NBA Jayhawks update: How former KU players fared in the pros during regular season

By Henry Greenstein Apr 14, 2026

Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) attempts a shot as Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Miami.

The NBA regular season wrapped up on Sunday, and while it’s not the end of the road for all of the former Jayhawks playing basketball at the highest level, it provides a convenient opportunity to check in on their progress.

Some of the Kansas products in the NBA took steps forward, while others battled injury or saw their production decline. Quite a few will have the chance this postseason to become the latest Jayhawk players to win a title after Svi Mykhailiuk did so in 2024 with the Boston Celtics.

Here’s a closer look at how everyone has fared this season.

Ochai Agbaji: Not for the first time in his career, Agbaji was subject to a midseason trade. This one took him from one team with a former Jayhawk, the Toronto Raptors (where he was paired with Gradey Dick), to the Brooklyn Nets (where he joined Jalen Wilson). After getting dealt at the trade deadline in early February, Agbaji received modest playing time at 16.2 minutes per game in his 20 appearances in Brooklyn with no starts and averaged 6.7 points and 2.3 rebounds. His best game came on March 9, when he scored 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting in just 22 minutes of a 126-115 victory over Memphis.

Christian Braun: Braun’s second year as a full-time starter for the Denver Nuggets has been marred by injuries. Just 11 games into the season, he suffered a left ankle sprain when Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden accidentally stepped on his right foot, which caused him to hurt the left. That took him out for the rest of the calendar year. He made an uneasy return for three games in January and then got shut down again before coming back for good on Feb. 3 in a loss to Detroit. His scoring totals and efficiency have improved each month since. For the year, he has averaged 12.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on a slight downturn from his 2024-25 production. He missed games on Friday and Sunday to close out the regular season but will have a chance to return to action on Saturday when the third-seeded Nuggets open their playoff series against No. 6 seed Minnesota.

Gradey Dick: A former one-and-done lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Dick has had a generally disappointing season in which his role with the Raptors steadily declined in the final months of the year. The Athletic’s Eric Koreen described it as follows: “Since a hot start to last year in a bigger role, Dick has not shown that he deserves minutes. While he flashes as a playmaker off the dribble and has gone from bad to passable on defence, Dick doesn’t do the thing he was drafted to do: hit shots.” Indeed, he has made just 30.1% of his 3-pointers this year, a big reason why he is down to 6.0 points per game after 14.4 in his sophomore campaign. He only started one of the 76 regular-season games in which he played and averaged 5.2 minutes in his six April appearances. The Raptors are the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and will begin their series at No. 4 Cleveland on Saturday.

Hunter Dickinson: The undrafted rookie played in New Orleans’ season opener and then did not return to the NBA level until April 5, at which point he appeared in the Pelicans’ final four games of the season, with six points in 21 minutes on Sunday. In the meantime he was an NBA G League standout who averaged 18.0 points and 10.8 rebounds — not far off his KU numbers — for the Birmingham Squadron during the regular season.

Joel Embiid: Embiid had emergency surgery for appendicitis on Thursday that could impact his availability for the playoffs; his 76ers are the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament and will face Orlando on Wednesday. At other points during this year, the seven-time All-Star has battled knee issues that had him on an early-season minutes restriction as well as a strained oblique. The result is that the 7-footer has played 38 games this year, averaging 26.9 points on 48.9% shooting to go with 7.7 rebounds.

Johnny Furphy: In a down year for Indiana as the Pacers waited out star Tyrese Haliburton’s return from injury, Furphy was able to play 18.4 minutes in 35 games with 21 starts as a second-year player and tally 5.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 47.0% from the field and 32.4% from deep. However, he tore his ACL in a loss to Toronto on Feb. 8 and will have a lengthy recovery of his own ahead.

