The Suns have waived Alex Schumacher, reports Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The move, which was not unexpected, came just a day after the team officially signed him to an Exhibit 10 contract.
Phoenix already held Schumacher’s G League returning rights, since he finished last season with the Valley Suns. Signing him to an Exhibit 10 deal and then waiving him will allow the organization to give him a bonus on top of his standard NBAGL salary for rejoining the Suns’ G League affiliate this fall.
Schumacher, who played two seasons at Seattle University before going undrafted in the 2024 draft, split time between the Valley Suns and the Windy City Bulls last season, averaging 9.2 points and 3.1 assists per game in his G League rookie year.
The sign-and-waive is a common move for teams to retain the ability to keep players in their programs by creating a pathway to more money than a standard G League contract. If the player spends at least 60 days with the team’s affiliate, he can earn a bonus worth as much as $85,300.
Is he related to….?
Poor move. This guy was going to be an all-star given enough time to develop in the NBA, maybe in 15 years.
But the kid is still a free agent and can go wherever he wants.
Any NBA team that wants him can pick him up. The Suns are giving him a bonus to hang around their G league team, but there’s nothing to attach him to the Suns or connect him to the Suns other than the G league team.
So I guess this money is so that he’ll stick around instead of leaving in two weeks?
As I mentioned in the article this week that was similar, I still really don’t understand why teams would fork out this cash without any connection to the player whatsoever?
It really can’t be simply for him to sign with their G league team because he’s a free agent in any case?