Another former Virginia Cavalier
is heading to the NBA - Malik Thomas has signed with the Toronto Raptors
for the NBA Summer League, after Ugonna Onyenso
was drafted by the Detroit Pistons
and Jacari White
signed a summer deal of his own.
Impact player for UVA
Thomas played for Virginia in the 2025-26 campaign after spending two seasons at Southern California and another two seasons at San Francisco. Thomas started all 36 games for the Cavaliers this past season, averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He was Virginia's second-leading scorer this year.
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The graduate guard scored in double digits in 27 games - he reached the 20-point mark four times. Thomas failed to score 10 points or more just nine times, and eight of those were Virginia wins. Overall, only Thijs De Ridder scored more field goals than Thomas.
Only Dallin Hall, Chance Mallory, Sam Lewis and De Ridder played more minutes for the Cavaliers than Thomas. Of Virginia players with at least 75 three-point attempts, Thomas ranked third in three-point percentage behind De Ridder and White.
A reliable free-throw shooter, Thomas made nearly 75 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe. That mark ranked second among Cavaliers with at least 75 attempts.
Thomas occasionally led the team in scoring on multiple occasions - including the ACC Championship game (18 points) and a neutral site game against Butler (24). He averaged over 16 points per game in the ACC Tournament en route to All-ACC Tournament Second Team honors.
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Toronto had some interest in Thomas - he worked out for the Raptors before the NBA Draft. Ultimately, Toronto selected Santa Clara forward Allen Graves (No. 19) and Arizona guard Jaden Bradley
(No. 50). Thomas will now be teammates with that duo in the Summer League.
Thomas and the Raptors kick off the summer July 10 in Las Vegas against the Boston Celtics
at 9 p.m., before taking on the Houston Rockets
July 11 (9:30 p.m.) and the Indiana Pacers
July 13 (4:30 p.m.). Toronto then faces the Miami Heat
July 16 (9 p.m.). They will play at least one more game after, to be decided later.
Three of Virginia's five departed rotation players will be on Summer League rosters. However, the futures of Hall and Devin Tillis have yet to be determined. It is possible that both of them also ink Summer League deals - and maybe cross paths with Thomas, White or Onyenso on the court.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginia as Former Virginia guard Malik Thomas to play for Toronto Raptors in NBA Summer League
.
