2025-26 Nov Updates for NBA Players from Schools in West

Hot This Month

Onyeka Okongwu (Atlanta Hawks, USC)

It’s all coming together for Onyeka Okongwu. For years, I’ve been a big believer in Okongwu, as he has steadily improved every year since entering the league as the sixth-overall pick in 2020.

When Clint Capela was traded back to the Houston Rockets in the huge trade that saw Kevin Durant and Jalen Green swap places, Okongwu’s stock reached an all-time high.

However, the Hawks traded for Kristaps Porziņģis just one day later, and Okongwu was back at square one. But there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

Porziņģis is one of the most injury-prone big men the league has ever seen, as despite his solid career, recurring injuries have prevented him from reaching his legendary potential.

The Hawks started the year with Porziņģis as the team’s starting center, but it took just one game for Okongwu to take his place in the starting lineup.

The Latvian has missed seven games this year due to an illness and a knee injury, and Okongwu has made the most out of these opportunities.

In those seven games, the former Ball-era Chino Hills superstar has averaged 20.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.3 stocks (steals + blocks) per game, helping his squad to a 5-2 record.

He’s still effective even when coming off the bench, as he has put up 14.2 points and 7.4 rebounds a night with Porziņģis as the starter.

The most impressive part of Okongwu’s season has been his shooting, as he was a career 32.2% three-point shooter prior to this year, but that hasn’t stopped him from making it rain from deep in 2025-2026.

He has drained 36 threes in 18 games, which ranks second in the NBA among centers (tied with Nikola Jokić and Naz Reid).

He’s shooting 41.4% from deep this year, which is higher than Reid (36.4%) and other sharpshooting bigs such as Nikola Vučević (40.7%), Myles Turner (40.5%), and Karl-Anthony Towns (32.6%).

Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami Heat, UCLA)

Many fans expected the Heat to struggle at the start of the season after Tyler Herro underwent ankle surgery in September.

Instead, they are currently 13-6 with one of the most explosive offenses in the league, averaging 122.9 points per game, the second-highest in the NBA.

Miami’s bench is also contributing to their great offense, as they have the third-highest scoring bench (44.9 PPG) in the NBA.

Their sixth man, Jaime Jaquez Jr., has been the catalyst behind these stats, as he’s taken a huge leap forward following a sophomore slump last season.

The UCLA product failed to step up following the Jimmy Butler trade, but he’s finally coming good and fulfilling the immense potential that he showed as a rookie.

Despite struggling with his three-point shooting (7/32), he’s currently putting up 16.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists a night. The Heat are a significantly better team whenever he’s on the court, as evidenced by his +12.9 Plus/Minus net per 100 possessions.

He’s currently the favorite to win the Sixth Man of the Year award, and despite facing taller defenders this season, head coach Erik Spoelstra is encouraging him to stay aggressive.

“Jaime is really growing,” Spoelstra said. “He’s so poised now with an aggressiveness. He’s making just enough plays to keep the defense honest.”

Rookie Report

Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies, Washington State)

Cedric Coward is one of those guys you can never count out. Just a few years ago, he was playing Division III basketball at Willamette University, and now he’s a starting player for the Memphis Grizzlies.

In my 2025 SuperWest rookie profiles, I talked about how Coward could start alongside fellow Washington State alum and my 2024-25 SuperWest Rookie of the Year, Jaylen Wells, and that is exactly what has happened.

In his last six games (all starts), Coward has shot 12 for 32 from deep with averages of 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a night.

Since Ja Morant’s injury, the Grizzlies have used a lineup featuring Coward, Wells, Vince Williams Jr., Zach Edey, and Jaren Jackson Jr., which has yielded tremendous results.

This lineup averages +28.9 net points per 100 possessions, and they are trying their best to help the Grizzlies stay afloat.

“I think it’s a blessing that me and Jaylen [Wells], the Grizzlies’ second-year guard, can play and make an impact on the team,” Coward said in a Q&A with NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner. “Being from the same school, I guess that’s a coincidence.”

Egor Dёmin (Brooklyn Nets, BYU)

It’s not easy when you’re expected to be the savior of a franchise. Egor Dёmin’s NBA career didn’t get off to a great start, and many fans were quick to label him a bust.

However, things have improved drastically since he became a starter following an injury to Cam Thomas.

Dёmin has drained a three-pointer in each of his first nine games as a starter, while also having seven games with at least 8 points and six games with at least four assists.

After a 1-11 start, the Nets have won two of their last five and are showing some signs of life.

“Understanding that the coaching staff is believing in me and believing in all of us, I think this is where we can get even more power and even more energy to play as hard as we can,” Dёmin said following an impressive win against the Boston Celtics.

The Opportunity

Brandon Williams (Dallas Mavericks, Arizona)

Back in 2019, many thought that Brandon Williams, a four-star recruit who just had an impressive freshman season at Arizona, could become a future NBA superstar.

However, he suffered a knee injury, which caused him to miss his entire sophomore season. He then declared for the draft, but went undrafted, and his NBA dreams were shattered.

Despite scoring 20+ points in six out of 24 games for the Trail Blazers in the 2021-22 season, Williams was waived before the start of the following campaign.

After spending a year with the College Park Skyhawks and then getting waived by the Orlando Magic, Williams signed with the Dallas Mavericks on a two-way deal.

He led the G-League Tip-Off Tournament in scoring in 2024-25, and the Mavericks rewarded him with a contract until the end of the 2025-26 season.

Now, Williams is making the most of this opportunity, as he is willing to do anything to earn another extension to stay in the league.

Despite being arrested on a charge of marijuana possession at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in late October, Williams is becoming a bright spot for an otherwise doomed Mavericks team.

He’s averaging 12.4 points a night in his last 15 games while contributing to the defensive end with 1.6 steals per contest.

“I worked a lot this offseason on learning coverages,” Williams said. “I know I can get by my man, but it’s about reading that next line of defense.”

Top Veterans

James Harden (Los Angeles Clippers, Arizona State)

James Harden is 36 years old, but he’s doing everything in his power every night to prevent the “cursed” Clippers from being at the bottom of the West’s standings.

Harden has averaged 33.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 7.8 assists over his last nine games while shooting 45.5% from the field and 37.3% from three, but his Herculean efforts have resulted in just two wins during that span.

Kawhi Leonard’s return is set to improve the situation, but Bradley Beal’s season-ending injury means that time is quickly running out for the Clippers to make something of this season.

Norman Powell (Miami Heat, UCLA)

The Clippers could really use someone like Norman Powell right now. They traded Powell to the Heat to acquire Jazz forward John Collins in the summer, and while Collins hasn’t been terrible, this is a move that they are starting to regret.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. isn’t the only UCLA product who is having an excellent year for Miami, as Norman Powell has scored 19+ points in 13 of his 15 games with 49.4/44.1/88.4 shooting splits so far this season.

The 32-year-old was an All-Star snub last year, but now that he’s in the Eastern Conference, he has an easy path to realize his childhood dream of becoming an NBA All-Star if he continues to play like this.