SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 19, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Jazz weren’t invited to the postseason party for the second consecutive season, but local college basketball fans will see a handful of familiar faces when the NBA playoffs get underway this weekend.
Former Weber State star Damian Lillard is one of four former Utah college and high school basketball players on active rosters for the 16 teams battling for an NBA championship.
Lillard, now in his 12th NBA season but his first with the Milwaukee Bucks, is joined in the playoff field by former Utah State teammates Sam Merrill (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Neemias Queta (Boston Celtics), and University of Utah alumnus Delon Wright (Miami Heat).
In addition, new BYU coach Kevin Young will be on the sidelines as he closes out his tenure as associate head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
Lillard, 33, makes his Eastern Conference playoffs debut Sunday when the third-seeded Bucks host the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the best-of-7 first-round matchup (5 p.m., TNT).
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound point guard averaged 24.3 points, seven assists, four rebounds and one steal per game in his first season in Milwaukee. He saw action in 73 games this season — his highest total since 2018-19 — while shooting 42.4% from the floor, 35.4% from 3-point range and 92% from the free throw line.
Lillard also won the Kobe Bryant MVP trophy in the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and repeated as champion in the 3-Point Shootout in February in Indianapolis.
Lillard will be relied on heavily to get the Bucks off to a strong start vs. the Pacers, with fellow All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo expected to miss Sunday’s game and potentially more with a lower calf strain.
Lillard spent his previous 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, the team that selected him out of Weber State with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Oakland, California, native led Portland to eight playoff appearances, including a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2019.
Lillard was a two-time Big Sky Conference MVP and earned All-American honors his junior season. He ranks as the Wildcats’ all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 246 and second in career scoring with 1,934 points.
Queta, 24, has the best odds of any NBA player with Utah ties of winning a championship this season as a member of the Boston Celtics, the NBA’s top team during the regular season (64-19) and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The 7-footer from Barreiro, Portugal, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics in September but landed a two-year standard contract on April 8.
Queta had strong performances in both games he played since signing the new deal, finishing with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 18 minutes vs. the Charlotte Hornets on April 12.
He followed that up with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds, six blocks and one assist in 20 minutes off the bench against the Washington Wizards on April 14.
Queta averaged 5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 11.9 minutes while seeing action in 28 games this season for the Celtics.
Queta played three seasons at Utah State from 2018 to 2021, winning the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year twice (2019 and 2021) and setting school records for career blocks (219) and blocks per game (2.5).
He was selected by Sacramento in the second round (39th overall) of the 2021 NBA Draft. He spent his first two NBA seasons with the Kings.
Merrill is enjoying the best season of his four-year NBA career in his second season in Cleveland.
The former Utah State and Bountiful High School posted career-highs of eight points, two rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 40.2 percent from the floor, 40.4% from 3-point range and 92.9% from the free throw line.
He also saw action in 61 games for the Cavaliers, which more than doubles his previous high for a season (30 with Milwaukee in 2020-21).
Merrill, 27, won an NBA championship with the Bucks in 2020-21 and saw limited action with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2021-22 before joining the Cavaliers.
He was selected in the second round (60th overall) of the 2020 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans but never played for the team.
Merrill played four seasons at USU (2016-2020) and was selected as Mountain West Player of the Year his junior and senior seasons.
Wright, 31, started the season with the Wizards but agreed to a contract buy-out and joined the Heat in February.
Now in his ninth NBA season and with his eighth team, the 6-5 guard averaged 5.4 points, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 20.4 minutes per game for the Heat during the regular season.
Toronto made Wright the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and the Los Angeles native spent his first three NBA seasons with the Raptors. He’s also played for Memphis, Dallas, Detroit, Sacramento, Atlanta and Washington during his career.
Wright made a name for himself at Utah as versatile guard and elite defender, averaging 15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists in his two seasons (2013-15) with the Utes.
