Knicks send Iggy Brazdeikis to the G-League
Iggy hasn't had quite as much success in the NBA as some other Beilein players. Hoping that he can surge back onto an active roster at some point.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:10 PM ^
I always thought he needed another year of college, he was in too much of a hurry to go pro, wish him luck!
Wave that maize n blue maple leaf flag!
February 1st, 2021 at 3:19 PM ^
Another year of college would have done nothing for him, he was already over 20 and doesn't have elite athleticism. He could either spend four years in college to get that experience or he could see what he could get professionally. His game was never going to play to a long term nba career and a few more years of just being stronger than college kids wasn't going to change that.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:25 PM ^
In fairness, he was facing a choice between an uncertain future as an amateur at Michigan with a new coach and an uncertain future as a professional with a guaranteed contract in the NBA. Given those choices, I can understand his decision.
Aside from his physical or athletic limitations, his biggest weakness at Michigan was that he wasn't always great at creating offense for others. I don't think he ever averaged more than an assist per game. Granted, he's not a PG, but he might have struggled in Juwan's offense given those limitations. I haven't followed him enough in the NBA to know what's holding him back, but I hope he can use this G-League stint to develop the skills necessary to take his game to the next level.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
Him leaving played a role in Beilein leaving. Beilein was sick of these guys constantly leaving early.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:05 PM ^
Right, but Beilein's decision was a few years in the making (as indicated by his flirtation with the Pistons the previous season). Iggy declared for the draft before Beilein left, but under the rules, he could have changed his mind and decided to stay without sacrificing his eligibility. The deadline for withdrawing from the draft was after Beilein left, so I'm sure the uncertainty about what the program would look like the following season was a factor in Iggy's decision to stay in the draft instead of returning.
February 1st, 2021 at 7:54 PM ^
He traded the one and done headache for the young and dumb headache. He was better off coaching Michigan men.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
Loved him during his brief stay here. Another story of a guy leaving too early. Hope he can get his career on track.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
Would staying an extra year, or 3, somehow transform him into the kind of plus athlete he’d have to be to stick on a nba roster?
Since the answer is a resounding ’no’ - he didn’t leave too early.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
Wrong answer. The kid was drafted 47th overall. He comes back for 1 more year and he would have been a top 20 pick, and made enough money to set himself up for life
February 1st, 2021 at 4:21 PM ^
Would he have, though? How would he have fit into Juwan's offense, with its emphasis on movement and "positionless basketball"?
February 1st, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
he would have been fine. better dribble/driver than livers for sure.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:21 PM ^
I doubt he’d ever be a top 20 pick with his physical limitations.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:22 PM ^
Disagree. As others have mentioned, he is limited athletically in regards to NBA-caliber talent, and he was already 20 years old when he was drafted (which is on the high-end for NBA prospects.)
His NBA hopes were going to be marginal at best regardless of when he left, so I'd say he actually left at the right time as he likely would not have been able to produce well enough in college to offset his age/athleticism in order to actually increase his draft stock.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
Lol the NBA doesn't draft physically limited 21 year olds top 20 because they produce in college
February 1st, 2021 at 4:56 PM ^
Wrong, but nice try. You have no idea how he would’ve fit into Howard’s system or if he would’ve improved his draft stock that much. I don’t follow the nba too closely but can’t remember any top 20 picks who are over 20 with limited athleticism.
He’s made, what, $3 million since he went pro versus $0 and some massive speculation on your part.
Try to stop making up bullshit and passing it off as fact.
February 1st, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^
Your first response was "Would staying an extra year, or 3, somehow transform him into the kind of plus athlete he’d have to be to stick on a nba roster? Since the answer is a resounding ’no’ - he didn’t leave too early." Same level of speculation, just a difference of opinion. So take your own advice about not passing bullshit off as facts asshole
February 1st, 2021 at 8:33 PM ^
The difference is that there’s no speculation on my part, whereas you have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about so you’re just resorting to insults. Let me break it down for you in really small words. Iggy lacks nba athleticism and, since he was already old as a freshman, his draft stock wasn’t going to rise very much, and certainly not enough to be a top 20 pick. Again - show me a single player over the age of 20 with sub-par (by nba standards) athleticism who was a top 20 pick in the last 5 years. If you can’t, then shut the fuck up.
I’m sorry that pointing out the stupidity of your argument made you butt-hurt, but here’s the thing- you threw about a bunch of nonsense, pretended like it was a fact, and then proceeded to double down on your nonsense when everyone who knows basketball disagreed with you. Go throw your tantrums elsewhere and quit being such a snowflake.
February 1st, 2021 at 9:50 PM ^
Bro, call your parents. You'll feel better about yourself.
February 1st, 2021 at 10:24 PM ^
Says the guy calling people assholes on the internet
February 1st, 2021 at 6:48 PM ^
Look, he signed a contract for $2.4 guaranteed, so not a bad downside for “leaving early”. But the question isn’t by staying whether he would have rocketed into a lottery pick but rather by polishing his game would he move up 10-20 spots. Such an increase would mean $millions in guaranteed money to someone that might not get a second NBA contract. It not as obvious as every seems to think.
