Photo credit - Keith Allison

Two former IU basketball players dealt at NBA trade deadline

Two former IU basketball stars are on the move after midseason NBA deals reported on Thursday.

One-and-done Hoosier Eric Gordon is headed back to where his NBA career started with the Los Angeles Clippers, Shams Charania of the Athletic is reporting.

The 2022-23 season was Gordon’s seventh with the Rockets, where he was Houston’s longest-tenured player. In seven seasons with the franchise, the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year averaged 15.7 points (36.0% on 3-pointers) and 2.3 assists in 30.4 minutes.

The 34-year-old Gordon started his NBA career in 2008 with the Clippers.  He is currently 21st all-time in NBA history when it comes to 3-pointers made.

In his only season at Indiana, Gordon started all 32 games and averaged 20.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 43.3% from the field and 33.7% from three.

Thomas Bryant was also traded on Thursday, from the Lakers to the Nuggets according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Bryant is in the midst of a solid season, averaging 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 65.4% overall. He filled in admirably for the Lakers when star big man Anthony Davis was out from mid-December to late January.  Bryant put up similar numbers in 2019-20 and 2020-21 before a knee injury set him back.

The 25-year-old Bryant was taken in the second round by Utah in 2017, but was sent Lakers as part of a trade.  He played four years in Washington before signing with the Lakers again during the offseason.

A two-time third-team All-Big Ten selection, Bryant is Indiana’s all-time and single season leader in field goal percentage (59.2 and 68.3, respectively).  As a freshman at IU, his 15 points in the second half led the Hoosiers to a 73-67 win over No. 10 Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.


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