As mentioned in the first round of the Illinois Hoops Update- Illinois Hoopers in the NBA, there are 19 total players that played high school basketball in Illinois and made it on a NBA court in the first half.
Six were written about Tuesday. Below is another six and then seven players will be shared on Wednesday.
Max Christie
Max Christie (Rolling Meadows) is in his third NBA season. He has played in 52 games including 27 starts between his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaging 9.5 points on splits of .453/.383/.845 with three rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.5 blocks, and a turnover in 26.2 minutes per game.
Christie was traded to the Dallas Mavericks alongside Anthony Davis (Perspectives) and a future draft pick in a 3-team trade that brought Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
Prior to the trade, Christie had made 24 straight starts for Los Angeles. During that span, he was averaging 10.9 points per game on impressive splits of .455/.395/.854. His best performance was in a 114-106 win against Portland. He had a career-high 28 points (9-16 FG, 5-9 3PT, 5-5 FT) with three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
Heading into the break between his time with Lakers and Mavericks, he scored in double figures in eight straight games. He’s also scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games.
Since the trade, Christie is averaging 17.3 points on splits of .486/.383/.826 with 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in 34.5 minutes per game.
Another highlight from the season for Christie was getting to suit up against his younger brother, Cam, who is in the Los Angeles Clippers organization.
Jordan Goodwin
Jordan Goodwin (Althoff Catholic) played just two NBA games his rookie season (2021-22). He’s now with his fourth team in four season but is making the most of his opportunities. He spent the first two seasons with the Washington Wizards and last season he played 57 between the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies.
Goodwin signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in September but was waived on October 18. He signed with the South Bay Lakers on October 26
He played 17 games for South Bay and averaged 13.8 points on shooting splits of .423/.314/.714 with 5.6 rebounds, three assists, and 1.8 steals in 24 minutes per game.
The 26-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers on February 7 and played three game right before the break for them. He is averaging 10 points on splits of .591/.429/1.000 with 5.3 rebounds (two offensive), 1.3 assists, and a steal per game. His scored 10+ points off the bench in his first two games of the season.
Goodwin’s best game was a near double-double against Utah on February 10. He had 17 points (8-11 FG, 1-2 3PT) with eight rebounds (three offensive), an assist, and two steals in the win.
Ayo Dosunmu
Ayo Dosunmu (Morgan Park) is in his fourth season and is rocking a New Jersey number. He made the switch to no. 11 before the season.
Dosunmu has played 44 games for the Chicago Bulls including 26 starts. He is averaging 12.5 points on shooting splits of .495/.335/.792 with 3.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 0.9 steals in 30.5 minutes per game. His points rebounds, and assists averages are all career-highs.
He missed 10 games with a calf injury between December 26 through January 14. During that span, the Bulls went 5-5. Right before this injury, Dosunmu became a regular in Chicago starting lineup as he made 14 consecutive starts. He averaged 14.4 points on splits of .544/.392/.720 with 3.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game across those 14 games.
The 25-year-old completed his first career triple-double in a road win against San Antonio on December 5. He had 27 points (9-13 FG, 3-3 3PT, 6-6 FT) with 10 rebounds (three offensive), 11 assists, three steals, and a turnover in the win.
As a starter, he’s averaging 14.2 points on splits of .520/.359/.792 with 3.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Max Strus
Max Strus (Stagg) is in his sixth season in the NBA and his second with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He suffered a right ankle sprain during a preseason workout that sidelined him at the start of the season. It was reported by ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania that Strus was set to return against Washington Wizards on December 3. That post was deleted by Charania and Strus would not return for another two weeks.
Strus made his season debut on December 20 after missing the first 27 Cavs games. In his debut, he dropped nine points (3-8 FG, 3-8 3PT) with two assists and a +20 plus-minus in just under 20 minutes per game. Cavaliers defeated Milwaukee Bucks to improve to 24-4 that evening. Without Strus they went 23-4 including a 15-0 winning streak to start the season.
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson eased Strus into the starting lineup. Strus came off the bench and stayed around a 20-25 minutes restrictions for the first month back. In his 13 games off the bench, he averaged 7.5 points on splits of .400/.371/.800 with 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 23.3 minutes per game.
Strus scored a season-high 17 points (6-7 FG, 5-6 3PT) with three rebounds (one offensive), five assists, and three turnovers in a much anticipated matchup against two of the top teams in the NBA on January 8. Cavaliers got the home win against Oklahoma City Thunder, 129-122.
The 28-year-old cracked the starting lineup for the first time on January 20 against Phoenix and has started 11 more games since. Strus is averaging 10 points on splits of .443/.387/.833 with five rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a steal in 26.6 minutes per game. Strus scored 14 or more points in each of his last three games before the break. Cavs went 3-0 in the games.
For the season, he averaging just 8.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.1 rebounds. Strus’ Cavs are tied with the Thunder for the best record (44-10) in the NBA entering the second half.
John Konchar
John Konchar (West Chicago) is in his sixth NBA season and has been able to stay on with the Memphis Grizzlies for all of them.
This season, he’s averaging career-lows or near career-lows in most his statistical categories. Konchar is averaging 2.6 points on splits of .424/.326/.883 with 3.6 rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes per game.
Konchar has not received consistent minutes and has just eight games with over 20 minutes played. His most games consecutive games played was five between December 26 and January 3. The first game of that stretch, he scored a season-high nine points (3-3 FG, 3-3 3PT) with five rebounds (one offensive), two assists, a steal, and a block in a win against Toronto. He also made two consecutive starts on the road and grabbed a total of 27 rebounds.
In his three starts, he’s averaging 5.3 points, with 13.3 rebounds (3.3 offensive), 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and a block in 30.8 minutes per game.
Konchar is averaging just 2.3 points when coming off the bench but is averaging 46.7 percent from the field. He’s also averaging 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 11 minutes per game off the bench.
He has yet to score in double figures this season for Memphis.
Konchar is a gritty players and when he’s called upon, he does whatever his team needs that night. Some big performances are on the way in the second half.
Talen Horton-Tucker
Talen Horton-Tucker (Simeon) is in sixth NBA season and is on his third team. The 2020 NBA Champ spent his first three year with the Los Angeles Lakers and then spent the next two with the Utah Jazz.
His hometown Chicago Bulls signed him to an Exhibit-10 deal in September giving him another shot at sticking in the big leagues. Horton-Tucker made a strong impression during the preseason. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists for the Bulls over five preseason appearances. Good enough for the Bulls to add him to their 2024-2025 roster.
This season, he has played in 41 games and is averring just 5.8 points on splits of .450/.373/.725 with 1.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.2 blocks, a career-best 0.6 turnovers in 11.4 minutes per game. His minutes, points, and steals are all career-lows for Horton-Tucker.
The 24-year-old’s best game came against Orlando on November 27. He had a season-high 20 points (7-8 FG, 3-4 3PT, 3-4 FT) with a rebound, an assist, and a turnover in just under 14 minutes.
Horton-Tucker made 18 consecutive starts from November 23 through January 4. He scored 10 or more points in each of the first six games of that stretch. During the full 18 games, he averaging 7.3 points on .490/375/.667 with two rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.7 steals in 14.4 minutes per game.
Icon Sports 
Leave a comment