Former Wolverine Nik Stauskas outdoes himself in LeBron’s Lakers debut

Last night in the NBA was all about LeBron James’ debut as a Los Angeles Laker, but one former Michigan Wolverine stepped up and took over everything.

Nik Stauskas showed why people call him Sauce Castillo, because he brought all of the sauce in Portland last night — finishing the game with 24 points (7-for-11, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line), two assists and two rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.

The sauce was most certainly brought.

Stauskas has been an NBA journeyman since being drafted in 2014. He was with the Sacramento Kings for two seasons, then was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2015. After two years there, he was then traded to the Brooklyn Nets. He signed with Portland over the summer.

It’s great to see one of my favorite former Wolverines do well in the NBA. He hasn’t been the JJ Redick type player many thought he would be, but hopefully he strings together a couple good seasons and lives up to being the No. 8 overall pick.

And just to be petty for no reason, here is one of my favorite memories from Stauskas during his days in a Michigan uni.

Elsewhere for former Wolverines in the NBA:

• Tim Hardaway Jr. led the New York Knicks with 31 points, six boards, five assists and two steals in their victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
• Trey Burke also played for the Knicks, pitching in 15 points, four assists, and three boards.
• Caris LeVert led the Brooklyn Nets with 27 points, four dimes, four rebounds, one steal and one block in their loss to the Detroit Pistons