Tag: uga basketball news

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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Minnesota Timberwolves select Georgia Bulldogs SG Anthony Edwards first overall

Georgia Bulldogs shooting guard Anthony Edwards in the NBA Draft. Edwards attended high school at Holy Spirit Prep School.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have selected Georgia Bulldogs shooting guard Anthony Edwards with the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Edwards is the first University of Georgia player to be picked number one overall in school history.

Anthony Edwards played high school basketball at Holy Spirit Prep School in Atlanta, Georgia. He was rated as one of the top players in the class of 2019 before committing to the University of Georgia.

Edwards played in 32 games in his one season at Georgia. The six-foot-five, 225 pound shooting guard averaged 19.1 points per game. Edwards shows potential as a shooter despite only making 29.4% of his three point attempts for a talent-depleted Bulldog team.

Anthony Edwards is as talented as any player in the 2020 NBA Draft. He possesses impressive athleticism, finishes strong at the basket, has NBA-level shot-making ability, and is quite strong for a 19 year old prospect.

Additionally, Edwards has high defensive potential due to his six-foot-nine wingspan and his athletic traits. Edwards must lock-in on the defensive side of the ball in the NBA in order to fulfill his true potential.

Overall, Anthony Edwards is one of the most talented players in the 2020 NBA Draft and is worthy of the high selection. Now, he must get to work and prove himself at the next level.

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TEMPE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 14: Anthony Edwards of the Georgia Bulldogs handles the ball against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half of the NCAAB game at Desert Financial Arena on December 14, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona.

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

 

UGA among top schools for five-star PG Bruce Thornton

The Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama, Ohio State, and more have made the top five schools for elite point guard Bruce Thornton

The Georgia Bulldogs have made the top five schools for elite point guard Bruce Thornton. Thornton is a member of the class of 2022.

Thornton puts Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Purdue, and Ohio State among his top schools. Can the University of Georgia land another elite basketball recruit? The Dawgs succeeded in landing Anthony Edwards, who blossomed into a potential top pick in the NBA Draft.

Bruce Thornton is six-foot-two and weighs 190 pounds. He’s got decent size for a point guard. He plays high school basketball at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Thornton is widely considered a five-star recruit and a top ten point guard in his recruiting class. He’d be an excellent addition for Tom Crean and UGA.

Bruce Thornton Sr. is Bruce’s father. He played football for four years at Georgia before playing in the NFL.

Here’s a graphic of Thornton’s top schools per @RivalsDan’s Twitter account:

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UGA basketball left out of SEC/Big 12 Challenge

The Georgia Bulldogs basketball team will no be participating in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge this season.

The Georgia Bulldogs basketball team will no be participating in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge this season. The Dawgs are one of four unlucky SEC basketball programs who won’t participate.

The SEC has 14 basketball teams while the Big 12 has only ten. This means that four SEC teams have to sit out each season. The SEC/Big 12 Challenge is expected to take place on Jan. 30, 2021.

The most interesting games in the series will be Texas at Kentucky, Auburn at Baylor, and Kansas at Tennessee. Last season’s college basketball season ended too soon. Hopefully this season will go smoother.

Here are the SEC’s ten match-ups with the Big 12:

Instead of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the Dawgs will face off against the Memphis Tigers. UGA upset Memphis last season in what was the high point of the season for the Bulldogs. Georgia loses an elite player in Anthony Edwards to the NBA Draft this offseason.

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Nations No. 1 PF, Georgia native Jabari Smith to announce commitment Friday

Jabari Smith of Tyrone, Georgia is set to make his college decision this Friday, choosing between UGA, Auburn, LSU, UNC and Georgia Tech.

5-star power forward Jabari Smith is set to commit between Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Georgia Tech and UNC on Friday, according to reports by TiptonEdits and later ย confirmed by ESPN.

Smith is rated as the No. 1 power forward and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia in the 2021 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

Georgia basketball coach Tom Crean has experience in keeping star basketball players in-state and signing them to play for the Bulldogs.

Possible 2020 NBA No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards did just that for the Bulldogs last year when the Atlanta native signed with Georgia and was named SEC Freshman of the Year in his one season with the Bulldogs.

247Sports currently predicts Smith will sign with Auburn.

Check back here Friday for updates on Smith’s commitment.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ‘saved us’

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping win game one of the NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win game one of the NBA Finals. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat 116-98 in a disastrous game for the Heat. Miami lost and suffered several key injuries to Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic.

