After going undrafted and beginning the season in the G League, Keion Brooks continues to make a strong case that he belongs in the NBA.
On Thursday night, the former University of Washington swingman came up with a season-high 20 points for the New Orleans Pelicans in a 136-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, providing yet another periodic bright spot for a 21-58 team otherwise struggling throughout the winter.
For Brooks, its been one pro first after another since he was called up a second time from the G League’s Birmingham Squadron.
Against the same Bucks five days earlier, the 6-foot-7 Brooks provided his first NBA double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
On March 24, he made his first NBA start against the Philadelphia 76ers and helped lead the Pelicans to a 112-99 win with 10 points, which was his first double-figure pro game.
Just getting started!#RAWTraining https://t.co/mJUsVJCjj5
— Keion Brooks (@keion_brooks) April 11, 2025
“It’s been amazing,” Brooks said on Thursday night. “The opportunity presented itself and I just went out there and tried to take advantage of it.”
In his increasingly productive rookie season, Brooks has appeared in a dozen Pelicans games and averages 9.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while starting four times.
With these 2 free throws, Keion Brooks Jr. had a NBA career high of 20 points in the Pelicans game tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks! He has taking full advantage of the opportunity and has proven that he can compete at the highest level. This is only the beginning! Go Keion! pic.twitter.com/U0T5kjQEzO
— Howard Stevenson (@hlstevenson2) April 11, 2025
Against the Bucks this week, he connected on 7 of 13 shots, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, in 32 minutes of time.
He’s shown himself to be a much better shooter from behind the line than he was in college by hitting at a 35.3 percent rate.
Brooks has three Pelicans games left in his rookie season as tries to impress people before the New Orleans franchise likely makes a lot of postseason changes, beginning with coach Willie Green.
No matter what happens in the Big Easy, Brooks no doubt has caught the eye of a lot of people in the NBA and shouldn’t have any trouble playing in the league going forward.
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