Las Vegas prep star Daishen Nix to sign with NBA’s G League

Trinity International senior Daishen Nix will bypass college and sign with the NBA’s G League, the league announced Tuesday.

The five-star point guard had signed a national letter of intent with UCLA, but will join the NBA’s developmental program alongside five-star shooting guard Jalen Green and five-star power forward Isaiah Todd.

The three will play for a team that is not affiliated with any G League franchise, and details are not yet available.

Nix is a projected first-round pick in the 2021 NBA draft, according to mock draft released Monday by ESPN, and is the first Las Vegas player to skip college for the G League. He did not respond to an interview request with the Review-Journal, but told the Los Angeles Times that he thought it was “the right thing for me because it was a family thing and a myself thing.”

“Playing in the G League is basically getting me ready for the NBA draft,” Nix said. “It’s just one step below the NBA.”

His high school coach, Greg Lockridge, declined an interview request.

Nix is a 6-foot-5-inch playmaking guard from Anchorage, Alaska, who moved before high school to Las Vegas to accelerate his recruitment. He developed under Lockridge into the No. 1 point guard in the senior class and committed last fall to UCLA as coach Mick Cronin’s first recruit. He signed a national letter of intent in November and was expected to start at point guard for the Bruins in 2020-21.

Trinity International played in the Grind Session — an independent high school basketball circuit comprised of prep schools nationwide — and Nix was named a McDonald’s All-American and the co-Grind Session MVP with Green, who played at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, and committed on April 16 to the G League.

Green will make more than $500,000 in the G League, and Nix is expected to make about $300,000, according to the Athletic.

Nix was perhaps the best pure passer in the country last season and has the requisite size, strength and acumen to excel at the next level. He averaged 23.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists in Grind Session games.

“It’s scary to me, the things I see every day,” Lockridge said in January after Nix was named a McDonald’s All-American. “He’s going to be special.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.