Darrell Arthur is first free agent Jayhawk to sign

“I didn’t have to think about it too much,” Arthur said. “With all the injuries we had, I feel like we had a good team, but we just couldn’t get everybody on the court. I wanted to be a part of this group when we make some noise this year.”

Arthur played in 68 games last season, averaging 5.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.

In the team’s release announcing his return, they described Arthur as “one of the team’s best pick-and-roll defenders” and he has “expanded his shooting range beyond the 3-point line.”

“I’m going to definitely keep working on my range from outside,” Arthur said. “I also want to work on some off-the-dribble stuff and try to make plays – kind of like what Boris Diaw did with the San Antonio Spurs last year.”

Diaw won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs last month. Arthur knows a lot about winning championships as he won two state titles in Texas in high school and Arthur was a part of the 2008 National Championship team at Kansas.

“I’m just going to keep working,” he said. “As far as bouncing back, that’s what I’m all about. I’m going to bounce back and be better next year.”

In his two years at Kansas, Arthur averaged 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game with 1.4 blocks per game.

Following his sophomore season, Arthur declared for the NBA Draft. Arthur was expected to go higher in the draft but injury concerns made him slip out of the lottery and he dropped to 27th, where he was selected by the New Orleans Hornets. He was then traded three more times before landing on the Grizzlies. Arthur played in Memphis from 2008 to 2013. Arthur was traded to the Nuggets during the 2013 NBA Draft.