{"id":706673,"date":"2026-04-09T15:18:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/706673\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T15:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:18:27","slug":"three-former-ohio-state-buckeyes-are-headed-to-the-nba-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/706673\/","title":{"rendered":"Three former Ohio State Buckeyes are headed to the NBA postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have almost reached the end of the NBA regular season, which concludes on Sunday. There isn\u2019t a ton of drama in these last few days of the regular season, as it is known which teams have clinched spots in the playoffs or play-in games.<\/p>\n

The only bit of intrigue left comes from the Eastern Conference, where three teams sit less than two games behind of moving out of a play-in game spot and into the top-six in the conference, which would guarantee them a spot in the actual playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Currently seven former Ohio State players are on NBA rosters. Three of those players are playing for teams that will be a part of the NBA postseason, while the other four are on the worst teams in the league this year.<\/p>\n

For those that are playing on teams occupying the bottom of the NBA standings, it isn\u2019t all bad news, as the failings of their teams has allowed them to see more playing time than they might otherwise had if their squads had been in playoff position.<\/p>\n

Since we are so close to the end of the regular season, now feels like a good time to give an update on how the year has gone for those Buckeyes in the NBA, and what might lie ahead for those former Ohio State players who will be in the postseason this year.<\/p>\n

Mike Conley \u2013 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/p>\n

Despite playing a career-low 18.2 minutes per game, the last couple months have been a bit of a wild ride for the former Ohio State guard.<\/p>\n

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Prior to the trade in early February, Conley was traded to the Chicago Bulls as part of a three-team trade. A day later, Conley was then shipped by the Bulls to Charlotte with Coby White. The following day, Conley was waived by the Hornets, and after clearing waivers he resigned with the Timberwolves on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n

Minnesota will likely enter the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, as with three games left to play they are three games behind the Lakers and Rockets. The veteran looks like he is playing his best basketball of the season at the right time.<\/p>\n

After entering April with three games this season where he scored at least 10 points, Conley has reached double digits in scoring in two of the three games he has played this month. The former Buckeye is finding his rhythm from behind the arc, going 9-16 from three-point range this month.<\/p>\n

The 11 points he scored on Sunday against Charlotte was the first time he scored at least 10 points in a game since Nov. 19.<\/p>\n

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While Conley isn\u2019t going to see a ton of time on the floor these days, he will undoubtedly be ready when his number is called for Minnesota in the playoffs. To go along with the star power Anthony Edwards brings to the table, Conley has the calming veteran influence that a team that is looking to get over the hump and finally make the NBA Finals brings to the table.<\/p>\n

Brice Sensabaugh \u2013 Utah Jazz<\/p>\n

The most exciting former Ohio State player in the NBA this season has been Brice Sensabaugh, who is averaging 14.9 points per game in just 23.6 minutes per game. Sensabaugh has seen his time on the court tick up throughout the season since he is playing for the Utah Jazz, who are actively trying to be the worst team in the NBA.<\/p>\n

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The Jazz have already had tanking allegations levied against them, and are currently tied with the Sacramento Kings for the worst record in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

When he has been given time on the court, Sensabaugh has been a scoring machine. After scoring 34 points in 43 minutes against Oklahoma City on Sunday, he now has four games this season with at least 30 points.<\/p>\n

Following March, where he averaged 20.8 points per game, Sensabaugh is averaging 25 points per game through the four games he has played in April. Sensabaugh has been on fire from three-point range this month, hitting six triples in two of the four games in April.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say if Sensabaugh is a part of Utah\u2019s long-term plans, since a lot of the future for the Jazz likely depends on where they land in the draft lottery. Judging by how he didn\u2019t see much playing time earlier in the season when Utah was closer to fully healthy, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see the former Buckeye traded in the offseason, since there likely won\u2019t be enough playing time next season to justify the Jazz keeping Sensabaugh.<\/p>\n

Jae\u2019Sean Tate \u2013 Houston Rockets<\/p>\n

Another Buckeye who will join Conley in the playoffs is Jae\u2019Sean Tate of the Houston Rockets. Judging by how little he has played during the regular season, it\u2019s only likely Tate will see the court in a blowout or if Houston suffers a number of injuries.<\/p>\n

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So far this season Tate has appeared in 44 games, where he is averaging 8.4 minutes per game and 2.6 points per game.<\/p>\n

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Since Houston has clinched a spot in the playoffs, Tate has been used a little more in April, registering 33 minutes across those games. On April 3 against Utah, Tate finished with seven points against Utah, which is only bettered this year by the eight points he scored in an early February game against Indiana.<\/p>\n

Much like Conley, Tate could be valuable in the postseason since he is a veteran, Tate is in his sixth season in the NBA, so he knows he could be called upon at any time. If Tate gets on the floor in the playoffs, expect him to give everything he has to help Kevin Durant and the Rockets make a run at the title.<\/p>\n

