As we approach the December 15th threshold for when players who were signed in the offseason are eligible to be traded, we check in again to see how our favorite Syracuse players are faring in the NBA…
Buddy Boeheim. Last time we checked in on Boeheim, he had played in just one NBA game for the Detroit Pistons. He still sits at just one game played this season. On October 21, Boeheim registered one minute of action, but didn’t attempt a shot, record a rebound, dish out an assist or anything else… an error-free minute! Detroit currently owns one of the worst records in the league and, this week, announced their star second-year guard Cade Cunningham will have season-ending surgery on his shin. The Pistons, despite having an exciting group of young, impact talent, is still clearly in rebuild mode. That may help Boeheim’s chances of seeing court time later this season.
Oshae Brissett. The Indiana Pacers were a .500 team (5-5), as of the last update. A month later, they are right above .500 at 15-14. But Brissett has become a more regular part of the rotation. After averaging just 8.0 minutes per game through the first 10 games, he has more than doubled that number to 16.2 minutes per game, to this point. He had scored just four points in his first five games (he missed half of the first 10 games). Since then, he has scored in double figures in seven games, including in five of eight December games. So far this month, he has averaged 20.0 minutes, along with 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds a contest.
Jerami Grant. Despite Damian Lillard missing 12 games so far this season, the Portland Trail Blazers have stayed afloat in the Western Conference with a 16-12 record. Credit some of the water treading to Grant, who is enjoying a career-best 22.4 points per game thus far. After a bit of a slow start with 15.7 points per game in six October games, Grant has acclimated himself to the Portland roster, scoring 24.9 points a game (and shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc) in November and 23.0 points per game in December. Grant had a five-game stretch in late November and into December where he averaged 33 points and had scoring outputs of 44 points, 33 points and 32 points.
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Cole Swider. Swider still hasn’t seen any action since the Los Angeles Lakers’ opening game of the season, where he played just two minutes. Since then, he has been recovering from a stress fracture in his right foot. It appears there has still been no timetable established for his return. Despite the Lakers sitting at just 11-15 on the season, they have played better of late. They still are looking to add shooting (including the persisting rumors of their interest in Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic… which, coincidentally, could be a factor in freeing up a couple minutes for Boeheim to play in Detroit). So, if/when Swider does come back this season, he could provide a lift off the bench, in terms of long-range accuracy.
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