Alex Hamilton
Surf City faithful will recognize Alex Hamilton right off the back. He’s back for another season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take more of leadership role as one of the three returning Santa Cruz players.
Having gone undrafted back during the 2016 NBA Draft, this 24-year-old, 6-foot-4 combo guard was selected by the Oklahoma City Blue with the third overall pick of the 2016 NBA Development League Draft. He found his way to Santa Cruz via a draft night trade.
Appearing in 43 games for the Sea Dubs, Hamilton averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 23.3 minutes. He shot a promising 45.6 percent from the field, but didn’t shoot too well from behind the arc (22.6 3P%) or the free throw line (70.5 FT%).
I spoke with Hamilton during his training camp stint with the Golden State Warriors this past summer, and he said his main focus during the offseason has been on improving his shooting. If he can prove to be a much more reliable shooter this season, there’s no way in hell he fails to earn a call-up to the NBA.