Jamison Battle \u2013 Toronto Raptors<\/p>\n

The third former Buckeye playing for a playoff team this year is Jamison Battle. The Toronto Raptors are currently sixth in the Eastern Conference, but are just a game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic. As long as the Raptors don\u2019t fall below sixth place, they\u2019ll avoid the play-in tournament that starts next week.<\/p>\n

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After one season at Ohio State, Jamison Battle is now in his second season with the Toronto Raptors. Following a rookie season where he started 10 games and averaged 17.7 minutes per game, Battle has seen his minutes cut to 8.7 per game during the 2025-26 season. Along with his dip in minutes, Battle is only averaging 3.2 points per game this season.<\/p>\n

Battle\u2019s best game in 2026 came last month against Utah when he recorded 17 points, which has only been topped by the 20 points her scored on Oct. 31 against Cleveland. So far in April, Battle has appeared in three games, but has only registered nine minutes of playing time during those contests.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect Battle to be on the court much once the playoffs hit, since Toronto looks to have their rotation set.<\/p>\n

E.J. Liddell \u2013 Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n

One former Ohio State player who looks like they are going to have a strong close to the regular season is E.J. Liddell. After he was taken in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, Liddell suffered a knee injury which kept him on the sidelines during the 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n

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Following the tough start to his NBA career, Liddell has struggled to find traction, appearing in just 20 games over the next two seasons.<\/p>\n

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Although Liddell has only played in 23 games this year, he at least has recorded the first two starts of his professional career. Entering April, Liddell had scored 55 points this season for the Nets. In two games this month, Liddell has registered 36 points, with his season high coming on Tuesday night when he finished with 21 points against Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely Liddell\u2019s future lies with Brooklyn, since the Nets likely don\u2019t have an idea of what they are doing going forward. At least the strong close to the regular season for Liddell might entice other teams to take a chance on the former Buckeye since he is still pretty young and talented.<\/p>\n

Micah Potter \u2013 Indiana Pacers<\/p>\n

Despite Potter opting to transfer to Wisconsin to close out his college basketball career after starting his career at Ohio State, we\u2019ll update you on how his season is going.<\/p>\n

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Since Indiana\u2019s year has been a mess after Tyrese Haliburton was injured during the NBA Finals last season, Potter has seen more playing time as the end of the season has drawn closer. The big man has played in 44 games, averaging 9.4 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n

Potter is coming off one of his best performances of the season, recording a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday against Cleveland. The double-double was the fourth of the season for Potter. The only higher scoring output Potter has registered this season came in February when he finished with 23 points against Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The future for Indiana isn\u2019t clear since so much hinges on Haliburton returning to the court healthy last year. Also, the Pacers traded for Ivica Zubaz from the Los Angeles Clippers. With how Potter has been able to provide solid production when called on throughout his four seasons in the league, a team will likely pick up the former Buckeye and Badger if Indiana decides to not bring him back next season.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo Russell \u2013 Washington Wizards<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t a lot to report on the former Ohio State guard, since he hasn\u2019t played since Jan. 10, when he was still with the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

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Russell was packaged with Anthony Davis in the trade that sent them to the Washington Wizards. Neither player has suited up for the Wizards, who currently have the worst record in the NBA. Russell will finish the season averaging 10.2 points per game in the 26 contests he appeared in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We have almost reached the end of the NBA regular season, which concludes on Sunday. There isn\u2019t a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[495,375,7,10511,247,329,305,963,149,6297,1409,685,194,113,126,6437,423,938,135,32137,371,102,152,6,1220,9060,475,76,678,207,2742,477,2152,476,278,422,427,3972,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-706673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-jazz","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-anthony-edwards","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-brice-sensabaugh","12":"tag-brooklyn-nets","13":"tag-chicago-bulls","14":"tag-cleveland","15":"tag-coby-white","16":"tag-dallas-mavericks","17":"tag-e-j-liddell","18":"tag-eastern-conference","19":"tag-hornets","20":"tag-houston-rockets","21":"tag-indiana","22":"tag-indiana-pacers","23":"tag-jamison-battle","24":"tag-jazz","25":"tag-kevin-durant","26":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","27":"tag-micah-potter","28":"tag-mike-conley","29":"tag-milwaukee","30":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","31":"tag-nba","32":"tag-nba-finals","33":"tag-ohio-state","34":"tag-oklahoma-city","35":"tag-orlando-magic","36":"tag-philadelphia","37":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","38":"tag-regular-season","39":"tag-sacramento-kings","40":"tag-the-lakers","41":"tag-toronto-raptors","42":"tag-tyrese-haliburton","43":"tag-utah","44":"tag-utah-jazz","45":"tag-utahjazz","46":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}