Let’s Check In On The Gamecocks In The NBA/G-League

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South Carolina Gamecocks basketball has not produced a lot of star basketball talent in in it’s programs history.

The basketball program’s success outside of college hoops, really only extends to Alex English, with a few alums still moving around in the league whether it be the NBA or the G-League.

In hopes to try to keep up with these alumni, here is where they are now:

Sindarius Thornwell

Sindarius Thornwell, who led the Gamecocks to their historic Final Four run, was drafted in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks but was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Thornwell had an array of college accolades, including being named on the All SEC-First Team, and even winning SEC Player of the Year.

Sindarius Thornwell was signed to the Clippers G-League affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers.

His numbers on the Clippers weren’t up to their expectations as they waived him in early-summer 2019. He then was waived by the Cavaliers before the NBA season.

He is currently on the Rio Grande Vally Vipers, a Houston Rockets affiliate.

He is averaging 10 points a game, shooting nearly 40% from the field. He is also averaging five rebounds and assists, one steal per game and nearly a block a game.

In his last game, he notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.

Sindarius is a talented player but his numbers in the G-League are going to need to improve if he’s to make a spot on an NBA team roster.

PJ Dozier

Previous five-star recruit, PJ Dozier is still active in the NBA G-League.

After being waived by the Mavericks, he signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder where he made news as he was given the number 35, the same number as NBA Scoring Champion, MVP and champion, Kevin Durant.

He then bounced to the Boston Celtics, where he didn’t get a lot of minutes and spent most of his time with the Maine Red Claws.

Dozier is finally making some ground towards earning an NBA roster spot as he is playing very well this season for the Windy City Bulls (surprisingly assigned there by the Denver Nuggets).

He’s averaging 21 points a game, eight rebounds and almost eight assists per game.

On top of improving stats, he also was named All G-League Showcase First Team and even being named the player of the week.

Brandon Ewing of DenverStiffs even stated “[The] G-League Showcase should have been named the ‘The PJ Dozier Show’.

With his current numbers in the G-League, he will more than likely get a spot on a team somewhere in the league.

He will have to prove his worth and produce good numbers off the bench to solidify a role for the team.

Chris Silva

The Miami Heat are somewhat of a surprise this season as they are a highly-competitive roster with plenty of talent.

The organization has quite a few young players who are performing on a high level including Kendrick Nunn, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and the likes of Gamecock alum Chris Silva.

In his first NBA debut, Silva finished with eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, one of which was on Rookie Of The Year frontrunner, Ja Morant.

That block was posted on HouseOfHighlights later that night as the forward looked to continue improving.

Since his debut, Silva has been putting up similar numbers when given good minutes.

He is signed to a two-way contract with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, however, 34 of the 45 allotted days to stay in the NBA have been used (two-way contracts allow players to be in the NBA for 45 days before the team has to either sign him to an actual roster spot, or send them to finish the G-League season with the affiliate). 

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently helped reunite Gabon-native Silva with his mother for the first time in three years.

The Heat released the heartwarming video of the mother-son reunion around the Christmas holidays.

With the talent and work ethic Silva has, I believe the Heat will use their final roster spot and call him up to the bench.

He will get the chance to continue to show why he should stay on an NBA roster. 

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