BATON ROUGE – The 2015-16 NBA season opens Tuesday night and five-of-the-six former LSU Tigers presently on NBA teams are expected to be active for their team’s opening games.
However, three will be appearing in new uniforms and two will be entering their rookie campaigns.
Brandon Bass is the LSU veteran in the NBA, having been drafted after his 2005 SEC Player of the Year season. Bass is now with the Los Angeles Lakers as he enters his 11th season in the league. He has played in 640 games and is averaging 9.1 points and 4.7 rebounds for his career. He averaged 10.6 points a year ago.
Marcus Thornton also makes a team change to the Houston Rockets as he enters his seventh year in the league. Thornton has appeared in 389 games and is averaging 12.7 points for his career with 616 three-pointers. Last season, Thornton suited up for Toronto, Boston and Phoenix.
Garrett Temple has found a home at the moment in Washington, as he plays for the Wizards for the fourth of his six NBA seasons. Temple picked up on a 10-day and then for the last part of the Washington season in 2013, signed a one-yard deal in 2014 and he will play the second year of a two-year contract in 2016.
Johnny O’Bryant III, who played three years at LSU, will be in his second season with the Milwaukee Bucks. O’Bryant III played in 34 games in his rookie season, averaging 10.8 minutes per game.
Two All-SEC first-team members from the 2015 team were drafted this past June following their sophomore years at LSU. Jordan Mickey has had a good summer league and preseason showing going into the opener for the Celtics. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds with 1.1 blocks in seven preseason games.
Jarell Martin was considered for a starting position with the Memphis Grizzlies but he suffered a broken foot in early September and is still listed as out indefinitely.
None of the players are in action on Tuesday night, but on Wednesday Washington is at Orlando at 6 p.m. CT, Philadelphia is at Boston (6:30 p.m.), Denver at Houston (7 p.m. CT), New York at Milwaukee at 7 p.m. and Minnesota at the Lakers on ESPN at 9:30 p.m.
Hoping to get back soon into NBA action is veteran 2006 SEC Player of the Year Glen Davis, who has been with the Los Angeles Clippers of late. The free agent injured his ankle in the summer and has been sidelined since undergoing surgery.