South Carolina basketball alum AJ Lawson is one of many NBA players operating on “two-way” contracts. He splits his time between the Toronto Raptors and the team’s G League affiliate, the Raptors 905. While he doesn’t play much when he is up with Toronto, he has been really good for the 905.
Because of that, Lawson remains on the radar for an eventual bigger NBA opportunity. According to an announcement from the league, Lawson will represent the Raptors organization in the NBA G League “Next Up” Game.
The Next Up Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, in Los Angeles as part of NBA All-Star Weekend. Tip-off for the contest is at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern), and the NBA Channel and NBA.com will handle the broadcast and stream.
Lawson is one of 28 players announced as part of the Next Up Game. He will represent Team White, one of four teams of seven players.
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For the regular season, Lawson is averaging 21.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across 11 games at the G League level. He also averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 steals in 11 Tip-Off Tournament appearances.
Lawson is one of just 11 players to score that much in both the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season. Not-so-coincidentally, the Raptors 905 were 11-0 in Lawson’s time on the court in the Tip-Off Tournament and are in position for the G League Playoffs.
Lawson has gotten into 13 NBA games this season, too. In just 8.4 minutes per game in those contests, he has averaged 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per night.
A native of Toronto now playing in the suburb of Mississauga, Lawson has made other NBA stops with the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Brooklyn Nets. Even so, he is just 25 years old and still has a lot of basketball in front of him.
During his South Carolina basketball career, Lawson was an All-SEC contributor. Playing all three perimeter spots during his time in Columbia under head coach Frank Martin, he was a fan favorite with his streaky shooting and athletic finishing ability. With the Gamecocks, Lawson averaged over 14 points per game as a three-year starter.