Texas Basketball: 3 best former Longhorns in the NBA in 2019-20

3) Best Texas basketball players in the NBA in 2019-20: Jarrett Allen

Starting off the list is a fairly recent product of the Longhorns men’s hoops program, and Brooklyn Nets standout center Jarrett Allen. The former elite five-star recruit and Round Rock, TX, native was the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. Allen was picked by the Nets, and spent the entirety of his career to date there.

As a notable teammate of the most talented former Longhorn in the NBA at the moment, superstar forward Kevin Durant, Allen did well in an increased role over the course of the last two years. And Allen was able to make this list in the first place since KD missed the entirety of the 2019-20 season recovering from an achilles tear he suffered in the midst of the Golden State Warriors playoff run to cap the 2018-19 season.

Allen played in 70 games during the shortened 2019-20 regular season with the Nets (starting in 64 of them). He increasingly earned a more prominent role in the Nets rotation as the effectiveness of veteran center DeAndre Jordan faded as the season moved along.

In those 70 regular season games played, Allen averaged 11.1 points per game, 9.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks. And he shot 64.9 percent from the field and 63.3 percent from the free-throw line. Those numbers pushed him to register a career-best 2.3 box plus/minus rating, 2.0 value over replacement player rating, .212 win shares per 48 minutes, 66.4 true shooting percentage, and a 20.7 player efficiency rating.