Later tonight, the NBA Playoffs are set to begin. Well, somewhat. Tonight starts the Play-In Tournament that decides the final teams to make the playoffs, but either way, the march towards the NBA Finals begins over the next couple days. While UNC’s lack of a former player being a leading player on a championship-contending team has been well covered (and will hopefully change with Caleb Wilson’s ascendance), there are still a number of former Tar Heels around the bracket. With that in mind, let’s
take a look at the former North Carolina players who will try and bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy this year.
We’ll start with a Tar Heel who will quickly be in action this postseason, but will be up against it as far making a long stay is concerned.
After a midseason trade sent him to the Charlotte Hornets, Coby White has helped them back to the playoffs…somewhat. Later tonight, the Hornets will host the Heat in the 9/10 game in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. In order to get into the main bracket, White and Charlotte will have to knockoff Miami tonight and then beat the loser of the 7/8 game between the 76ers and Magic. Even if they make it through that, the Hornets would then be tasked with facing the #1 seed and 60-win Pistons squad.
The Tar Heel with probably the most intriguing title chances this year is Harrison Barnes with the San Antonio Spurs. While Victor Wenbanyama is the key cog in the Spurs’ machine, Barnes has been a solid veteran presence as they’ve returned to the postseason this year. He’s put up 9.9 points per game and is knocking down a little under 40% of his three-point attempts as San Antonio cracked the 60-win mark. Barnes and the Spurs will go in as the #2 seed in the West, and will take on the winner of the Suns/Blazers play-in game. However, as a #2 seed, it’ll be hard for them not to hope for a deep playoff run.
Harrison Ingram is also on the Spurs’ roster, although he averages less than four minutes per game in only seven appearances this season, so he likely won’t be a key part of their playoff run.
Another Carolina player on a team hoping to make it far will be Cameron Johnson on the Denver Nuggets. He’s one of my favorite recent Tar Heels, so by no means do I say this to disparage him; by all accounts, he hasn’t been quite as good as what Denver was hoping for when they added him in on offseason trade. However, he’s still put up over double digits points per game and makes threes at a good clip. Denver will probably need him to be even better than that if they want to make another run at a championship, though. Their run will start with a series against the Timberwolves, which begins Saturday.
As mentioned, the Blazers will compete for one of the last couple places out West in the play-in tournament. He spent time in the G-League, as he’s on a two-way deal, but Caleb Love plays for Portland. When he’s been up with the NBA team, he’s averaged over 20 minutes a game in 49 appearances, so he’ll probably get some amount of run should the Blazers make the full playoffs — how much remains to be seen.
Best of luck to all the Tar Heels who will be competing over the coming weeks and months. My personal rooting interest does not have a former Carolina player, so I can’t say as of now that I’m rooting for one of them to win it all, but I certainly hope they all play well.
