Jerryd Bayless

Jerryd Bayless
Jerryd Bayless
Born	August 20, 1988 (age 38); Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	2008–2019
Known for	NBA player for multiple teams including Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves

Jerryd Andrew Bayless (born August 20, 1988) is a retired American professional basketball athlete. He played his high school basketball at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix before spending a single season with the Arizona Wildcats. Chosen as the 11th pick overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, Bayless was promptly traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

College career

During his freshman year at Arizona in the 2007–08 season, Bayless was the team's leading scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game while shooting 45.8% overall and 40.7% from beyond the arc. He also averaged 4.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and logged 35.7 minutes across 30 contests. Notably, he became the first freshman in Arizona's history to top the scoring charts and the first freshman since Sean Elliott in 1985–86 to be named team MVP. His honors included All-Pac-10 second team, All-Freshman accolades, First Team All-District recognition by both NABC and USBWA, Honorable Mention All-America by The Associated Press, and finalist status for the Wooden Award. The Wildcats concluded the regular season with a 19–14 record (8–10 Pac-10) and were eliminated in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. On April 5, 2008, Bayless announced his decision to enter the NBA draft, foregoing any remaining college eligibility.

Portland Trail Blazers (2008–2010)

Selected 11th overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, Bayless was immediately traded to the Portland Trail Blazers along with Ike Diogu in exchange for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts, and Brandon Rush on July 9. During the 2008 Las Vegas Summer League, he earned MVP honors by leading all players with an average of 29.8 points per game, contributing to a 3–2 record for Portland.

Bayless set a personal best on December 23, 2009, scoring 31 points against the San Antonio Spurs, which also established a franchise record for most points scored by a Trail Blazer in his initial career start.

New Orleans Hornets (2010)

On October 23, 2010, Bayless was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in return for a first-round draft pick in 2011 that later became Tobias Harris.

Toronto Raptors (2010–2012)

Bayless was involved in a trade on November 20, 2010, moving from New Orleans alongside Peja Stojaković to join the Toronto Raptors; in exchange, New Orleans received David Andersen, Marcus Banks, and Jarrett Jack. He matched his career-high of 31 points on December 11, 2010, during a game against the Detroit Pistons. On February 22, 2011, Bayless achieved an unusual double-double with 11 points and 10 assists without recording a single field goal, marking him as the first NBA player to accomplish this feat since Magic Johnson did so in 1996.

In the lockout-shortened season of 2011–12, Bayless improved his personal bests across multiple categories: scoring (11.4 points), assists (3.8), field goal percentage (.424), three-point shooting (.423), and free throw percentage (.852) over a span of 31 games with 11 starts.

Memphis Grizzlies (2012–2014)

Bayless signed a two-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies on July 13, 2012. He opted into his player option for the following season on June 30, 2013.

Boston Celtics (2014)

On January 7, 2014, Bayless was involved in a three-team trade that sent him to the Boston Celtics, with the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder also participating in the transaction.

Milwaukee Bucks (2014–2016)

Bayless inked a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks on July 31, 2014. He demonstrated strong play during the first half of the 2014–15 campaign, but his effectiveness diminished following the All-Star break. Due to his understanding of head coach Jason Kidd's system, Bayless was frequently tasked with a substantial role, particularly while newly acquired guard Michael Carter-Williams was sidelined with injury.

After missing 11 games because of a left ankle sprain, Bayless returned on December 28, 2015, and contributed 19 points along with seven assists off the bench in a defeat against the Dallas Mavericks. In the fourth game of the 2015 postseason, he hit a buzzer-beating layup to clinch a victory for Milwaukee. However, he subsequently missed additional contests in early January and late February due to recurring issues with his ankle and knee.

Philadelphia 76ers (2016–2018)

Bayless agreed to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers on July 13, 2016. A left wrist injury led to his assignment to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League on November 14 for rehabilitation purposes; he was recalled two days later. He made his debut for Philadelphia on November 21, scoring four points over 16 minutes. After participating in three games, surgery became necessary for a torn ligament in his left wrist, ending his season on December 15.

