Former Gamecock and Columbia native PJ Dozier cleared for all basketball activities
Former South Carolina basketball two-way player PJ Dozier has been cleared to resume all basketball activities after tearing his ACL in November, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Dozier is a free agent this summer which means he will be target for teams looking for depth and role players.
Dozier was a crucial part during South Carolina basketball’s run to the Final Four in the 2016-17 season. He averaged 13.9 points a game during the breakout season and 12.3 points per game during the run.
The Columbia native has spent five seasons in the NBA with three different teams. He went undrafted in 2017 after being projected as high as the first round. Dozier bounced around training camps before landing a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He spent most of his time with the Thunder’s G league affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.
Dozier signed with the Boston Celtics in 2018 on another two-way contract. He tore it up with the Celtics G-League affiliate Maine Redclaws, averaging 21 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Dozier was named 2018-2019 All-G-League after leading the league in field goals made.
His performance earned him yet another two-way contract, this time with the Denver Nuggets in 2019. Dozier finally got his chance with the Nuggets after star guard Jamal Murray went down with an injury.
“That was the biggest thing for me: to try to stay ready, so I won’t have to get ready,” Dozier said. “And also, just to be where my feet are. If I was in the G League, that’s where my focus was at. I wasn’t worried about anything else other than taking care of business there. And then when I get the call, now my focus shifts to whatever they need me to do on the other ball club,” Dozier told BasketballNews.com in 2021.
He made his debut for the Nuggets on January 15th, 2020 against the Charlotte Hornets where he scored 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
PJ saw his opportunity, took it and never looked back. He became a crucial role player in the absence of Murray and remained on the team through the stoppage by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the bubble, Dozier averaged 10.2 points per game before the playoffs.
The 2021-22 season, Dozier was averaging 18.9 minutes per game off the bench for the Nuggets before tearing his ACL in his left knee early on in a game against the Portland Trailblazers.
He was then traded from the Nuggets to the Boston Celtics and then again to the Orlando Magic. In Orlando he was eventually waived amidst all of the trade deadline chaos.
The NBA 2022 free agency market opens Monday, August 2nd at 6.pm. Dozier’s name will definitely be in the rumor mill as teams begin to fill their roster.
