Deacs in the Bubbles Update

Note: Stats taken from ESPN.com and WNBA.com and updated as of Sunday evening, August 9th.

Three former Deacs—Chris Paul, Ish Smith, and Jaylen Hoard—are with their teams participating in the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida.

John Collins (Atlanta Hawks), Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks), and James Johnson (Minnesota Timberwolves) are all not participating in the bubble due to their teams not having enough wins to be invited to the bubble. Al-Farouq Aminu (Orlando Magic) is sitting out due to a season-ending knee injury suffered in March.

Dearica Hamby is in the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida playing for the Las Vegas Aces.

Paul is the starting point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and has led the Thunder to a 3-2 record in the bubble. Since the restart Chris is averaging 31.6 minutes, 18.4 points, 7 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. He is shooting 54.1% from the field on 61 attempts, 52.9% from beyond the arc on 17 attempts, and 94.4% from the free throw line on 18 attempts.

Smith has started 3 of the Washington Wizards’ 5 games in the bubble. Since the restart, Smith is averaging 26.8 minutes, 13.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 40.3% from the field on 62 attempts, 33.3% from beyond the arc on 15 attempts, and 91.7% from the free throw line on 12 attempts. Ish’s best game in the bubble so far came on August 7 against the New Orleans Pelicans when he had 18 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals in 32 minutes of action.

Jaylen Hoard is on the roster for the Portland Trail Blazers and is in the bubble with the team, but has not seen any action in any of the bubble games.

Dearica Hamby serves in the sixth woman role for the Las Vegas Aces (she was the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year last season), and has helped the Aces to a 5-2 start. Hamby is averaging 28.7 minutes, 12.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. She is shooting 59.6% from the field on 57 attempts, 50% from beyond the arc on 10 attempts, and 69.5% from the free throw line on 23 attempts. Dearica’s best game so far came on August 5th against Washington when she had a double-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 32 minutes of action.

Best of luck to each of our former Deacons competing in the NBA and WNBA bubbles. Go Deacs!