Former Syracuse Basketball Star Tyler Ennis Traded To Los Angeles

That makes it two former Syracuse basketball stars that have been traded to new locations at the NBA trade deadline. How will Tyler Ennis fit in LA?

A second former Syracuse one-and-done player will suit up for a different NBA team.

The Los Angeles Lakers have traded guard Marcelo Huertas to the Houston Rockets for guard Tyler Ennis as well as the draft rights to guard/forward Brad Newley, according to an announcement from Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the Lakers’ newly installed president of basketball operations.

Ennis’ move comes on the heels of my hometown Washington Wizards acquiring forward Chris McCullough, a former ‘Cuse guy, as well as forward Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets.

While McCullough’s deal puts him on a roster that is in the thick of the playoff race. Unfortunately Ennis departs a strong squad in Houston for a Lakers’ outfit that continues to rebuild.

Currently, the Rockets are 41-18, good for third place in the Western Conference. While LA, on the other hand, is 19-39, just a half-game out of last place in that same Western Conference.

The Lakers press release states that, to date this season, Ennis has experienced pretty limited

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action in 31 games, with a scoring average of about two points, along with one dime.

Prior to joining Los Angeles, in his professional career Ennis played for Phoenix, Milwaukee and Houston.

According to NBA.com, he has gotten into a total of 110 games, putting up about three-and-a-half points per contest, along with roughly one board and nearly two assists.

"While a profile of Ennis on the Lakers official Web site (http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/170223-latest-laker-tyler-ennis) notes that “he will take Huertas’ place in L.A.’s point guard crew. Which also includes D’Angelo Russell and Jose Calderon, while Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson have also seen minutes as the primary ball handler.”"

In other words, despite heading to Hollywood, and to a team that isn’t all that good, it’s unlikely that Ennis will see a significant uptick in his minutes any time soon.

His one stint with SU, in the 2013-14 campaign, proved fairly spectacular. Ennis, as a freshman, started on an Orange squad in its inaugural stanza in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Like McCullough, he came to Syracuse highly coveted out of high school, and a consensus top-25 recruit across the country.

While under Ennis’ steady guidance, the ‘Cuse collected 25 straight victories to begin that term, a program record, and held the No. 1 national ranking for several weeks. Of course, we all know about the long-distance heave that Ennis threw in right before the buzzer to sink Pittsburgh on the road.

That Syracuse group lost its mojo toward the year’s end, finishing with a 28-6 mark and a Round of 32 exit at the hands of Dayton in the NCAA Tournament.

While on the season, Ennis generated approximately 13 ppg, along with five-and-a-half assists and three rebounds, according to Cuse.com. For his stellar work, he received a bunch of accolades. Including: USA Today All-America Second Team, ACC All-Freshman Team and All-ACC Second Team, Cuse.com says.

In the 2014 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns chose Ennis with the 18th pick in the first round.

I really admired how unflappable he appeared at SU. I had hoped Ennis would stay at the ‘Cuse past his freshman year, but you can’t blame him for declaring early, given where he got selected in the draft.

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While Ennis seems like a fine young man, and I wish him all the best with Los Angeles. This squad has an exciting head coach in Luke Walton. Now with ‘Magic’ Johnson, perhaps the greater Laker of all time steering the ship. The future looks bright, and here’s to Ennis eventually becoming a key part of the storied franchise’s resurgence!

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