There are a few former Wildcats currently plying their trade professionally in the NBA. Spread across different teams in far-away cities, sometimes it can be hard to keep track of some of our old heroes. Here are some quick hits:
Kyle Lowry is currently competing for the starting PG role on the Houston Rockets. Most observers expect Aaron Brooks to take on a larger role in the offense this year, but Lowry intends to give him a run for his money. Lowry told reporters, "I know me and Aaron are going to go out there, we're going to battle, and Coach is going to make the decision on who is best to be the starter. I think we both want that job. Whatever happens happens. We both have to go out there and play and help the team win.” Coaches have been impressed by Kyle's conditioning coming into camp. He recently scored 12 points off the bench (but had more total minutes than Brooks) in a preseason game against the Bucks.
Randy Foye is struggling to make an impact early on (despite his own confident projections) with the Wizards and Rotoworld seems to think he may have fallen out of the SG competition. Foye is apparently seen to fit better as the primary backup to Gilbert Arenas, though Flip Saunders did give him a start at the 2 over the weekend. In Sunday's game (a loss to the Raptors), he scored 10 points (3-of-9 FG, 0-of-1 3pt, 4-of-4 FT), had two rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 22 minutes.
Update: Randy Foye came off the bench and scored 21 points (19 in the fourth quarter) in the Wizards' rout of the LeBron-less Cavs. Foye lead the team with 5 assists and also had 2 steals in 24 minutes. Mike Miller lead DC in scoring with 24 points. This performance helps Foye's quest for minutes this season, but if he hopes to secure a starting job, he will have more work ahead.
Dante Cunningham is currently projected as the third-choice power forward on Portland's roster. He was one of only two players who didn't set foot on the court in the Blazers' preseason opener. He doesn't appear to be destined for a lot of minutes in his first season (having less than 20 minutes over the last two exhibition games). He was also recently spotted napping at Dodger Stadium (and having a prank played on him).
Tim Thomas was brought in by the Dallas Mavericks to provide help off the bench (specifically hoping boost their chances with 3-point shooting). He had arthroscopic surgery on his knee last month, so his impact on the Dallas Mavericks roster this season largely remains to be seen. It has been speculated that he may provide value with post defense as well.
Finally, Malik Allen was traded over the summer to the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 49 games for the Bucks last season. Denverstiffs.com believes that if Allen can demonstrate an ability to hit his shots from 15-feet, that he can earn some significant minutes off of the Denver bench.