Starting the first seven games of the 2017–18 season, Bayless eventually lost his starting spot as a thumb injury reemerged. He missed six games before returning but struggled to regain form and was removed from the rotation by mid-January amid rising contributions from younger players. He sat out the beginning of the 2018–19 season to recover from a hyperextended right knee.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2018–2019)

On November 12, 2018, Bayless was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Robert Covington, Dario Šarić, and a second-round pick in 2022 in exchange for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton. He made his Timberwolves debut on December 21 facing the San Antonio Spurs. On January 30, 2019, Bayless posted 19 points and a career-best 12 assists during a 99–97 overtime victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, marking his first double-double since 2015 and fifth overall.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland | 53 || 0 || 12.4 || .365 || .259 || .806 || 1.1 || 1.5 || .3 || .0 || 4.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland | 74 || 11 || 17.6 || .414 || .315 || .831 || 1.6 || 2.3 || .4 || .1 || 8.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 11 || 0 || 13.5 || .347 || .214 || .765 || 1.4 || 2.5 || .2 || .1 || 4.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 60 || 14 || 22.4 || .429 || .348 || .810 || 2.5 || 4.0 || .6 || .1 || 10.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 31 || 11 || 22.7 || .424 || .423 || .852 || 2.1 || 3.8 || .8 || .1 || 11.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 80 || 4 || 22.1 || .419 || .353 || .836 || 2.2 || 3.3 || .7 || .2 || 8.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 31 || 5 || 21.0|| .377|| .301|| .789||1.9||2.1|| .6|| .2||8.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston |41||14||25.3||.418||.395||.803||2.1||3.1||1.0||.1||10.1 |-

| style="text-align:left;" |  
| style="text-align:left;" | Milwaukee 
|77||4||22.3||.426||.308||.883||2.7||3.0||.8||0.2||7.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |  
| style="text-align:left;" | Milwaukee 
|52||18||28.9||.423||0.437||.778||2.7||3.1||0.9|||0.2|||10.4

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |  
| style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia 
|3|||1|||23.7|||0.344|||0.400|||0.900|||4.0|||4.3|||0|||0|||11

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |  
| style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia 
|39|||11|||23.7|||0.416|||0.370|||0.795|||2,1|||1,4|||0,6|||0,2|||7,9

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |  
| style="text-align:left;" | Minnesota 
|34|||6|||19,3|||0,357|||0,296|||0,571|||1,8|||3,5|||0,5|||0,1|||6,1

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center" colspan=2>Career
|586|||99|||21,4|||0,411|||0,361|||0,818|||2,1|||2,9|||0,6|||0,1|||8,4

Playoff Appearances

|-

|style="text-align:left" |2009 NBA Playoffs 
|style="text-align:left" |2008–09 Portland Trail Blazers season 
|2||||5.5||||333||||000||||667||||05||||03

|-

|style="text-align:left" |2010 NBA Playoffs 
|style="text-align:left" |2009–10 Portland Trail Blazers season 
|6||||27.7||||431||||400||||792||||27||||38||||03||||13.5

|-

|style="text-align:left" |2013 NBA Playoffs 
|style="text-align:left" |2012–13 Memphis Grizzlies season 
|15||||21.3||||358||||305||||885||||20||||21||||05||||03||||09.3

|-

|style="text-align:left" |2015 NBA Playoffs 
|style="text-align:left" |2014–15 Milwaukee Bucks season 
|6||||20.0||||343||||286||||765||||25||||30||||03||||03||||06.5

|-

|style="text-align:left" |2018 NBA Playoffs 
|style="text-align:left" |2017–18 Philadelphia 76ers season 
|1||||2.0||||—||||—||||—||||00||||00||||00

|- class=sortbottom

!colspan=2 style=text-align:center;|
Overall Career
!30!!2!!20.6!!374!!317!!814!!21!!24!!04!!03!!88

Collegiate Career

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Arizona Wildcats | 30 || 30 || 35.7 || .458 || .407 || .839 || 2.7 || 4.0 || 1.0 || .1 || 19.7

High School

2007 First-team Parade All-American selection
Chosen for the 2007 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team roster
Part of the 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team that secured gold at the FIBA World Championship
Four consecutive selections to the Arizona Republic All-Arizona team (2004 through 2007)
Named to the 2006 Fourth-team Parade All-American list
Ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect and No. 2 shooting guard by both Scout.com and Rivals.com

College

Earned Second-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2008
Inducted into the University of Arizona Ring of Honor in 2018

External Resources