February 1st, 2021 at 9:44 PM ^
I can think of $2,416,291 reasons and counting on why he didn't leave too early. It was not very likely he was going to move up in the draft after another year. There was more than likely a better chance of moving down than up.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^
He's been moving up and down since he got drafted. I think he really needed to stick around another year to refine his game (he got by in the Big 10 in decent part because he was physically mature and could muscle guys around, something he can't do in the pros nearly as well), but hopefully he'll figure it all out.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
do you really think he would improve his game more in college with all its restrictions vs being able to work endlessly on his game every day as a pro?
February 1st, 2021 at 3:19 PM ^
He was in the same recruiting class as Brandon Johns. He’d only be a junior on this team. Oh, the possibilities.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
Who would you rather have on the roster? a Junior Iggy or grad transfer Brown? I don't think Brown would have come over if Iggy was still here.
Hell, if Iggy was still on the team, who comes off the bench? Brooks? It's not Wagner or Livers.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:43 PM ^
He wouldn't have stayed this year - he would have stayed last year. Do you think having him around when Livers got hurt would have helped? That was a team that was giving DDJ 22mpg along with letting Nunez have a fair amount of playing time too. We also played more two-big lineups than I ever want to see again.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
I agree with what others have said re: him needed an extra year or so, but he made $900K last year and is on the books for $1.5M this year while he figures out if he can stick.
If NIL was a thing, that would have made staying in college a lot more attractive.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
good points. also he can probably go play in Europe & still make a pretty good paycheck if the G-League doesn't work out & nobody's willing to give him another shot.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:47 PM ^
Jordan Poole was also sent down to the G-League. Feels like those two guys will be forever linked in Michigan history. Both were really fun players for Michigan and I cherish the memories they gave us. Both of them leaving "early" probably contributed to Beilein's sudden departure as well - given that he had to rebuild his whole roster again after losing guys that were most likely going to get closer to their full potential with one more year at Michigan.
Now....I totally respect the arguments that people are making about another year at Michigan not changing fundamentally who they are. That's fair - and obviously the NBA is notorious for preferring raw potential over actual production. It is also fair to say that they both made the "right" decision since they each received a full contract and a couple million bucks - even if they don't stick in the league and haven't had much success.
Personally I think Iggy had a shot to demonstrate some ability to facilitate for others, improve as a defender, and maybe show some positional versatility. Would it have mattered long term? Eh...maybe he sneaks into the first round and a team gives him some extra money but probably not significantly. I hope both guys find a way to stick in the league for another contract.
February 1st, 2021 at 3:56 PM ^
He was a good player for Michigan in one year, but he really didn't do anything great that could stand out for an NBA roster.
Smaller guy that doesn't rebound all that well, not the most athletic dude out there, good but not great 3P shooter (low sample size).
Sadly, I just never saw him as a successful NBA guy- felt like a guy that would be on benches or in Europe.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
Yeah when I say Michigan players left to early I usually mean from the front office guys throwing money at them. You would rather have Iggy on a NBA roster than Garza? But I think Garza could be a final big on a roster who could score when he went in. The shortcomings listed for Iggy are just crazy when you think about it.
February 1st, 2021 at 6:00 PM ^
I don't see Garza starting unless he develops defensively. He could definitely come off the bench and score though.
February 1st, 2021 at 4:01 PM ^
Couldn’t see this coming. /s
February 1st, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
Take note, Franz.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:09 PM ^
I feel like their developmental considerations are reversed: Iggy was old for his class, was a relatively polished scorer already, but had a low physical ceiling. Franz is young for his class, is still a pretty unfinished product offensively, but has very good size and decent mobility for an NBA wing. There's a strong case for Franz to stay and develop, but Iggy's decision to leave was pretty reasonable.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
I think Franz is gone but Hunter will be back.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:31 PM ^
Chasing your dreams doesn't always pan out, especially when you want to speed things up. And as we always hear, sometimes these kids aren't getting the best advise.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:34 PM ^
Charles Matthews, Zavier Simpson, and Jon Teske are Michigan alums on G League rosters this season, along with Iggy and Jordan Poole getting sent down.
February 1st, 2021 at 5:57 PM ^
Another year of seasoning would have done him good.
February 1st, 2021 at 7:07 PM ^
Remember how good Iggy was?
February 1st, 2021 at 7:09 PM ^
Gets really tiring how many fans here have to criticize a guy going pro any time they have eligibility left. He's been gone 2 years. People act like he hasn't been practicing and developing day in and day out in the NBA for the past 2 years. He wouldn't be LeBron just because he stayed at Michigan another year.
February 1st, 2021 at 7:21 PM ^
This is good for Iggy. He's buried on the bench, Thibs keeps a very tight rotation and is no tank commander. Iggy hasn't been impressive this year but at least he's been with the team. Hopefully he can light up the G league again, use those minutes to improve and continue to be a lowkey fan favorite