The 2020-21 NBA season has arrived and three former South Carolina men’s basketball stars are on three different active lists. Sindarius Thornwell is with the New Orleans Pelicans, PJ Dozier is with the Denver Nuggets and Chris Silva is with the Miami Heat.
All three teams are in action on Wednesday the second day of the season calendar:
Miami and Orlando – 7 p.m.
New Orleans and Toronto – 7:30 p.m.
Sacramento, Denver – 9 p.m.
Sindarius Thornwell – G, No 12 | 6-4, 215 lbs
The three-year-old pro is back on an NBA contract after spending last season in the G-League with the Houston Rockets and in the NBA bubble with the Pelicans. He signed a veteran contract with New Orleans in November. The 25-year-old is earning $ 1.68 million this season.
Back in September, after ending his stay in the Orlando bubble, Thornwell told TheBigSpur.com that he enjoyed his time with the franchise and the short stay in Florida was a chance to build a relationship with the organization.
Last year, Thornwell was cut by the Los Angeles Clippers after two seasons. He spent the preseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was cut. The Houston Rockets signed him, but selected him to the G-League, where he played in 40 games and started 26. He averaged 29 minutes, 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. match. He shot 43 percent from the field, 29 percent from the three-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.
PJ Dozier – G, No 35 | 6-6, 205 lbs
Dozier was called up from the NBA League in January in his first season with Denver, and was singled out as an off-bench option during the regular season, the NBA Bubble restarts play and playoffs.
Dozier played in 21 of 26 possible games before the NBA season ended in March. He averaged 11.1 minutes, 4.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. In eight games played in the bubble, Dozier averaged 22.3 minutes, 10.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He participated in 12 playoff games and averaged 10.3 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
The 23-year-old’s base salary for the 2020-21 season is $ 1.76 million.
Chris Silva – F, No 30 | 6-8, 234 lbs
From undrafted to summer league contracts to two-way contracts to a full NBA deal, it was pretty much the rookie season for the former two-time All-SEC Gamecocks forward.
Silva appeared in 41 of Miami’s 65 regular season games before the season ended. He appeared in three of Miami’s eight seed games in the NBA Bubble. He could not help the Heat in the playoffs through the Eastern Conference to the NBA Finals due to a stress fracture on his pubic bone. His rookie regular season ended with him averaging 7.5 minutes, 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. The 24-year-old will earn $ 1.52 million this season.