A mid-October groin injury caused Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s season to start slow. At the time, I wrote a cautiously optimistic article about him anyway. I argued that joining a new team with two floor-spacing centres in Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol would open up the game to Rondae’s strengths: his passing and driving.
With injuries to Kyle Lowry, Ibaka, Patrick McCaw, and (briefly) OG Anunoby during a brutal stretch of away games, Nurse finally called Hollis-Jefferson’s number against the Lakers, ultimately giving him 15 minutes of playing time.