Ty Jacob Leaf ( he, טיי ג'ייקוב ליף; born April 30, 1997) is an Israeli-American professional basketball player for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After playing one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, he was selected by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in the first round of the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

with the 18th overall pick. Leaf was named an All-American as a high school senior in 2016. As a UCLA freshman in 2016–17, he earned first-team all-conference honors in the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. He began his NBA career with three seasons in Indiana, but was unable to carry over his college success. He joined the Portland Trail Blazers as a free agent in 2021. Leaf also played for Israel's Under-18 junior national team at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship B Division.

Early life

Leaf was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Karen and

Brad Leaf Brad Leaf ( he, ברד ליף; born May 17, 1960) is an American-Israeli basketball coach and former player. He played 17 years of professional basketball in Israel, first for Hapoel Galil Elyon and later for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israel Premie ...

. His father was playing professional basketball in Israel at the time, and he enjoyed a 17-year career in the country. Leaf lived his first years in Tel Aviv before growing up in Lakeside, California, in San Diego County. His father coached him in summer leagues prior to high school. Despite possessing the height of a power forward—he stood in junior high—Leaf played on the perimeter to develop guard skills. His father wanted him to be versatile like the big men that he had competed against as a pro in Europe. Leaf attended Foothills Christian High School in

El Cajon, California El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, meaning "the box") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was in turn named for the box-like shape of the va ...

, where he also played under his father. As a junior, Leaf averaged 27.4

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

, 14.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.7 blocks per game, leading Foothills Christian to the San Diego Section Division II championship. ''Cal-Hi Sports'' named him their Division II State Player of the Year. In his senior year, Leaf led the team to a No. 3 state ranking after averaging 28.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. He scored a season-high 44 points in a loss to

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The C ...

, who were led by future teammate Lonzo Ball. Leaf earned McDonald's and

Ballislife All-American Ballislife.com is an American sports website that provides basketball coverage and video mixtapes. Founded in 2005 by young basketball fans Matt Rodriguez and Jonathan Durden, the site is now owned by Rodriguez and Arek Kissoyan. It specializes in ...

honors, and '' USA Today'' named him second-team All-USA. He was a runner-up to Ball for

California Mr. Basketball Each year the California Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of California. Many have gone on to play in the NBA. Voting is done in a points system. Each voter selects ...

. Leaf finished his high school career second all-time in the San Diego Section in both points (3,022) and rebounds (1,476). He trailed only his brother, Troy, in points (3,318 for Foothills Christian from 2007 to 2010) and Angelo Chol in rebounds (1,732 with Hoover from 2008 to 2011).

College career

Leaf originally committed in 2014 to play for Arizona under coach Sean Miller. He tried out for the United States under-19 national team, also coached by Miller, but was cut in training camp in June 2015. In August, Leaf decommitted from Arizona, leading to speculation that the cut by Miller was a motivating factor. He signed with UCLA three months later, choosing them over Oregon and San Diego State. A consensus five-star and overall top-20 recruit, he joined his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teammates from the Compton Magic,

Ike Anigbogu Christopher Ike Anigbogu (born October 17, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins. As a freshman, he was ...

and Kobe Paras, who also committed to UCLA. The Bruins recruiting class also included Ball, who along with Leaf were both expected to lead a UCLA turnaround in 2016–17 after the Bruins finished just 15–17 the year before. On December 5, 2016, Leaf was named Pac-12 Player of the Week following his performance at Kentucky, where he registered 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. He and Ball were named to the mid-season watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, given annually to the top college player in the nation; UCLA was one of just five schools with two candidates on the list. The two were also among 30 on the midseason watch list for the Naismith College Player of the Year. On February 1, 2017, Leaf scored a career-high 32 points on 14-for-18 shooting and added 14 rebounds in a 95–79 win over Washington State, which ended a two-game losing streak for No. 11 UCLA. He missed the regular season finale with a sprained left ankle, which he suffered five minutes into the prior game against Washington. Leaf finished the season as UCLA's leading scorer with 16.3 points per game. He also averaged 8.2 rebounds and ranked third in field goal percentage (61.7) among

Power Five conference The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, the highest level of collegiate ...

players. He received honorable mention from the Associated Press (AP) for their All-American team, and was named first-team All-Pac-12 along with teammates Lonzo Ball and

Bryce Alford Bryce Michael Alford (born January 18, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Zastal Zielona Góra of the Polish Basketball League. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He set school records for the most three-point ...

