Since 2000, the Miami Hurricanes have produced a long-tenured scorer, a three-time NBA champion, an indispensable title-run role player, a guard who delivered on the playoff stage and a young wing who may climb this list faster than anyone expected.
With NBA Draft week putting former Hurricanes back in focus, here are the five best Miami basketball alums in the NBA since 2000.
Honorable mentions
Shane Larkin, DeQuan Jones and Davon Reed all deserve mention, but this group has the strongest mix of NBA production, staying power and meaningful moments since 2000.
5. Kyshawn George
Kyshawn George has only played two NBA seasons, so placing him fifth comes with an obvious warning: this ranking could look low soon.
Washington took George with the No. 24 pick in 2024 after his one season at Miami. He has appeared in 116 NBA games, made 86 starts and averaged 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists through two seasons.
Before a left elbow injury ended his second year, George averaged 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 48 starts while shooting 38.1% from 3-point range.
4. Lonnie Walker IV
The former No. 18 overall pick has averaged 10.0 points per game in the NBA and has produced for San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Utah. His most memorable moment came during the Lakers' 2023 playoff run, when he scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 against Golden State to give Los Angeles a 3-1 series lead.
LeBron James said after the game that the Lakers would not have won without Walker.
That moment is why Walker ranks ahead of several other Miami players with longer NBA stays.
3. Bruce Brown
The 2018 second-round pick became a starter in Detroit and Brooklyn, then turned into a championship-level connector with Denver. Brown averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals during the Nuggets' 2022-23 regular season before playing every game of their title run.
He averaged 12.0 points in 20 playoff games that spring and led all players with 240 bench points during Denver's postseason. Brown scored 21 points in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against Miami and made several defining plays late in the title-clinching Game 5 win.
2. James Jones
James Jones may not have the individual production like some of the others on this list, but his championships are impossible to ignore.
Jones played 709 regular-season games, won three NBA championships and reached the NBA Finals in seven straight seasons from 2011 through 2017. He won two titles with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, then added another with Cleveland in 2016.
Jones was a floor-spacing forward who had to be ready when stars like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh needed a reliable shooter around them. He averaged 5.2 points for his career, but he made his name as one of the league's better role-playing shooters and won the NBA 3-Point Contest in 2011.
That kind of career deserves a high spot. Jones was never asked to be a primary scorer, but he was trusted on championship-level teams for more than a decade.
1. John Salmons
Nobody from Miami's modern era combined longevity, production and a sustained NBA role the way John Salmons did.
The 2002 first-round pick played 13 NBA seasons and appeared in 895 regular-season games. He averaged 9.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for his career, but his peak was much better than those averages suggest. Salmons averaged 18.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists with Sacramento during the 2008-09 season before becoming a major piece for Chicago and Milwaukee.
Salmons was never an All-Star, but he was a legitimate starting-caliber wing and his 33.9 career win shares separate him from the rest of the field.
Add us as a preferred source on Google