Byron Mullens

Byron Mullens

Mullens with the Clippers
No. 12 – Torku Konyaspor
Position Power forward / Center
League Turkish Basketball Super League
Personal information
Born (1989-02-14) February 14, 1989
Canal Winchester, Ohio
Nationality American / British
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school Canal Winchester
(Canal Winchester, Ohio)
College Ohio State (2008–2009)
NBA draft 2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24th overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Playing career 2009–present
Career history
2009–2011 Oklahoma City Thunder
2009–2011 Tulsa 66ers
2011 Panionios
2011–2013 Charlotte Bobcats
2013–2014 Los Angeles Clippers
2014 Philadelphia 76ers
2014 Shanxi Zhongyu
2015–2016 Sioux Falls Skyforce
2016–present Torku Konyaspor
Career highlights and awards

Byron James "B. J." Mullens (born February 14, 1989)[1] is a British-American professional basketball player for Torku Konyaspor of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). He also holds British nationality due to his English mother.[2] He was drafted 24th overall by the Dallas Mavericks and immediately traded to the Thunder in the 2009 NBA draft.

High school career

Mullens played competitively at Canal Winchester High School and was ranked as one of the top college recruits in the nation from the class of 2008. He was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 3 by Scout.com.[3]

Mullens was offered and accepted a scholarship to Ohio State by the Buckeyes' head basketball coach, Thad Matta, in 2004, which was the summer between Mullens' 8th and 9th grade year.[4]

In his senior year of high school, he averaged 26 points and 15 rebounds,[5] including 29 points and 18 rebounds in his final high school game.[6]

He was a member of the 2008 McDonald's All-American Team and he was a part of the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden, where he had 12 points.

College career

In November 2007, Mullens signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Ohio State University. Mullens averaged 8.8 points a game at a 64.2 shooting percentage during his freshman year with Ohio State.[7] Mullens was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team and earned the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year award.[8] Mullens only played one year for the Buckeyes before declaring eligibility for the NBA Draft.

College statistics

Season Team Games Minutes Points FG % Rebounds Blocks Fouls
2008–09 Ohio State Buckeyes 33 20.3 8.8 64.2 4.7 1.1 2.1

Professional career

Coming out of Ohio State, Yahoo! Sports' Rivals 150 projected Mullens to be a clear first pick in the draft, "Size, athleticism and skill are the big three that separate Mullens from the rest of this class."[9]

Mullens was drafted 24th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2009 NBA draft. His draft rights were traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Rodrigue Beaubois, the 25th overall pick, and a future 2nd round draft pick. In mid-2009, Mullens requested that all media personnel refer to him as "Byron" rather than by his prior nickname "B. J."[10]

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Mullens signed with Panionios B.C.[11] However, he left the team after a month in Greece, saying that he wanted to join his Oklahoma City teammates for their voluntary practice sessions.[12]

On December 19, 2011, Mullens was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for a 2013 second round draft pick.[13] In his first game as a Bobcat, Mullens set a new career high with 10 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 26, 2011.

Mullens had what appeared to be a breakthrough game against the Atlanta Hawks on January 6, 2012, when he scored 17 points on 8-13 from the floor (.615 FG%), collected five rebounds and had one blocked shot in 24 minutes off the bench.

He made his first career start on January 12, 2012 against the Atlanta Hawks. He played in a career high 33 minutes, going 8-16 from the floor scoring 21 points and collecting 4 rebounds. On April 6, 2012, Byron set new career highs by scoring 31 points (on 14-23 shooting) and grabbing 14 rebounds (9 offensive) in 43 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Entering the 2012–13 season, Mullens played as Charlotte's starting power forward. The acquisition of center Brendan Haywood was part of the decision to play Mullens primarily at power forward instead of center.

On July 22, 2013, Mullens signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.[14]

On February 20, 2014, Mullens was traded, along with a 2018 second round draft pick, to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a top-55 protected 2014 second round draft pick.[15][16]

In July 2014, Mullens joined the Shaanxi Wolves of the Chinese National Basketball League where he played four games for the club. On August 11, 2014, he signed with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association[17] but later left the club before appearing in a game for them.

On February 14, 2015, Mullens was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League.[18] and reacquired as a returning player on November 2.[19]

On March 1, 2016, Mullens signed a deal with Turkish club Torku Konyaspor until the end of the 2016–17 season.[20]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009–10 Oklahoma City 13 0 4.2 .368 .000 .000 .8 .1 .2 .0 1.1
2010–11 Oklahoma City 13 0 6.5 .321 .000 .500 1.8 .0 .2 .2 1.9
2011–12 Charlotte 65 25 22.5 .425 .235 .821 5.0 .9 .3 .8 9.3
2012–13 Charlotte 53 41 26.9 .385 .317 .646 6.4 1.5 .6 .6 10.6
2013–14 L.A. Clippers 27 0 6.2 .406 .333 .333 1.2 .2 .2 .1 2.5
2013–14 Philadelphia 18 0 13.7 .465 .400 .571 3.3 .4 .5 .4 6.8
Career 189 66 18.2 .408 .319 .706 4.2 .8 .4 .5 7.4

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Oklahoma City 1 0 4.0 .000 .000 .500 .0 .0 .0 .0 1.0
Career 1 0 4.0 .000 .000 .500 .0 .0 .0 .0 1.0

International career

Mullens was included in the preliminary Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. However, he left the team in June 2012 because of a toe injury.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Byron Mullens NBA & ABA Stats
  2. ↑ MULLENS TO JOIN GB'S OLYMPIC TILT
  3. ↑ Scout.com Class of 2008 Basketball Rankings
  4. ↑ Accepting OSU Scholarship
  5. ↑ Senior year Stats
  6. ↑ More Stats
  7. ↑ http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/B.J.-Mullens-1107/stats/
  8. ↑ Lesmerises, Doug (March 10, 2009). "Turner, Buford, Mullens honored". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  9. ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-rivals150/2008
  10. ↑ "B.J. Mullens is now referred to as Byron Mullens. We like it!". OKC Thunder official Twitter page. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  11. ↑ Mullens Signs One-Year Deal With Panionios
  12. ↑ Thunder's Byron Mullens leaves Greek League team
  13. ↑ "Bobcats Acquire Byron Mullens from Thunder". NBA.com. December 19, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  14. ↑ CLIPPERS SIGN CENTER BYRON MULLENS
  15. ↑ "Sam Hinkie's First Trade Deadline With The Sixers Was A Busy One". CBSLocal.com. February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ "CLIPPERS FINALIZE TRADES WITH HAWKS AND 76ERS". NBA.com. February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ Byron Mullens officially signs with Shanxi Brave Dragons
  18. ↑ Skyforce Acquire Mullens and Re-Acquire Dawkins
  19. ↑ "Skyforce Announces 2015-16 Training Camp Roster". OurSportsCentral.com. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Byron Mullens signs with Konyaspor". Sportando.com. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ Brendan Gallagher. "London 2012 Olympics: Byron Mullens pulls out but Team GB basketball squad are hopeful Ben Gordon will play". The Telegraph. June 21, 2012. Retrieved on June 24, 2012.
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