The Grizzlies have signed rookie forward/center Jontay Porter to a multi-year contract, the team announced in a press release on Sunday.
The deal is guaranteed through this season and contains a team option for the 2020/21 season, Omari Sankofa II of The Athletic tweets. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian adds (via Twitter) that Porter will earn a league-minimum salary.
Porter, the younger brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., has progressed well in his rehab from two separate knee injuries and is projected to be ready by training camp in the fall, the release states. Memphis will use Jarrod Uthoff‘s roster spot to sign Porter, with Uthoff’s 10-day deal recently expiring.
Porter, 20, went undrafted last June after spending multiple seasons at Missouri. Despite the fact that he tore his ACL multiple times during his college career, he was still viewed by ESPN as a top-50 prospect when he declared for the draft last April.
Executive of the year – Zach Kleiman
Who is responsible for the the Clarke/Bazley trade?
Thought the name sounded familiar, Micheal Porter Jr’s brother.
He was actually a 5 star recruit in high school and had a solid first year at college but decided to go back to Missouri for another year at which he then tore his MCL and ACL twice before the start of the season in a scrimmage and then went undrafted.
Poor bloke but glad he’s now gotten a contract, he obviously has what it takes to do well and hopefully he can make the most of it.
Only issue I see is he’s a PF/C which means sharing minutes behind Valucaines, JJJ, Clarke and maybe a couple others. Hopefully he gets given some opportunities and succeeds
That shows if he didn’t come back to college for year 2 he would have been selected around the middle of the 1st round & he would have signed a multimillion contract with a team, then injured his knees, been his career at the same place as now but, a massive but he would have financial security for life, now who knows if he will ever achieve it, so much for staying in college, that should serve as a cautionary tale for other kids not to be unpaid labor in college.
Was a projected fringe lottery pick at one point. Kid may turn into something.