Pat Connaughton’s story of being a two sport athlete has been well told on more than one occasion. Not only did he star on Notre Dame’s basketball team that made a run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1979, he was also a star on Notre Dame’s baseball team.
Connaughton’s athletic ability was on full display during the 2015 NBA Draft combine when he posted an impressive vertical leap and garnered the attention of some NBA teams.
Something that has caught the eye of MLB scouts is the fact that the Fighting Irish product can throw a fastball 96 miles per hour. He was once ranked as the 33rd best baseball prospect and the Baltimore Orioles were so impressed that they decided to draft Connaughton in the 2014 MLB first year player draft in the fourth round.
It appears that Connaughton’s idea to channel his inner Bo Jackson have now been halted by Portland Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey.
Following from Ian Thomsen of NBA.com.
That’s not happening,” says Neil Olshey, the general manager of the Blazers. “The conversation we had with Pat prior to all of this was you’re an NBA player now. Being an NBA player is not a part-time job.”
Connaughton understands.“The time when Pat would be going to play baseball is a time when you’re working on your game and getting better,” Olshey says. “You see how valuable July is. During the development phase, when you’re a second-round pick in the NBA and you have a ways to go to have a translatable skill-set in our league, you need Summer League, you need Grg’s camp (run by Bucks assistant Tim Grgurich), you need to spend the offseason in the gym. You can’t do that on a part-time basis.”
Connaughton agrees with all of this.
“Now, look,” continues Olshey, “if he gets into a second contract down the road and that is something he wants to pursue, then that can be a discussion point …”
Connaughton previously spoke to Def Pen during a pre-draft workout for the Brooklyn Nets stating that he would ‘love’ to do both if a team allowed him to. Pat was taken with the 41st overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Nets and then was traded to the Trail Blazers. He had a vision of doing both but his focus right now is on basketball, at least during his current, one-year, $625,000 deal with the team. That ‘second contract’ Olshey is talking about could see Connaughton pitch once again.
The concern is real in the NBA with over-working ones body, especially with the huge jump of injuries players have dealt with doing things off an NBA floor. Last season, the Blazers were a team that felt the impact injuries have on a season with five of their main players, most notably LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews, dealing with injuries that either ended their season or impacted their play on the court.
Recently, Utah Jazz young guard Dante Exum tore his ACL playing in an international friendly for his native land, Australia. As we all remember, last summer Paul George broke his leg playing in a scrimmage for Team USA. So the concern from NBA teams about the players they invest their money in is real and warranted.
Who knows where Connaughton’s NBA career goes with a new look Blazers team that has a bunch of holes to fill in the upcoming future. He could be an important part to their development or the rookie could just decide he’s going to take his talents to a baseball diamond after this contract is up. One thing is guaranteed though, Pat won’t be pitching anytime in the near future.
