Where Are They Now? The Last 5 Bulldogs to Be Drafted to the NBA
A few weeks ago, Sports Illustrated wrote about the positive momentum surrounding UGA basketball this upcoming season. In the report, SI highlighted that the Bulldogs have potentially three players—Asa Newell, Somto Cyril, and Tyrin Lawrence—who have decent chances of being picked up in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Having all three drafted would be unprecedented, of course, and we cannot tell how the season will pan out for those players, nor UGA generally. Yet, we do know that UGA has produced plenty of gems in recent years. Some made the cut and ended up being picked up in the NBA Draft. Let’s look at the five most recent below:
Toumani Camara – 2023 Draft
Ok. We are cheating a bit to get started as Camara was not a Bulldogs player when drafted. He spent two seasons with UGA basketball (alongside the second name on this list) before deciding that his interests were better served by a new team. Camara was part of the Dayton Flyers. He had personal success there, and he was picked up by the Phoenix Suns in the 2023 NBA Draft, moving on to the Portland Trailblazers in a three-team trade. The Belgian small forward did well in his first season in Portland, and he has been impressive in the NBA preseason, too. He’ll have a decent NBA career on this trajectory.
Anthony Edwards – 2020 Draft
We probably don’t need to say much about Anthony Edwards. He’s a superstar. Edwards has become a leader in a stacked Minnesota Timberwolves team, one that is considered to have a decent chance of going all the way this season. The two-time All-Star will also see himself as an MVP candidate this season, and he’s placed as 5th favorite in the NBA odds to grab the accolade. At 23, he has all the tools he needs to be a modern great.
Nicolas Claxton – 2019 Draft
While he won’t be getting the individual recognition of Edwards, Nic Claxton has become a steady player and an important component of the Brooklyn Nets, for whom he has played all five seasons of his NBA career. Claxton took some time to get his career up and going, but he is now an automatic starter for the Nets. He’s got 20 Playoff appearances under his belt, too. The only downside is that the Nets are very much in rebuild mode. Don’t expect much from them this season.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – 2013 Draft
The most successful player on this list in terms of team accolades, Caldwell-Pope won NBA Championships with the Lakers and, most recently, the Nuggets. Caldwell-Pope is a reliable and versatile player known for his strong perimeter defense, three-point shooting, and ability to fit well into various team systems. In short, he is a coach’s dream player. In the 2024 offseason, he opted to join the Orlando Magic. It should be interesting to see how he fits in there, as Orlando feels like a team that could surprise in the 2024/25 NBA season.
Trey Thompkins – 2011 Draft
Proof that there is life in basketball beyond the NBA? Thompkins spent just two seasons with the LA Clippers, one of which he spent injured. Europe called, however, and he headed off to Russia to play for Nizhny Novgorod in EuroLeague. A successful season in Russia saw him attract the interest of Real Madrid, and he would spend several years in Spain, winning the EuroLeague in 2018. He returned to Russia with Zenit St Petersburg in 2022, before swapping Russia for Serbia, playing for Crvena Zvezda this past two seasons. Perhaps not the superstar career Thompkins had hoped for, but he has won more team trophies than any player on this list. Thompkins has had a fine career, just not in the United States.