Of the ‘Big 4’ North American sports, no other league boasts as much diversity as the National Basketball Association.
On Tuesday, the NBA announced that 113 players who were born outside of the United States are on its teams’ opening rosters, with at least one player on each of the 30 clubs.
Of the 41 countries represented, Canada leads the pack with 11 NBA players, further solidifying its place as a basketball hotbed right now.
Here’s a little bit on each Canadian hooper:
Kelly Olynyk – Boston Celtics
A seven-footer with supreme skill, Olynyk can shoot threes, make thread-the-needle passes and still go down into the low block, post-up and score with his great footwork. A key rotation piece for the Celtics, Olynyk’s name should be more widely known this season with Boston likely to get more American national media attention thanks to the arrival of Al Horford.
Anthony Bennett – Brooklyn Nets
While Bennett does have the cool distinction of being the first Canadian in history to be drafted No. 1, he’s simultaneously perhaps the most ill-fated first overall pick since the likes of Kwame Brown and Michael Olowokandi. With Bennett boasting a career average of 4.2 points per game on his fourth team in as many seasons, this could very well be his last chance in the NBA.
Tristan Thompson – Cleveland Cavaliers
Taken fourth overall in the 2011 draft, Thompson’s seen his career start off well with an all-rookie team selection and continue to gradually rise, culminating with a five-year, $82 million contract he signed right before the beginning of last season and a key role during the Cavs’ championship run. Thompson enters this season ingrained as the starting centre on a championship team looking for another. Not a bad situation at all.
Dwight Powell – Dallas Mavericks
Born in Toronto, Powell spent four years at Stanford where he racked up a conference all-freshman team nod and two all-conference first-team honours. From there he was drafted in the second round in 2014, saw his rights traded a couple times and ended up in the Mavericks system. While all this was going on Powell tore it up in the D-League, averaging 26.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game on 59.8 per cent shooting. After that great season, Powell got his chance to stick around with the big club where he averaged 5.8 points per game in 69 games played last season. This season, after re-signing with Dallas in July, the 6-foot-11 forward will be looking for more opportunity and more chances to prove he belongs.
Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets
The lone Canadian drafted this past June, Murray emerged as a prolific scorer for the Kentucky Wildcats last season, averaging 20.0 points per game on 45.4 per cent shooting and 40.8 per cent from deep. Entering the NBA, Murray has a legitimate shot at leading all rookies in scoring this season with the Nuggets, making him someone to watch as a potential rookie of the year candidate.
Tyler Ennis – Houston Rockets
After a fabulous freshman year at Syracuse in 2014, Ennis entered the NBA draft and was selected 18th overall by the Phoenix Suns. Since then, however, Ennis has struggled to find consistent playing time. With Phoenix, he spent the majority of his time in the D-League after getting buried on the depth chart by the likes of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. He was then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks mid-season where he again didn’t see too much burn, mostly because of a shoulder injury. Now Ennis finds himself with the Houston Rockets, who traded for him in September, where he hopes he can find a home and get his NBA career started.
Andrew Wiggins – Minnesota Timberwolves
Nicknamed “Maple Jordan” for the hype that followed him from his high school days when he was anointed as the “next one” after LeBron James, Wiggins hasn’t quite lived up to that billing yet, but he’s certainly been worth the first-overall pick title the Cavaliers bestowed upon him in 2014. Despite the fact Cleveland traded him to Minnesota, Wiggins has done well for himself with rookie-of-the-year honours in 2015 and a 20 points-per-game season as a sophomore. He has all the tools to become a dominant force in the game, and will be looking to his third pro season to make that a reality.
Nik Stauskas – Philadelphia 76ers
Following a Big 10 player of the year season with Michigan in 2014, Stauskas entered the NBA Draft where he was taken eighth overall by the Sacramento Kings. Since then his career’s sort of been in flux. He received opportunities with the Kings in his rookie season, but never really took off, was traded to the 76ers before last season, received more playing time, and still couldn’t really impress. The pedigree and all-world shooting stroke is there, but something’s always seemed amiss. Entering his second season with Philly, here’s hoping he finds that spark.
Cory Joseph – Toronto Raptors
A key rotation piece for the Raptors, Joseph is inarguably one of the best backup point guards in the league, capable of driving to the basket, hitting key threes and playing outstanding, aggressive defence. The fact he signed a four-year, $30 million contract before the start of last season to come to his hometown team after four excellent seasons with the San Antonio Spurs — including a championship year in 2014 — makes him all the more endearing to Canadian basketball fans.
Trey Lyles – Utah Jazz
Selected 12th overall in the 2015 draft, Lyles’ basketball career is curious. He was named to the SEC all-freshman team in his one year at Kentucky despite coming off the bench for almost the entire season. He was also named to last season’s Rising Stars Challenge even though he only ended up averaging 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game on the season with the Jazz. Lyles has a lot of potential as a skilled 6-foot-10 big man; maybe we’ll get to see more of it more consistently this season.
Andrew Nicholson – Washington Wizards
After four seasons spent with the Orlando Magic averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game on 47.3 per cent shooting in a sparse 15.1 minutes per game playing average, Nicholson signed a four-year, $26 million contract with the Wizards in the off-season where he should figure to be the primary backup power forward behind Markieff Morris.
