Zenit officially signs Dwayne Bacon

Zenit Basketball Club has signed a deal with forward Dwayne Bacon (201 cm, 95 kg). The agreement with the 28-year-old player is valid until the end of the 2024/25 season. Bacon can also play at the guard position.

Dwayne Bacon was born on August 30, 1995, in Lakeland, Florida (USA). During his high school the player often changed places of education and played for different teams. At McKeel Academy, Bacon averaged 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. He led the team to a 17-8 overall record and to the Florida High School Athletic Association championship tournament regional semifinals in 2013. In his junior 2013/14 season, Dwayne was the top scorer at IMG Academy and averaged 19.3 points and 4 assists per game. For his senior year, Bacon transferred to Oak Hill Academy. The team finished the regular season with a 45-0 record without allowing a single loss. The forward averaged 23.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

In college, Dwayne signed with Florida State and participated in every game of the 2015/2016 season, averaging 15.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. The following year, he was named a member of the All-ACC second team for his work with Florida State that season. After the team was eliminated from the NCAA Bacon declared to the 2017 NBA Draft.

On June 22, 2017, the forward was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the 40th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He was later traded to the Charlotte Hornets at the personal initiative of club owner Michael Jordan. The basketball legend saw talent in that guy, who further defended the colours of the team for three years. Dwayne made his NBA debut on October 18, scoring 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in a game against the Detroit Pistons. Bacon played in 53 games (6 starts) in his debut season, averaging 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. During his sophomore season, Bacon only played in 43 games and made 13 starts due to a stint in the NBA G League with the Hornets’ affiliate team, the Greensboro Swarm. However, the player improved his statistical performance (7.5 points per game) and scored a season-high 24 points in overtime against the San Antonio Spurs on March 26, 2019. The 2019/20 season was Dwayne’s last as a member of the Hornets. The brightest game of that “regular season” for the forward was the meeting with Golden State, in which he scored 25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

On November 24, 2020, Bacon signed a contract with the Orlando Magic. The forward participated in all 72 games of the season (50 starts) and scored an average of 10.9 points per game. On May 7, 2021, Dwayne logged an NBA career-high 28 points in a game against his former team, the Charlotte Hornets. Already after leaving Orlando, he had short-term contracts with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.

The European stage of his career began for the forward in Monaco. In 29 EuroLeague games during the 2021/22 campaign, Bacon averaged 13.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists. In October 2022, the player joined Panathinaikos from Greece. In 27 EuroLeague games for the Athens team, Bacon scored 16.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2 assists in 31 minutes of playing time. He also averaged 13.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 17 domestic league games.

Previous season the player spent in the Chinese Basketball Association, playing for the Shanghai Sharks. In 49 games, the he averaged 22.5 points, 5 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

Zenit Basketball Club welcomes Dwayne Bacon to St. Petersburg!