Former IU men's basketball player Thomas Bryant has signed his first professional contract in the NBA after spending two years in the league.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski revealed less than an hour after NBA free-agency started Sunday that Bryant had agreed to a three-year, $25 million deal with the Washington Wizards.
Bryant was drafted in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft after spending two seasons with IU.
As a freshman with the Hoosiers, Bryant averaged 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and helped the team advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. It was the last time IU made the NCAA Tournament.
Bryant's sophomore season was his final season with the Hoosiers. He averaged 12.8 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. The team's 18-16 record led to the firing of former IU Coach Tom Crean, which started the domino effect to Bryant's decision to declare for the NBA.
In his first NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant earned $815,615 and only played 15 games, scoring 1.5 each game. The Lakers waived him, and he was picked up by the Wizards, who gave him $1.4 million last season.
Bryant had a breaking out party with the Wizards when he played in 72 games and averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes. He ended up starting in 52 games for the Wizards as well.
His stellar second season garnered him votes for the NBA’s most improved player award, which former Hoosier Victor Oladipo won last year for his All-Star season with the Indiana Pacers in 2017-18.
Bryant joins a number of Hoosiers in the NBA such as Eric Gordon, Cody Zeller, Oladipo, Noah Vonleh, Romeo Langford and former teammate OG Anunoby, who recently was a part of the NBA Champion Toronto Raptors.
The 2019-20 NBA season will start in October.