. Leaf and Ball were also placed on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. On March 30, Leaf announced that he was leaving UCLA and declaring for the

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2017–2020)

Leaf was selected by the

in the first round of the

with the 18th overall pick, and he signed a three-year contract worth $7,249,200. He was joined in Indiana by Anigbogu, who was selected by the Pacers in the second round. Leaf began 2017–18 as a fixture in the Pacers' rotation, averaging 16.2 minutes and five shots per contest through the first eight games. However, he struggled on defense, and his playing time fell as Indiana coach Nate McMillan tightened his rotation. In December 2017, Leaf was assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League and averaged 23.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in a three-game stint before returning to the Pacers. He finished with 52 games played during the regular season, but saw limited playing time towards the end as the Pacers qualified for the playoffs. In 2018–19, Leaf's minutes were limited playing behind big men

Myles Turner Myles Christian Turner (born March 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season for the Texas Longhorns men's basketball, Texas Longhorns befor ...

, Domantas Sabonis, Thaddeus Young and Kyle O'Quinn. On February 28, 2019, he had a career-high 18 points in a season-high 22 minutes in a 122–115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Leaf was forced into the game early after Turner and O'Quinn got into foul trouble guarding the Wolves' Karl-Anthony Towns, and held his own defensively against the All-Star center. In the regular-season finale, Leaf had career highs of 28 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double in a 135–134 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Leaf worked on his jump shot during the offseason leading up to the 2019–20 season. Indiana exercised their contract option on his fourth year, guaranteeing him $4.3 million for 2020–21. On November 3, 2019, Leaf had 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds while getting extra time as a backup center in a 108–95 win over the Chicago Bulls. However, he fell out of the rotation by the end of the month. He played in just 28 games during the season after appearing in over 50 in each of his first two seasons. Leaf did not develop into his projected role as a stretch four, making just 26.5% of his three-point field goals in his last two years with Indiana. In three seasons with the Pacers, he averaged 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. On November 25, 2020, Leaf was traded along with a 2027 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for guard Jalen Lecque. On December 18, Leaf was waived by the Thunder after their final preseason game.

Portland Trail Blazers (2021)

On April 13, 2021, Leaf signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Guangzhou Loong Lions (2021–2022)

Leaf signed with the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the CBA for the 2021–22 season, and averaged 25 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

Beijing Ducks (2022–present)

Leaf joined the Beijing Ducks for the 2022–23 season.

National team career

After being cut by coach Miller from the U.S. Under-19 junior national team in 2015, Leaf joined Israel's under-18 junior national team the following month in July, to play in the

2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B The 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B was an international youth basketball competition held in Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europ ...

in Austria. Although Israel lost 73–72 in the Division B final, Leaf was named tournament's MVP, after averaging 16.1 points per game, on 55 percent shooting, to go along with 8.4 rebounds per game in nine games played. In 2018 he said "Playing for the senior sraelnational team and helping the guys is one goal of my career."

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 53 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .471 , , .429 , , .625 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .1 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 58 , , 1 , , 9.0 , , .541 , , .258 , , .613 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .3 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 28 , , 1 , , 7.9 , , .419 , , .278 , , .438 , , 2.5 , , .3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .500 , , – , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .1 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 146 , , 2 , , 8.5 , , .492 , , .341 , , .585 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.3 Source:

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 1 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , – , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 1 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .750 , , – , , – , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 5 , , 0 , , 4.2 , , .429 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.6 Source:

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", UCLA , 35 , , 35 , , 29.9 , , .617 , , .466 , , .679 , , 8.2 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , 1.1 , , 16.3

China

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Guangzhou , 15 , , 11 , , 32.1 , , .569 , , .300 , , .804 , , 11.7 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , 1.9 , , 25.0 Source:

Accomplishments and awards

;College * AP honorable mention All-American (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

) * First-team All-Pac-12 (

) * Pac-12 All-Freshman team (2017) ;High school * McDonald's All-American (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) *

(2016) * Second-team ''USA Today'' All-USA (2016) * Second-team Naismith All-American (2016) *''Cal-Hi Sports'' Division II State Player of the Year (2015) * 2× All- CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year (2015, 2016)

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaf, TJ 1997 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from California Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Israeli men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans National Basketball Association players from Israel People from Lakeside, California Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from San Diego County, California UCLA Bruins men's basketball players