Six Former Cards on 2022-23 NBA Opening Day Rosters

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The National Basketball Association has officially returned. Just four months after the Golden State Warriors were able to clinch the 2022 NBA Finals, the season-opener for the 2022-23 season is finally here.

With play scheduled to begin today, six former Louisville men's basketball players are on final 2022 rosters across the league following training camp: guards Donovan Mitchell, Terry Rozier and Damion Lee; forwards Montrezl Harrell and Jordan Nwora; and center Gorgui Dieng.

In the days leading up to the start of the season, two former Cardinals barely missed the cut. The Toronto Raptors signed David Johnson to an Exhibit 10 contract, meaning he will join their G-League affiliate on a two-way contract, whereas the Chicago Bulls outright waived Carlik Jones.

The Utah Jazz finally traded Mitchell this past offseason, but it wasn't to the team many expected he would be traded to. Instead of going to the New York Knicks, he wound up in Cleveland with the Cavaliers. Mitchell was named an NBA All-Star for the third time last season, averaging 25.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and a career-best 5.3 assists per game, while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 35.5 percent on three point attempts

Heading into his fourth year with the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier is just as efficient as ever, coming off of a season where he averaged 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and a career-best 4.5 assists per game. Since his arrival in the Queen City, he has averaged 19.3 points, 4.4 points and 4.3 assists per game, compared to 7.7/3.0/2.3 during his first four years in the league with the Boston Celtics.

Another Cardinal who was on the move this past offseason was Lee. After winning a title with Golden State, he became a free agent, and opted to take his talents to the Phoenix Suns. He put up 7.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game over 63 appearances and five starts during the regular season.

Speaking of movement, Harrell is now on his third team in a calendar year. He started the 2021-22 season with the Washington Wizards, was traded to the Charlotte Hornets at the trade deadline, then signed a two-year/$5.2 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers last month. He averaged 11.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, and his field goal percentage of 64.5 percent ranked third in the NBA.

Nwora is heading into his third season in the league, and is starting to carve out a bigger role for the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 62 games as mainly a reserve last year, and with Khris Middleton expected to miss the first few weeks of the season, Nwora will likely get a lot more opportunities early on to see the court.

The longest-tenured former Cardinal in the league is heading back to a former stop of his. After spending the 2021-22 season with the Atlanta Hawks, Dieng signed with the San Antonio Spurs over the summer, whom he has previously spent the latter half of the 2020-21 season with. In 44 appearances and three starts with the Hawks, Dieng averaged 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 47.3 percent from the field.

(Photo of Donovan Mitchell: David Richard - USA TODAY Sports)

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