Former Alabama forward Brandon Miller (#24) dribbles toward the goal.
Former Alabama forward Brandon Miller (#24) dribbles toward the goal.
The NBA regular season tips off Tuesday night, with seven former Alabama players set to compete on NBA rosters.
Over the past few weeks, teams have played exhibition preseason games, which allow veterans and established players to condition for the season and players lower in teams’ rotations to prove their worth.
The Crimson Tide has former players in both categories. The longest-tenured among anyone from Alabama is guard Collin Sexton, who, after stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz, is now with the Charlotte Hornets. This preseason, he scored 14.4 points per game with about five assists on 20 minutes a game, similar proportionately to last year’s 27 minutes per contest and 18 points.
Another veteran is Herb Jones, a guard-forward for the New Orleans Pelicans. Jones has made a name for himself on the defensive end throughout his career — he finished top-five in voting for Defensive Player of the Year in 2023-24 — without stuffing the stat sheet offensively. Across two games this preseason, he played 22.4 minutes per with 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds, not far off from his 2024-25 regular season averages of 10.3 points and 3.9 rebounds.
The last player who truly fits into the “established” category, in this case more because of reputation and expectation than because of length of tenure, is Hornets wing Brandon Miller. The leader of the 2022-23 Alabama team that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament finished third in Rookie of the Year voting his rookie year and then missed the majority of last year due to injury.
This preseason, he played 23 minutes per game across four contests, averaging 14.5 on a measly 40.5% field goal percentage; in particular, he struggled to find his 3-point shot, shooting 6.3 a game but only hitting 1.8 for a below-average 28%. Fans will hope that shooting stroke comes back when official games start, and in the meantime they can enjoy ahighlight-reel alley-oop he shared with teammate LaMelo Ball.
In the category of unestablished players, most prominent is Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney, who played alongside Miller on the 2022 Alabama team. Clowney got some run last year with a rebuilding Nets squad that went 26-56, and he put up 9.1 points on 35.8% field goal shooting and a 33.3% mark from deep along with four rebounds.
This preseason he matched that scoring in less minutes and has also upped his efficiency, shooting 44.4% from the field and 43.8% from 3. The Nets will find immense value if he can translate the rebounding and scoring skills he showed at Alabama to the NBA.
Kings guard Keon Ellis logged 24.4 minutes per game last year, and in those minutes he put up 8.3 points on 43% 3-point shooting with 1.5 assists along with adefensive box plus/minus of 2.0, which was second on the team. With 10.7 minutes in three games this preseason, he scored 3.3 points with 0.3 assists and 0.7 rebounds.
Elsewhere, former Crimson Tide players are fighting for just a permanent roster spot. Guard JD Davison, who earned hisfirst standard NBA contract last season with the Celtics, is now with the Houston Rockets. This preseason he was impressive, scoring 10.5 points on 48.4% from the field and 47.1% from 3-point range and nabbing a solid 1.3 steals.
Braxton Key, a forward for the Grizzlies, has been a journeyman in his relatively short career, as Memphis is the fifth team he has played for in as many seasons. This preseason, he played above his career average of 7.5 minutes, logging 17 minutes a game with 8 points, six rebounds and a steal.
Fans can watch these former Alabama players compete throughout the season on avariety of networks. The NBA season tips off on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC/Peacock with the Houston Rockets vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.