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Thursday, July 30, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Five players from the 2013 NCAA runner-up team are playing in the NBA, while Jordan Morgan is playing pro ball in France. 

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Trey Burke struggled in his second NBA season, but showed potential with the Jazz.

Catching up with former 
Michigan basketball stars

By MAX BULTMAN 

Daily Sports Editor

It has been a busy summer for 

Michigan basketball alumni.

Two recent stars have been 

traded, and another finally appears 
to have found a longer-term home. 
Whether they’ve stayed put or 
moved around, there has been no 

shortage of developments for the 
former Wolverines.

So, with the NBA Summer 

League now in the books, The 
Daily put together a roundup of 
what notable Michigan alumni 
have been up to this offseason.

Nik Stauskas: Stauskas was 

traded from the Sacramento Kings 
to the Philadelphia 76ers, which 

is sort of like escaping the Titanic 
in a life raft without a paddle. You 
made it out alive, but you have 
to do a lot of work before feeling 
secure again.

On the 76ers, Stauskas should 

have a chance for more touches, 
which will be a warm welcome 
after sharing minutes with former 
Kansas standout Ben McLemore 
in Sacramento. This summer, he 
came back to Ann Arbor to work 
with Michigan strength and con-
ditioning coach Jon Sanderson and 
will hope to build on a strong finish 
to last season.

Tim Hardaway Jr.: Hardaway 

was part of a draft-day trade to 
the Atlanta Hawks, flipping him 
from one of the worst teams in the 
league (New York) to one of the 
best. The problem now might be 
finding minutes.

The Hawks have Kyle Korver 

and Kent Bazemore at Hardaway’s 
position, so he’ll have to fight for 
time on the court. Still, his career 
10.8 points per game is a respect-
able number, and being part of a 
winning environment could help 
raise Hardaway’s pedigree.

Glenn Robinson III: After a 

rookie year that saw him waived 
by the Minnesota Timberwolves 
and claimed by the 76ers, Robinson 
dazzled fans with 360 dunks and 
big numbers for the Hawks’ Sum-
mer League team along with fellow 

former Wolverine Jon Horford. He 
played so well that his hometown 
Indiana Pacers signed Robinson to 
a three-year contract at the end of 
Summer League.

Robinson enters the season as 

the fourth small forward on the 
Pacers’ depth chart, but his ver-
satility could allow him to move 
around for them. It’s hard to imag-
ine Robinson in their regular rota-
tion just yet, but his improvement 
was widely praised in Summer 
League. Maybe he has more in 
store for the season.

Mitch 
McGary: 
When 
he 

wasn’t making appearances at the 
Women’s College World Series, 
McGary continued his rise to cult 
heroism with hustle plays and put-
back dunks that made the rounds 
on social media. He recently 
told NewsOK.com he had lost 20 
pounds over the summer, giving 
hope that McGary could still live 
up to his potential.

His energy and athleticism 

could pay big dividends for the 
Oklahoma City Thunder, a team 
that looks ready to contend for a 
title. It wouldn’t be too surprising if 
the new-look McGary has a break-
out season for the Thunder.

Then again, McGary still has to 

beat out fellow centers Enes Kant-
er and Steven Adams for minutes. 
Health will a key factor in that, and 
down 20 pounds, this could be the 
year Big Mitch manages to stay on 
the court.

Trey Burke: Burke’s playing 

time trailed off a bit last year with 
the emergence of Dante Exum. 
He still managed 12.8 points per 
game and nearly five assists, but 
his shooting percentage was hov-
ering around 38 — too low to war-
rant the 30 minutes per game he 

was getting.

There were rumors Burke might 

be traded this offseason, but he 
stayed put, and still has a chance 
to stick around in Utah. The Jazz 
have a bright future, and Burke will 
still have opportunities to carve 
out a role with them.

He had a handful of 20-point 

games last season, and if he can get 
his shot more consistent, we could 
see Burke play a role for a playoff 
contender sooner rather than later.

Jamal Crawford: Remember 

Jamal Crawford? The Clippers’ 
sixth man hasn’t received the con-
tract extension he was hoping for, 
but still finds himself surrounded 
by a bevy of talent in Los Ange-
les. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and 
DeAndre Jordan have the Clippers 
once more primed for a playoff run, 
and bringing Lance Stephenson 
will make for an interesting experi-
ment as well.

Crawford is 35, but he can still 

play, and he should still have a 
well-defined roll off the bench in 
2015-16.

Jordan Morgan: After playing a 

year in Italy with Virtus Roma, the 
former Wolverine captain joined 
the Orlando Magic and Minne-
sota Timberwolves for the Orlando 
and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, 
respectively.

It didn’t translate to an NBA 

contract, but Morgan did earn 
a contract with L’Hermine de 
Nantes Atlantique of the French 
Professional B League this season.

He also kicked off his founda-

tion, The Jordan Morgan Foun-
dation, which aims to “provide 
education, support and encourage-
ment to today’s youth so that each 
individual has the opportunity to 
overcome any circumstance.”