Before the Lakers took a comfortable lead, Miami raced out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter. Los Angeles looked lost offensively and LeBron James checked out of the game for his usual rest.

Needing a spark offensively, some open looks fell to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who buried a pair of threes and scored a few points in the paint. KCP helped stave off Miami’s initial onslaught.

Los Angeles, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, didn’t look back from there. The Lakers outscored the Heat 55-25 for the rest of the first half. The Heat never cut the Lakers lead to single digits for the whole second half.

Following the game, Anthony Davis credited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He said that:

“KCP saved us.”

Davis and the Lakers will look to defeat the Heat next on Friday night. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has a large role on the team and plays the third-most minutes for LA. He doesn’t have to shoulder a massive scoring burden, but the team looks for him to step up in some big moments.

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Former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope makes NBA finals

Former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has made his first career NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has made his first career NBA Finals. Caldwell-Pope and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope began his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons. Detroit selected the Greenville, Georgia product with the 8th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Following four years with the Pistons, Caldwell-Pope joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in 2017. Caldwell-Pope hasn’t had to play as heavy of minutes for the Lakers, but he’s still making an impact.

In fact, for the first four games of the series Caldwell-Pope has stepped up to be the Lakers’ third option against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers have a dynamic duo in LeBron James and Anthony Davis that handles much of the scoring and playmaking burden for Los Angeles. While point guard Rajon Rondo is certainly the Lakers’ third playmaker, Caldwell-Pope has averaged 13.5 points per game throughout the first four games conference finals while shooting at an efficient clip.

The former Georgia player only scored 2 points in Game 5 against Denver, but he only took two shots. His defense and unselfishness helped Los Angeles get the win along with a 38 point triple-double from LeBron James.

KCP has shot 42.1% from three point range this postseason opening up countless driving lanes for LeBron James. The Lakers will face the winner of the Miami Heat versus Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Finals series.

Despite the heavy pressure of playing for the Lakers in the playoffs, Caldwell-Pope has been able to make some big-time plays in key moments throughout the Western Conference Finals.

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NBA Draft: Will Georgia’s Anthony Edwards go No. 1 to the Timberwolves?

Last night the Minnesota Timeberwolves received the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Will they take Anthony Edwards?

Thursday night the Minnesota Timberwolves were given the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NBA Draft during the annual NBA Draft Lottery, which is a random drawing of the top draft spots for the league’s upcoming draft.

The draft order is especially important to guys like Georgia basketball’s Anthony Edwards, a potential No. 1 pick.

DawgNation may have wanted to see the Atlanta Hawks in the No. 1 spot, but with Atlanta receiving the No. 6 pick – Edwards will most likely be off the board by the time the Hawks pick, barring a sizable trade.

Many mock drafts have Edwards and LaMelo Ball currently a top their big boards.

Melo took a more untraditional route to the draft than Edwards, electing to play in the AAU circuit in the States before going overseas for the past year to meet the NBA’s one-year out of high school draft requirement.

While Ball played well overseas, Edwards dominated the SEC as a freshman in 2019.

Edwards finished 2019 with 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and was named the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year โ€“ the first Bulldog to win the award.

We will have to wait until the October NBA Draft to see what the Timberwolves do with the No. 1 pick, but it may come down to who Minnesota thinks will be the best fit for their team in the long run.

Ball is a skilled point guard for sure, but with the Timberwolves adding star point guard D’Angelo Russel last season, they may elect to take Edwards at shooting guard, who is a more plug and play prospect with his explosiveness on both ends of the floor.

 

 

 

 

Watch: Georgia basketball’s Anthony Edwards talks NBA Draft, possibility of playing for Hawks

Anthony Edwards sits down with Bleacher Report to discuss the NBA Draft and how he should be the No. 1 overall pick.

The NBA will be holding its annual Draft Lottery this Thursday, August 20 at 8:30 pm and we will be watching to find out which teams will have a shot at drafting Georgia basketball star Anthony Edwards as he tries to become UGA’s first-ever No. 1 NBA draft pick.

Edwards was a one-and-done for the Bulldogs, but his dominant play was something DawgNation will be able to look back on with pride.

He led the Bulldogs in 2019 with 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and was named the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year – the first Bulldog to win the award.

Here’s Edwards as he sits down with Bleacher Reports Taylor Rooks to talk about the upcoming draft and how he would feel about possibly staying home in Georgia to play for the Hawks.

Watch the interview here.