Former Tiger basketball great Chris Douglas-Roberts signed with the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year veteran minimum deal, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports on Monday.
Douglas-Roberts was one of the best players under former Memphis men’s basketball coach John Calipari. In 2008 when Calipari’s squad made it to the National Championship game, Douglas-Roberts was a consensus First Team All-American. He averaged 22.3 points in the Tigers run to the championship.
In his final season for the Blue and Gray, he averaged 18.1 points per game and 4.1 rebounds. He finished with career averages of 14.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
The 6-7 guard, out of Detroit, was drafted 10th overall in the second round by the now Brooklyn Nets.
In his first two seasons in the NBA, Douglas-Roberts struggled with injuries and inconsistent playing time.
The second season started with Douglas-Roberts living up to his reputation as a scorer. Then his playing time became inconsistent once again and Douglas-Roberts struggled. He finished the season averaging 9.2 points per game.
The Nets traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second round pick the following summer. During his one season with the Bucks, Douglas-Roberts again showed flashes, but was unable to put everything together.
Then the NBA had a lockout that cut the NBA season to 66 games. Wanting sure work, Douglas-Roberts went overseas to Italy to play Virtus Bologna.
The competition in Italy gave Douglas-Roberts an opportunity to grow his game and look at things differently. After a season, he returned to the NBA where he played six games with the Dallas Mavericks.
In the 2013-14 NBA season, Douglas-Roberts caught on with the Charlotte Hornets. He averaged 6.9 points and 2.1 rebounds and helped push the Charlotte Hornets to the playoffs.
That wasn’t enough for the Hornets to keep him around as he found himself on the bench of the Los Angeles Clippers the next season. He was cut after 12 games.
He will have to compete for a roster spot on a team in need of help on the wing.
Former Tiger basketball great Chris Douglas-Roberts dunking on former UCLA and current NBA star Kevin Love in the 2008 NCAA Final Four.
