Justin Minaya

Justin Minaya is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Osceola Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for South Carolina and Providence. He is the son of Major League Baseball executive Omar Minaya.

College career

Coming out of high school, Minaya was an unranked recruit but received several offers to play college basketball. He received official offers from South Carolina, UNC Wilmington, Boston University, Illinois, Iona and UMass. Minaya officially visited with South Carolina and UNC Wilmington before committing to South Carolina, signing his letter of intent on May 15, 2017.
Minaya played four seasons with the Gamecocks from 2017 to 2021, only playing 5 games in 2018–19 due to a severe knee injury. In 2020, Minaya also underwent surgery on his thumb. He played all four years at South Carolina under head coach Frank Martin.
After four years at South Carolina, Minaya transferred to Providence for his graduate season. At Providence, Minaya averaged 6.5 points per game and started in 25 out of the 32 games he played in the 2021–22 season. The Friars won the Big East regular season championship in 2022 and advanced to Sweet 16 in the 2022 [NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA tournament], defeating South [Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball|South Dakota State] and Richmond before losing to Kansas.

After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Minaya joined the Charlotte Hornets for the 2022 NBA Summer League. He was named to the Mexico City Capitanes' roster to start the 2022–23 [NBA G League season].

On April 4, 2023, Minaya signed a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers and made his NBA debut that night, scoring 8 points in a 119–109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
In June 2023, Minaya joined the Blazers for the 2023 NBA Summer League and on October 2, he re-signed with the Trail Blazers. On October 21, 2023, his deal was converted to a two-way contract with the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League.
On July 1, 2024, Minaya signed a second two-way contract with Portland.