With the NBA All-Star break drawing near, let’s take a look at some of the NC State basketball alumni, who are playing in both the NBA and the D-League.
T.J. Warren, Small Forward, Phoenix Suns
Warren is currently the most well-known Wolfpack alumnus in the NBA, largely due to his final collegiate season in which he was named the 2014 ACC Player of the Year. He has battled injuries throughout his three seasons in the NBA, including a head injury he sustained in November that sidelined him for almost a month.
However, Warren seems to be back on his feet, as he has not missed a game since December and is back in the starting lineup. He has started 35 of the 42 games he has appeared in this season and is averaging 13.2 points, four rebounds and 1.2 steals in 29.3 minutes per game. While all of these figures are up from last season, his field-goal shooting seems to have digressed. He is shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and merely 24.7 percent from 3-point range after shooting at 50.1 and 40 percent, respectively, last season.
While Warren is clearly making an impact, he will have to improve his shooting if he wants to help jumpstart the young Suns’ team. Phoenix is currently sitting last in the Western Conference with a 17-38 record. However, despite the abysmal record, the playoffs are still within reach, as the Suns are only 7.5 games back from eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets.
Cat Barber, Point Guard, Greensboro Swarm
After surprisingly going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, Barber has bounced around quite a bit in the sub-NBA leagues. He started off in the summer league with the New Orleans Pelicans before going to the Philadelphia 76ers’ D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers. With the 87ers, he started all 21 games, averaging 14.2 points, 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and one steal in 31.1 minutes per game.
His productivity impressed the Swarm, leading to the team trading second-year guard Aaron Harrison for Barber on Feb. 3, a player who had been on-and-off the Charlotte Hornets NBA roster. With the Swarm, Barber has started three of four games and is averaging 13.5 points, five assists, 3.5 rebounds and one steal in 35.1 minutes per game.
While his usage has increased, his field-goal percentage has decreased from 43.7 percent with the 76ers to 32.8 percent with the Swarm. However, this is likely due to the change in system, so expect him to get back on track as he spends more time with his teammates.
Ralston Turner, Shooting Guard, Greensboro Swarm
The former Wolfpack 3-point ace was part of the Swarm’s inaugural roster, which just entered the D-League as the Hornets’ farm team for the 2016-17 season. Turner isn’t making quite the impact as Barber, as he is currently listed as the second shooting guard on the depth chart behind Duke alumnus Rasheed Sulaimon.
He is averaging 4.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in just 12.3 minutes per game in 28 games. The plus side for Turner is that he hasn’t lost his shooting touch, as he is currently converting 43.9 percent of his 3-point shots.
C.J. Leslie, Power Forward, Raptors 905
Now if you came to NC State any later than fall 2013, you never actually saw Leslie play at State as a student. However, he is still working hard to fulfill his NBA dream as a member of the Toronto Raptors’ D-League affiliate. With the Raptors 905 through 31 games this season, Leslie is logging 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 19.2 minutes per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor.
