Keljin Blevins

Keljin DeShawn Blevins (born November 24, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Rapid București of the Liga Națională. He played college basketball at Southern Mississippi and Montana State.

Keljin Blevins
Free agent
PositionShooting guard / point guard
Personal information
Born (1995-11-24) November 24, 1995
Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2020Northern Arizona Suns
2020–2022Portland Trail Blazers
2022–2023Rapid București
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and high school

Blevins was born and grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas and initially attended Lakeside High School. He averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and helped lead the Rams to a 5A-South conference title as a junior. Blevins transferred to Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington County, Virginia for his senior year and was named honorable mention All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.[1]

College career

Blevins began his collegiate career at Southern Mississippi. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 25 games in his freshman season. As a sophomore, Blevins averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes over 29 games, 24 of which he started.[2] After the season, he decided to transfer to Montana State University.[3]

After sitting out one year due to NCAA transfer rules, Blevins entered his redshirt junior season as a starter for the Bobcats and averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.[1] In the final game of his college career on March 14, 2019, Blevins scored a career-high 27 points in a 90–84 loss to Eastern Washington.[4] As a redshirt senior, he averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.[5]

Professional career

Northern Arizona Suns (2019–2020)

After going unselected in the 2019 NBA draft, Blevins played on the Portland Trail Blazers Summer League team and signed a training camp contract with the team on September 30, 2019.[6][7] He was waived at the end of training camp.[8]

After being waived, Blevins was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NBA G League Draft by the Northern Arizona Suns.[9] He averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 35 games in his first professional season.[10]

Portland Trail Blazers (2020–2022)

Blevins was signed by the Trail Blazers to a two-way contract on November 25, 2020.[11] Blevins made his NBA debut on December 23, 2020, playing four minutes while shooting 0–2 from the field with one assist in the fourth quarter of a 100–120 loss to the Utah Jazz in the Trailblazers' season opener. The appearance made him the first former Montana State player to play in an NBA game.[12]

On September 23, 2021, Blevins signed another two-way contract with the Trail Blazers.[13]

Rapid București (2022–2023)

In 2022, Blevins joined Rapid București of the Liga Națională, averaging 4.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He was released on March 3, 2023.[14]

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
2020–21 Portland 1704.4.250.250–.6.2.1.0.7
2021–22 Portland 31111.3.306.292.5451.5.6.4.03.1
Career 4818.8.298.288.5451.1.5.3.02.2

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 Portland 202.0.500.000–.0.0.0.01.0

Personal life

Blevins is the cousin of former Portland Trail Blazers and current Milwaukee Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard.[15] He also was teammates with Lillard from 2020 to 2022 while in Portland.

References
  1. "Big Sky is no limit: Blevins looks to finish college career on high note". Hot Springs Sentinel-Record. November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  2. Nuanez, Colter (August 17, 2016). "Southern Miss transfer Blevins officially a Bobcat". skylinesportsmt.com. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  3. Gabriel, Parker (August 14, 2016). "Southern Mississippi guard Blevins transferring to Montana State". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  4. "Peatling lifts EWU to 90–84 win in Big Sky quarterfinal". ESPN. Associated Press. March 15, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  5. "Former Montana State forward Keljin Blevins signs with Portland Trail Blazers". Independent Record. September 30, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  6. Koch, Aunica (July 4, 2019). "Bobcats' Keljin Blevins makes Trail Blazers summer league roster". SWX Right Now. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  7. "TRAIL BLAZERS SIGN KELJIN BLEVINS TO TRAINING CAMP CONTRACT". NBA.com. September 30, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  8. Goldberg, Jamie (October 18, 2019). "Portland Trail Blazers waive Blevins, Caupain, Perrantes, officially convert Moses Brown to 2-way contract". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  9. Morgan, Madison (October 26, 2019). "MSU Billings Basketball alumni drafted to the NBA G-League". KTVQ.com. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  10. Withee, Jacob (June 15, 2020). "Keljin Blevins Provided the Spark When the Suns Called". GLeague.NBA.com. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  11. Warner, Jonathan (November 25, 2020). "Damian Lillard's cousin Keljin Blevins signs two-way contract with Trail Blazers". NBC Sports Northwest. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  12. "Keljin Blevins becomes first former Bobcat to play in NBA regular season game". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  13. "Trail Blazers announce Training Camp roster". NBA.com. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  14. Beres, Arnold (March 3, 2023). "Rapid cut Blevins". Eurobasket. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  15. Koch, Aunica (February 1, 2019). "Bobcats' Keljin Blevins plays through heartache with help of Damian Lillard". SWX Right Now. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
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