Kevin McCullar Jr.: The former Jayhawk standout had an unusual start to his career after he was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, as he wasn’t able to play at all until January of his rookie year dealing with the residual effects of the knee injury that hampered him at KU. McCullar spent much of that season in the NBA G League with four NBA appearances. This year, he managed to play in 21 NBA games, with 2.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 7.4 minutes. His most extensive action came on Sunday when he scored 14 in a loss to Charlotte; in the meantime, he continued to frequently post gaudy stats when he would play for Westchester in the G League, including a 31-point, 11-assist performance in a win over Noblesville on March 15. The NBA’s Knicks are a No. 3 seed and will face Atlanta on Saturday.

Svi Mykhailiuk: Mykhailiuk played his second straight full season with the same team for the first time in his career (which began in 2018). The Utah Jazz tied for the worst record in the Western Conference, but Mykhailiuk had arguably his most productive professional campaign as he started 41 of the 50 games he played and recorded 9.4 points per game while shooting 40.8% from deep (his second-best single-season mark). Utah fans didn’t see much of him as the season drew to a close, however, as he only played twice after March 2.

Kelly Oubre Jr.: Now an 11-year pro, Oubre has provided consistent production for Philadelphia over the past three seasons of his career. He missed a little time this year due to injuries but (like Mykhailiuk) started in 41 of 50 games with 14.1 points and 5.0 rebounds and the best 3-point shooting season of his career at 36.0%. He started the year hot with 11 straight double-digit scoring performances and took some time to build back up after sitting out nearly two months with an LCL sprain. On March 10, he scored 30 points in a win against Memphis for one of his best offensive showings in years.

Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins started 68 games for the Miami Heat this season after the team had acquired him from Golden State the prior year. In a modest role as the Heat’s fourth-leading scorer, he has averaged 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds but improved in terms of efficiency with 47.5% overall shooting (the second-best mark of his 12-year career behind the 2020-21 season), 41.4% 3-point shooting and 78.4% free-throw shooting (both the best of his career). After finishing the regular season four games above .500 with a lackluster final month of the season, Miami was set for a play-in game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.

Jalen Wilson: Wilson’s usage was down a bit in his third NBA season, returning to the level of action he had experienced as a rookie in 2023-24. He garnered 15.9 minutes per game in his 54 appearances with two starts, putting up 6.4 points and grabbing 2.1 boards. He and Agbaji will both be restricted free agents this offseason, according to ESPN.

OTHERS

Marcus Garrett is an NBA G League champion. Unlike last year, he didn’t get a chance at an NBA cameo with the Charlotte Hornets, but he did start for the Greensboro Swarm in their run to the league title, which they won over the Stockton Kings on Friday. Garrett started 27 of his 30 games with 12.2 points, 4.4 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Dajuan Harris Jr. and Zeke Mayo began their professional careers as G League rookies. Both had briefly been in the NBA Summer League last season and apparently planned to play overseas but wound up stateside. Harris initially signed with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers before getting traded to the Iowa Wolves, with whom he averaged 2.6 points and 2.9 assists in 16.5 minutes per game during the regular season. Mayo was with the Cleveland Charge and put up 8.2 points on 36.0% 3-point shooting in his own regular-season campaign.

Brooklyn Nets’ Ochai Agbaji (30) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York.

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Denver.

Toronto Raptors’ Gradey Dick dribbles against Milwaukee Bucks’ Ousmane Dieng during an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Milwaukee.

New Orleans Pelicans center Hunter Dickinson (4) stands in the first half against the Orlando Magic in an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 5, 2026.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid in action during an NBA basketball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Philadelphia.

Indiana Pacers guard Johnny Furphy (12) drives on Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.

New York Knicks’ Kevin McCullar Jr. (9) gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets Sunday, April 12, 2026, in New York.

Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (10) goes up for a shot against the against the Miami Heat during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Salt Lake City.

Philadelphia 76ers small forward Kelly Oubre Jr., left, in action against Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Taurean Prince, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Philadelphia.

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) drives to the basket as Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Miami.

Brooklyn Nets forward Jalen Wilson (22) drives past Indiana Pacers guard Kam Jones (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in New York.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.