Hoops Update: Ohio State basketball players in the NBA
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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While the majority of the Buckeyes in the NBA have already been eliminated from the playoffs, there are a few who will be involved in the postseason.

Currently there are seven Ohio State Buckeyes who are playing in the NBA. Even though there are some who started their career in Columbus before transferring out of the program like Micah Potter, for the purposes of today’s article we are highlighting those who either spent their whole college career as a Buckeye, or Ohio State was their last stop before moving on to the professional ranks.

Since teams have around five games left before the end of the regular season, today felt like a great time to recap how those Buckeyes in the NBA have fared this season. There have been some high moments, low moments, and some just plain weird moments during the regular season.

Ranging from an experienced veteran like Mike Conley, to rookie Jamison Battle who is trying to prove he belongs in the league, today we are giving you all you need to know in an easily digestible form.

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Mike Conley - Minnesota Timberwolves​

The former Ohio State point guard is now in his 18th season in the NBA. Conley has shown he can still hang with the best players in the league, playing a key role on a Minnesota squad that made the Western Conference Finals last season, and is 45-32 this year.

The Timberwolves enter Friday’s action sitting in seventh in the Western Conference, but a lot could change before the end of the regular season, as Minnesota is just two games behind the third place Denver Nuggets, who they beat in a thrilling double overtime game on Tuesday night.

Since he plays on a team loaded with talent like Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Donte DiVincenzo, Conley doesn’t have to do it all. The veteran is playing 25 minutes per game, which is the lowest total of his career. The good news about playing less minutes is Conley should be fresher for the playoffs.

The reduced workload has paid some dividends recently, as Conley averaged 10.2 points per game in March, which is almost two points per game better than the 8.5 points per game he is averaging this season.

If Minnesota has designs on making another deep playoff run this year, they’ll need Conley on the court since he plays tremendous defense. Conley also gives the team veteran leadership, which could come in handy at times since at times Anthony Edwards plays with his emotions on his sleeve and needs to be reeled in at times.

Getting past top-seeded Oklahoma City is going to be tough, but Minnesota has the talent to keep pace with the Thunder.

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D’Angelo Russell - Brooklyn Nets​

The only other former Buckeye who has been a regular starter this year is D’Angelo Russell, who started the season with the Los Angeles Lakers before being traded back to the Brooklyn Nets.

Since his second stint with the Nets began, Russell has started 26 of the 29 games he has appeared in, averaging 12.9 points per game and 5.6 assists per game. It has been obvious that Russell hasn’t been quite as engaged on the court since the trade, which is understandable since he was traded from a playoff team to a Brooklyn squad who is one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference.

One of Russell’s better games with the Nets came on Monday when he scored 18 points and dished out 11 assists in a 113-109 win at Dallas. The best performance for Russell this year came back in December when he was still with the Lakers, scoring 28 points and finishing with 14 assists against Portland.

Russell will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

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Brice Sensabaugh - Utah Jazz​

One former Buckeye who is putting up some strong numbers on a very bad team is Brice Sensabaugh. So far this season, Sensabaugh has started 10 games and appeared in 66 total contests for the Utah Jazz, who are 16-61 this season.

It looks obvious that the Jazz are tanking for a shot at winning the Cooper Flagg lottery. At least Sensabaugh has shown up when his number has been called, averaging 10.3 points per game this season.

Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

What has been impressive about Sensabaugh is how he has been shooting from long range, canning 42 percent of his three-point attempts. In the month of March, Sensabaugh averaged 12.8 points per game, which was only topped by his 14.3 points per game average from January. Pushing up that January average was a 34-point game in a 136-100 win at Miami, marking his season-high scoring total.

Head coach Will Hardy has done some weird things with his lineups and rotations, which makes you wonder if Sensabaugh’s numbers this year would be better if there was more consistently in the lineups the Jazz put on the floor.

Then again, it’s hard to fault the team for doing what they are doing if they feel like they have a real shot at winning the lottery and bringing Flagg to Salt Lake City.

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Jamison Battle - Toronto Raptors​

Another Ohio State alum who is trying to make a name for himself on a bad team is Jamison Battle, who spent last year in Columbus after transferring from Minnesota. Battle would go undrafted in June, signing a two-way contract with the Raptors in October.

Battle would impress Toronto enough to have his contract converted into a standard three-year contract in early February.



So far this season Battle has played in 54 games, starting seven times. With Toronto eliminated from playoff contention, Battle has seen an uptick in minutes recently. In March, Battle played 26.7 minutes per game, and so far in April he has averaged 27.5 minutes per game.

To close out March, Battle scored 16 points at Philadelphia, pushing his scoring average for the month to 9.5 points per game. The only game this season where Battle scored more points came at the end of November when he poured in 24 points at New Orleans.

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Jae’Sean Tate - Houston Rockets​

Despite his role having shrunk this year, at least Jae’Sean Tate is playing on a team headed to the playoffs, which is more than the majority of former Buckeyes in the NBA can say. Tate has played in 49 games, starting two contests for the Houston Rockets, who have already clinched the Southwest Division. The Pickerington native is averaging 11.3 minutes per game this year, having played at least 20 minutes in just five games.

Even though Tate hasn’t played a ton this year, he could be invaluable for the Rockets in the playoffs because of how he can do a little bit of everything on the court. If Houston needs someone to come off the bench and give them a gritty performance, head coach Ime Udoka doesn’t need to look any further than Tate.

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Malaki Branham - San Antonio Spurs​

The most puzzling year this season for a former Buckeye certainly has to go to Malaki Branham, who looked like he was headed for a bright future with the San Antonio Spurs. After starting 61 games over his first two seasons in the NBA, this year Branham hasn’t started a game, only appearing in 43 games overall.

The lack of use has been even more surprising considering there isn’t a lot for the team to play for after Victor Wembanyama and newly acquired De’Aaron Fox have both been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injuries.

Most of the damage Branham has done on the court this year came early on when he scored at least 10 points in four games between October 28th and November 7th. The only other double digit scoring games for Branham have come recently, scoring 13 points in a blowout loss to Golden State, as well as on Wednesday night against Denver, who was resting a number of starters after a double overtime loss to Minnesota the night before.

It feels pretty obvious that Branham doesn’t factor heavily into San Antonio’s future plans. Then again, there is a lot of uncertainty with the team following the medical issue head coach Gregg Popovich was dealing with early in the year which led to assistant coach Mitch Johnson taking over for Popovich for the rest of the season.

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E.J. Liddell - Chicago Bulls​

The good news for E.J. Liddell is the Chicago Bulls have already earned a spot in the play-in tournament. The bad news for Buckeye fans is they likely won’t see Liddell play in the postseason.

If the regular season is any indication, Liddell will be glued to the bench, since he has only played in eight games in his first season with the Bulls. Since December, Liddell has only played in three games, totaling nine minutes on the court. At least three of those minutes played came on Tuesday in a win over Toronto, so maybe Liddell is working his way into head coach Billy Donovan’s good graces.

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