarrett Jack – Jarrett Jack underwent season-ending knee surgery in Manhattan this past January. Six months later, the Brooklyn Nets have waived the veteran point guard before embarking upon a lengthy rebuilding process. Jack’s season averages in 32 games as the Brooklyn Nets starting point guard were 12.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg and a team-high 7.4 apg. There will be several teams interested in Jack’s services for the upcoming season, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution makes a compelling case for the Atlanta Hawks to give the ex-Yellow Jacket strong consideration.
Anthony Morrow – Although the Oklahoma City Thunder failed to close out the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals, it’d be hard to fault Anthony Morrow. The shooting guard shot over 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range in the seven game series. On the season Morrow averaged 5.6 points per game and shot 40.7 percent from the field despite only 13.6 minutes per night.
Following the NBA draft’s conclusion a little less than two weeks ago, Morrow published “An Open Letter to the Undrafted” via The Players’ Tribune. Morrow himself was passed over in the summer of 2008 and will begin ninth NBA season this coming fall.
Iman Shumpert – Iman Shumpert will forever be enshrined in Cleveland sports lore following the Cavaliers NBA championship last month. The first time NBA champion averaged 18.4 minutes per game in the series and added his series-high six points in the decisive Game 7. He became the third former Tech player to win an NBA championship, joining John Salley (four rings) and Chris Bosh (two).
Shumpert also received copious amounts of national recognition for his pioneering hair styles throughout the NBA finals.
Thaddeus Young – The Brooklyn Nets were never considered serious playoff contenders at any point in 2015-16. In 73 games, Thaddeus Young offered one of the few bright spots in an otherwise hopeless season averaging 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and netting 28 double-doubles. Now that bright spot is on its way to Indianapolis as Brooklyn’s new general manager, Sean Marks, flipped Thaddeus Young for the 20th overall pick in this past June’s draft (the Nets selected Caris LeVert from Michigan). CBS Sports summarized the trade here while the Indy Star broke down Young’s future role with the Pacers.
