Cliff

Alexander

It’s a move to clear the way for Festus Ezeli. Alexander played just eight games last year with a grand total of 10 points scored.

Alexander played a total of 10 minutes this preseason and was never expected to make the roster.

Branden Dawson, Nick Johnson, Kevin Murphy, Arinze Onuaku and Damjan Rudez’ training camp contracts also became finalized on Thursday, but none of these guys will be impact players in fantasy hoops this upcoming season.

Alexander was a top-five recruit coming out of high school, but he went undrafted on Thursday. Alexander struggled mightily at Kansas before his season was cut short due to an NCAA investigation regarding his family allegedly receiving improper benefits from a financial firm, so he will have his work cut out for him this summer. He averaged just 7.1 points, 5.3 boards and 1.3 blocks during his freshman season, so he won’t make an immediate impact if he does end up on an NBA roster.

At this point it’s unclear how severe Alexander’s knee injury is, but we’re hoping for the best. Alexander isn’t likely to come off the board until the second-round, and he’s extremely unlikely to have an immediate impact at the NBA level if he is drafted. Hopefully the knee injury is of the minor variety, but he’s not a guy that should have the attention of fantasy owners in standard leagues.

He suffered the injury on Friday and an MRI confirmed it. Alexander was one of the freakiest athletes at summer league, but the skill side of things is a long ways off. This injury hurts his chances to make the team a lot.

Perhaps no big man showed more pure athleticism in Vegas than Alexander. He was like a pogo stick around the rim and he really started to show some potential with the Nets. In his last three games, Alexander averaged 11.7 points, 9.7 boards and 2.0 blocks. Alexander does need to improve on the skill side of things and he may not even make the roster.

This is certainly a sign that he is making progress after it was revealed that he had some torn cartilage, but he still isn’t expected to be in the rotation and probably won’t see the floor tonight. Leave him on the wire.

Not good. Alexander is a pogo stick under the boards and showed plenty of flashes at Las Vegas. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to show what he can do in the D-League soon.

Alexander is going to struggle to get consistent playing time in Portland’s loaded frontcourt, and he is not worth drafting in any leagues.