SEPTEMBER 23rd: The signing is official, the team announced.
AUGUST 31st: Former Kansas forward Perry Ellis has received a training camp invite from the Hornets and will join the team for the preseason hoping to earn a spot on the regular-season roster, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Gary Bedore of The Kansas City Star. Ellis will receive a non-guaranteed contract, writes Bedore.
“It’s a really good fit. [The Hornets] like him a lot. They’ve talked about him all summer,” Bartelstein said. “We think it’s got a chance to be a really good opportunity for him. Coaches there are excited to have him. He has to get himself healthy here the next couple weeks. Then he’ll go into camp and compete.”
As Bartelstein alludes to, Ellis is on the mend after undergoing successful sports hernia surgery on Tuesday. Per Bedore, the young forward is expected to miss three or four weeks of individual workouts, but should be ready to go for training camp and the preseason.
Ellis averaged 16.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG to go along with a shooting line of .531/.438/.785 during his final year at Kansas. After going undrafted, the 22-year-old joined the Mavericks for Summer League action in Las Vegas. It’s not clear whether Dallas had interest in bringing him in for training camp, but Bartelstein suggests there were “a number of teams” interested in his client, including a few clubs overseas.
“Obviously you can only pick one,” Bartelstein said. “You’ve got to weigh everything. We looked at the coaching staff and the way they want to play and what they are looking for. We think he’s a really good fit for them.”