Baylor Bears in the NBA as 2026 is upon us

The 2025-2026 NBA season is on a railroad track that’s churning at a unstoppable pace towards the all-star break, which will take place in Los Angeles from February 13-15. With that in mind, players are pushing hard to earn all-star bids while preparing for the stretch run to make the playoffs. Currently, there are eight former Baylor Bears in the NBA on an active roster. Below is a quick update on how those players are faring (stats through 1/6).

Keyonte George (Point Guard, Utah Jazz)

George has quickly become one of the young future stars of the Association as he has firmly planted himself in the race for the Most Improved Player award. The third-year guard recently received high praise from superstar Jayson Tatum. For the season, George is averaging 24.3 points, 6.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds across 34 minutes per game.

VJ Edgecombe (Shooting Guard, Philadelphia 76ers)

Since the last update, the rookie guard has taken his scoring prowess to another level with 25, 23 and 26-point efforts against quality teams. He may have had his best all-around performance Monday versus the Nuggets with 17 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocks. On top of the increased production, NBA dunk contest champion Vince Carter is calling for Edgecombe to participate in the crown jewel competition of All-Star weekend. For the season, Edgecombe is averaging 16.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals across 35 minutes per game.

Davion Mitchell (Point Guard, Miami Heat)

Heat G Davion Mitchell — Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Mitchell has proven his worth in South Beach and is quickly garnering respect from the biggest names in the league for his defensive prowess. On top of defensive skills, Mitchell is eighth in the league with 7.5 assists per game. For the season, Mitchell is averaging 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game to go with the assists.

Royce O’Neale (Small Forward, Phoenix Suns)

As said many times before in these updates, O’Neale continues to just operate as the veteran driving force for a youthful Suns team. The most impressive part of his season is, at 32 years old, he is at a career-high 41.3% from the three-point line. For the season, O’Neale is averaging 10.3 points, five rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals across 29 minutes per game.

Ja’Kobe Walter (Shooting Guard, Toronto Raptors)

The second-year guard saw an uptick in usage and scoring in the final week of 2025 but has slowed down since the start of the new year. A big reason why Walter can’t seem to find his footing is because of decreased playing time (less than 20 minutes in each of the last three games.) For the season, Walter is averaging 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and .9 steals across 17 minutes per game.

Yves Missi (Center, New Orleans Pelicans)

Pelican C Yves Missi — Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Missi, despite injuries, has found a niche role as the Pelicans enforcer in the paint and coming off the bench. Nobody can deny his rebounding and defensive acumen, if he can figure out the offensive side of his game then the sky is the limit. For the season, Missi is averaging 5.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 assists across 17 minutes per game.

Jeremy Sochan (Power Forward, San Antonio Spurs)

Sochan seems to be the odd man out in the Alamo with a number of healthy DNPs. The fourth year forward has a ton of potential and is only 22 years old but maybe a change of scenery at the upcoming trade deadline would be best. For the season, Sochan is averaging 4.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists across 14 minutes per game.

Taurean Prince (Small Forward, Milwaukee Bucks)

As reported in the last update, the Bucks unfortunately applied for a Disabled Player Exception in December, which means it’s highly unlikely that Prince will return this season. Before going down with a herniated disk in his neck, Prince was averaging 6.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and one assist across 21 minutes per game.

RayJ Dennis (Point Guard, Atlanta Hawks)

On New Year’s Eve, Dennis agreed to a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks and was immediately sent to the G-League to play for the College Park Skyhawks. Atlanta is the third NBA franchise that Dennis has been with this season. Dennis was averaging 4.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds across 12 minutes per game.