ARIZONA BASKETBALL

Portland selects, trades Arizona forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to Brooklyn in 2015 NBA Draft

Jun 25, 2015, 7:11 PM | Updated: 8:48 pm

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It’s time for the “Rondae Shimmy” to make it to the NBA.

Former Arizona forward Rondae-Hollis Jefferson was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft Thursday. However, the Blazers would later trade Hollis-Jefferson and veteran guard Steve Blake to Brooklyn in exchange for Nets center Mason Plumlee and Brooklyn’s second pick Pat Connaughton of Notre Dame.

Hollis-Jefferson returned to Arizona for his sophomore season in 2014-15 after being selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team the year before. He raised his game, being named First Team All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward was the third-leading scorer (11.2 points per game) for a Wildcats team that made it to the Elite Eight before being eliminated by eventual finalists Wisconsin. He also averaged 6.8 rebounds while starting 25 of the 38 games he played.

Hollis-Jefferson is the second Arizona Wildcat to be selected in Thursday’s draft, following Stanley Johnson, who went eighth overall to the Detroit Pistons.

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