Nik Stauskas is Creating a New Legacy with the Trail Blazers

Years from now, we’ll look back at the 2018-2019 season in a sense of wonder, recalling the moment everything changed, when a new hero was born. He rose from the ashes of mediocrity – or even worse, from the ashes of being forgotten – to become the legend and internet MVP who spoiledLeBron James’s Showtime debut.

His name isNik Stauskas, former Wolverine, King, 76er, Net, and current Blazer folk story.

But before he became a king slayer, before he became a “Sauce Castillo” meme,Stauskaswas almost a nobody, a kid from Canada in and out of the NBA. And he may still end up as a nobody. He may never become the cult hero Thursday night’s performance suggests he could be. He may still end up out of the league if he comes crashing back down to earth.

But we’ll always have that moment Thursday night. We’ll always be witnesses.

After the game where he scored 24 points in 27 minutes, Stauskas’s past began to resurface. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst tweeted a photo of a young Sauce posing with James.

But the 25-year-old didn’t always have the clearest path to one-up the legend he posed with.

The former Wolverine was drafted by theSacramento Kingsin the now-suspect 2014NBA Draft. Before he even entered college, the former Sports Illustrated National Freshman of the Week was considered one of the best three-point shooters in the country. He became an NCAA All-American and Big Ten player of the year. Looking at his credentials, he was destined for something great.

Ranked ninth by Bleacher Report ahead of the draft, Stauskas was credited with hitting 44 percent of his three-pointers in his two years at Michigan. He was ranked as a top-10 prospect in other publications as well.

但酱卡斯蒂略从未达到多少。有bounced around from team to team, and having the unfortunate position of being drafted by the Kings, he never lived up to his draft position. His high school credentials of being one of the top 25 3-point shooters ultimately wouldn’t save him.

Stauskas was famously part of thedisastrous Kings trade with the Philadelphia 76ersthat several involved pick swaps, just to make cap space to sign veterans Rajon Rando and Kostas Koufas. The trade was considered so poorly executed that ESPN’s Zach Lowe continues to malign it on the Lowe Post podcast to this day.

Stauskas became the victim of a front office that didn’t know what it was doing. After he went to Philadelphia along with Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and the rights to several picks, the Kings remained mired in obscurity. Stauskas hasn’t fared much better. The former lottery pick is now on his fourth team since 2014. No team has wanted to hold onto the former Wolverine long-term, and almost any reference to him involves the Kings mistakenly giving away several draft picks with him just to clear cap room.

For better or worse, Stauskas will forever live around the guys drafted ahead of him:Andrew Wiggins, for all his raw talent, so far unfulfilled.Jabari Parker, for his unfulfilled potential.Joel Embiidfor acting like a superstar.Marcus Smartfor being a do-it-all Swiss Army knife.Aaron Gordonfor being a highlight dunk reel on repeat.

But there was a reason Stauskas was drafted in the top 10. Ahead of the draft, DraftExpress.com called him “a prolific shot maker from the perimeter,” and that he was “tremendously consistent” shooting off catch and shoot and off the dribble jumpers. In his two years at Michigan, Stauskas scoring jumped from 11 points per game to 17.5 points per game. He has the second highest free throw percentage in school history, and the fifth highest for three point shot percentage.

Baxter Homes, then with the Boston Globe, wrote that Stauskas had the talent of “an elite marksman.”“他是最好的专业射击草案和他the best pro jump shot in the draft,” said one league source familiar with Stauskas in Homes’s article. “If he adds other stuff to his game, I think he’s going to be good.”

So far, though, that hasn’t been the story in the NBA. Stauskas has averaged fewer than 10 points per game in each of his pro years, topping out at 9.5 in the 2016-2017 season with Philadelphia. He hasn’t been forced overseas yet, but it wasn’t hard to image a scenario where that might happen. European leagues are filled with guys who had the potential but could never live up to their billing.

Stauskas’s ability to stick around, to be a glue guy on several teams around the league, is fascinating. Looking back on the 2014 draft, there were plenty of guys who never lived up to their billing.Elfrid Paytonwas supposed to be the point guard of the future in Orlando, but seems destined to be a hanger-on.Noah Vonlehwas the toast of Haverhill, Massachusetts, but hasn’t been able to find his groove.James Youngis simply listed as a “free agent,” despite Bill Simmons pumping his fist when theCelticsdrafted him.

Still,Nik Stauskaskeeps going. CBS Sports gave the Kings a D+ for drafting the man who became Sauce Castillo, and while harsh, it’s not totally unfair. Bleacher Report listed him as one of the most disappointing draft picks of the last decade, saying he struggled early with the Kings and failed to make an impact on the team.

“Stauskas was always a questionable fit with the Kings, especially given that they’d selectedBen McLemorejust one year earlier,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Adam Fromal. “Now that the Kansas product has improved rather significantly,it’s going to be even more difficult for the newer 2-guard to earn future playing time.”

It’s safe to say this version of Stauskas is the one we’ll remember. His legacy might not ever end up being more than a draft bust, and he may yet find his way to a European league sooner rather than later. But if only for a night, a week ago, he was something more.

Blazer’s Edge readers, please welcome Colin Ellis to the staff. His passion for “new”Nik Stauskasshows through. We look forward to sharing more memories with him.

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