Tim Frazier
[adrotate banner=”46″]
Tim Frazier (born November 1, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The point guard played high school basketball for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and competed at the collegiate level with Penn State. He earned various accolades with Penn State, including first-team All-Big Ten and All-Big Ten Defensive team honors, both as a junior in 2012. Frazier suffered an injury in his fourth year with the team, forcing him to redshirt the season. In his final season, he was named a Senior CLASS Award finalist and to the Bob Cousy Award watch list. Frazier was born on November 1, 1990 in Houston, Texas, to Billy and Janice. He started playing basketball when he was five years old. He would knock down trophies of his sister and challenge his sister Krystal to games. His sister later said, “Most people learn basketball early on with a one-on-one kind of mentality… Tim at an early age didn’t have that. He always wanted to make the team better and do whatever it takes to help team out. He is such a true point guard.” In his childhood, he was considered too small for contact sports, but was noted for his quickness, which helped him thrive as a guard on the court. Frazier attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston, Texas. He completed his junior year with 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 steals per game. Frazier was named District 17-5A Defensive Player of the Year. In his senior season, he averaged 15.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.6 steals per game, leading the team to a 37–1 record. He helped them become the first private school to reach the state tournament’s semifinals. Frazier commented on his final year with Strake Jesuit in an interview with BlueWhiteIllustrated.com. “My game, I don’t know, it just hit that next level,” he said. After completing his senior year with Strake Jesuit, Frazier was ranked the 20th best point guard of his class, the 110th most valuable player overall, and a three-star recruit by
Rivals.com. According to TexasHoops.com, he was the best recruit in the state, and the Houston Chronicle labeled him the Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Frazier played with the Houston Elite Amateur Athletic Union team, which had produced players such as Anthony Thompson, Eddren McCain and Chris Roberts, all of whom attended Bradley University. He graduated high school cum laude.
On October 23, 2008, Frazier verbally committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team. He said to Scout.com, “I decided to be a Nittany Lion because I felt it was a great fit for me. Penn State has great academics as well as a great basketball team and that’s what I was looking for.” Frazier also said that he had a “great time” on his official visit and all his relatives supported the decision. He received offers from various other schools across the country, including Bradley, Colorado State, New Mexico State, Santa Clara, Stanford, Stephen F. Austin, and UTEP. Frazier was also visited by San Diego, TCU, and Penn State, spanning from September to October 2008. After the move was made official, head coach Ed DeChellis said, “We are very excited to have Tim join our program. He is a very fast, quick player with tremendous speed in the backcourt and a good shooter. He possesses the kind of athleticism that Stanley Pringle does. He can get in the lane and find open guys and is a great drive and kick passer and he can score. He is a very good on-the-ball defender and a tremendous athlete and we think he really solidifies our backcourt for the future.” Prior to the 2014 NBA draft, Frazier worked out for several NBA teams, including the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards. Philadelphia worked him out two times, and head coach Brett Brown invited him to play for them at the 2014 Las Vegas Summer League within an hour after he was not selected in the draft. The situation was compared to that of Khalif Wyatt, who played for the 76ers through the 2013 edition of the summer league, and attended Temple University in the Philadelphia area. Frazier said, “When [the coaches] reached out to me and said they wanted me for the summer league, I was ready to go for it. I just want to go out, have fun, play my hardest and show Philly and other teams what they can get from me.”. According to the 76ers assistant coach, Chad Iske, he impressed the team’s staff by his “poise” and experience at the higher level. At Las Vegas, Frazier averaged 3.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals in five games. On September 29, 2014, the Boston Celtics signed Frazier to a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the likely notion of auditioning with the Maine Red Claws in the future. On October 27, 2014, he was waived by the Celtics after appearing in four preseason games where he went 1-for-2 from the field and recorded two rebounds, four assists and four steals. As expected, four days later, he was acquired by the Maine Red Claws as an affiliate player. Frazier opened his season in the D-League by contributing 18 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds against the Oklahoma City Blue. He also shot 12-of-12 on free throws, helping the team win their first game.
On January 30, 2015, Frazier recorded his second triple-double of the season with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as he helped the Red Claws snap a three-game losing streak with a 104-92 win over the Canton Charge. On February 4, 2015, he was named to the Futures All-Star team for the 2015 NBA D-League All-Star Game.
On February 5, 2015, Frazier signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. The following day, he made his NBA debut in the 76ers’ 96-107 loss to the Boston Celtics. In just under 35 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded a game-high 11 assists to go with 5 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Following the expiration of his 10-day contract, he was not retained by the 76ers, and on February 16, he was reacquired by the Red Claws. On February 20, he signed a second 10-day contract with the 76ers. However, he was waived by the 76ers on February 24 after the team acquired Thomas Robinson, and returned once again to Maine four days later. On March 5, he recorded his fourth triple-double of the season with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 14 assists in the Red Claws’ 121-110 win over the Austin Spurs. On March 30, 2015, Frazier signed a multi-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. On April 21, he was selected as both the 2015 NBA Development League’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year after averaging 16.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 9.5 assists in 41 games. In July 2015, Frazier joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2015 NBA Summer League and attended training camp with the team. He made the final roster for the 2015–16 season, and played in 15 of the team’s first 29 games of the season. On December 21, he started in his first game for the Trail Blazers in place of the injured Damian Lillard. He subsequently played in all but 25 seconds of the team’s 106–97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, recording 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. On February 18, 2016, he was waived by the Trail Blazers.
On February 27, Frazier was reacquired by the Maine Red Claws. The following day, in just his second game back for the Red Claws, Frazier recorded just the 10th triple-double in Red Claws history in a 132–111 win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In 32 minutes of action, he recorded 24 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.[58] On March 16, 2016, Frazier signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans to help the team deal with numerous injuries. New Orleans had to use an NBA hardship exemption in order to sign him as he made their roster stand at 17, two over the allowed limited of 15. He made his debut for the Pelicans later that night, recording 14 points and 9 assists in 27 minutes off the bench in a 123–108 win over the Sacramento Kings. On March 20, he scored a season-high 17 points in a 109–105 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. He topped that mark four days later, scoring 18 points in a loss to the Indiana Pacers. On March 26, he signed with the Pelicans for the remainder of the season. On April 3, he had career highs with 19 points and 13 assists off the bench in a 106–87 win over the Brooklyn Nets. On April 11, he set a new career high with 20 points, along with 11 assists, in a 121–116 loss to the Chicago Bulls. In the 
Pelicans’ season finale on April 13, Frazier had a 15-assist game off the bench in a 144–109 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On July 22, 2016, Frazier re-signed with the Pelicans.In the Pelicans’ season opener on October 26, 2016, Frazier recorded 15 points and 11 assists in a 107–102 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Two days later, he scored a career-high 21 points in a 122–114 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On November 22, he had a 21-point, 14-assist effort in a 112–94 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On December 11, he had his first triple-double in the NBA with 14 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and 11 assists off the bench in a 120–119 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns. On June 21, 2017, Frazier was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. On January 27, 2018, he had a season-high 14 assists in a 129–104 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On September 22, 2018, Frazier signed with the Milwaukee Bucks for training camp. He was waived by the Bucks on October 15. Two days later, he was claimed off waivers by the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 28, 2019, he was waived by the Pelicans. On March 19, 2019, Frazier signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 10, 2019, he scored a career-high 29 points to go with 13 assists in a 127–116 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On July 6, 2019, Frazier signed with the Detroit Pistons.
[adrotate banner=”21″]
