Michael Devoe

Jazz Waive Romeo Langford, Two Others

The Jazz have removed three players from their preseason roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived swingman Romeo Langford, guard Michael Devoe, and forward Keshawn Justice.

All three moves had been anticipated. Langford, Devoe, and Justice were on Exhibit 10 contracts, which will put them in line for bonuses worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. They’re not obligated to head to the NBAGL now that they’ve been cut – they could find an opportunity elsewhere they like more – but it appears that’s the plan for all three.

Langford, who will turn 24 next Wednesday, was drafted 14th overall by the Celtics in 2019 when current Jazz CEO Danny Ainge was Boston’s head of basketball operations. He has shown some promise as a defender but hasn’t displayed much of an offensive game since entering the NBA, averaging 4.6 points per night on .430/.288/.659 shooting in 141 career games (16.1 MPG).

Devoe played for the Ontario Clippers in the G League last season after going undrafted out of Georgia Tech. He put up modest stats in his rookie season (6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20.8 minutes over 29 regular season games), but he had a strong Summer League showing for Portland, averaging 18.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals in just 23.9 minutes per game (four games).

Justice went undrafted in June after five seasons at Santa Clara. As a “super senior” in 2022/23, the 23-year-old averaged 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds in 33 games for the Broncos (34.9 minutes). He played for the Jazz’s Summer League squad, averaging 10.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in five games (23.4 minutes).

The Jazz now have 18 players under contract. Utah’s roster looks ready for the regular season, though the club could still shuffle players in and out of its three open roster spots for G League purposes.

Jazz Sign Devoe, Justice; Waive Kinsey, Ongenda

The Jazz have signed guard Michael Devoe and forward Keshawn Justice, the team announced in a press release. To create room on the 21-man offseason roster, Utah waived Taevion Kinsey and Nick Ongenda, both of whom were on training camp contracts.

While the terms of the agreements were not disclosed, it seems likely that Devoe and Justice signed Exhibit 10 deals and will eventually be waived and headed to the G League to play for the Jazz’s affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. In that scenario, both players could earn bonuses worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the Stars.

The Stars acquired Devoe’s returning player rights from the Rip City Remix (Portland’s new NBAGL affiliate) last month. The former Georgia Tech standout signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers last fall, was waived, and spent his first pro season playing for their affiliate, the Ontario Clippers.

Devoe had modest stats for Ontario (6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20.8 minutes over 29 regular season games), but he had a strong Summer League showing for the Blazers, averaging 18.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals in just 23.9 minutes. Of course, that was a small sample size, as he only played four games.

Justice went undrafted in June after five seasons at Santa Clara. As a “super senior” in 2022/23, the 23-year-old averaged 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds in 33 games for the Broncos (34.9 minutes). He played for the Jazz’s Summer League squad, averaging 10.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in five games (23.4 minutes).

The Jazz’s roster remains at the offseason maximum of 21 players under contract, including 12 players on guaranteed standard deals. All three of Utah’s two-way slots are filled.

Trail Blazers Notes: Lillard, Trade Talks, Devoe

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN gets the sense that the Trail Blazers‘ trade talks regarding Damian Lillard have picked up over the past couple weeks, he said on NBA Today (YouTube link).

Talks had largely been dormant for over a month, but training camp is just a few weeks away, so teams are trying to complete rosters before the season begins in late October.

I think Portland, what they’ve been trying to do is see how they can put together multi-team deals that would get them the assets that they would want — young players, draft picks,” Wojnarowski said. “There might be a team that their best asset is a veteran player that doesn’t interest the Blazers, but there’s a third team who might want to take on that veteran and then send, whether it’s a young player or picks, in part, to Portland.

So I think they’ve been in communication with a lot of teams trying to find a structure of a deal. … We’ll see how much traction they can get between now and the start of camp.”

People within the Blazers and around the league expect that Lillard will report to camp if a trade hasn’t occurred, according to Wojnarowski, who says that scenario would be “uncomfortable” and “may be unpleasant, but it won’t be unprofessional.” Having Lillard away from the team while Portland searches for a deal isn’t an option under the new player participation policy, Woj notes.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

  • At ESPN.com (Insider link), Tim Bontemps, Kevin Pelton, Andre Snellings and Andrew Lopez came up with hypothetical Lillard trades that were evaluated by their colleague Bobby Marks, a former assistant GM with the Nets. Lillard hopes to be traded to the Heat. Bontemps proposes a straight-up swap that sends Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic to Miami in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, and 2028 and 2030 first-round swaps. The other proposals involve the Sixers, Clippers, Pelicans and Raptors.
  • The Rip City Remix — Portland’s new NBA G League affiliate — have acquired a 2024 NBAGL first-rounder from the Salt Lake City Stars (Twitter link). The Remix sent the Jazz‘s affiliate the returning player rights to Michael Devoe. Devoe, who played college ball at Georgia Tech, signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers last fall, but was waived before the season started. He spent 2022/23 with their G League affiliate, the Ontario Clippers.
  • In case you missed it, commissioner Adam Silver recently said the NBA won’t do anything to force the sale of the Trail Blazers. You can find more details here.

Clippers Waive Juwan Morgan, Michael Devoe, Lucas Williamson

The Clippers have cut three camp invitees, announcing today that forward Juwan Morgan and guards Michael Devoe and Lucas Williamson have been placed on waivers.

Devoe, Morgan, and Williamson were all in camp on Exhibit 10 contracts, making them long shots to earn spots on the Clippers’ 15-man regular season roster.

Assuming they don’t find other NBA opportunities, all three players look like good bets to eventually join the Ontario Clippers, L.A.’s G League affiliate. They’ll be eligible for bonuses worth $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the NBAGL club.

The Clippers now have 17 players under contract. Fourteen are on standard guaranteed contracts, with Moussa Diabate on a two-way deal and Moses Brown and Xavier Moon still in camp on Exhibit 10 deals.

There’s plenty of time between now and October 17 for Los Angeles to continue making signings and cuts, so nothing’s set in stone yet. But for the time being, it looks like Brown and Moon could end up vying for the Clippers’ open two-way slot if the team opts not to carry a 15th man on its standard roster.

Devoe, Williamson Join Clippers On Exhibit 10 Contracts

Michael Devoe and Lucas Williamson have officially signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Clippers, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Reports that Devoe and Williamson would sign with the Clippers surfaced right after the June draft and now they’ve officially been added. Both players are undrafted rookies.

They were on the Clippers’ Summer League team, with Devoe appearing in four games and Williamson seeing action in two games.

Devoe, a 6’5″ guard out of Georgia Tech, was a third-team All-ACC selection last season after averaging 17.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists while draining 42.7% of his 3-point tries.

Williamson, a 6’4” guard out of Loyola, was named Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons and was MVP of last season’s conference tournament. He averaged 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists while making 39% of his 3-point attempts last season.

The Clippers have an open two-way slot, so it’s possible they could compete for that contract.

Under Exhibit 10 terms, both players are eligible a player for a bonus of up to $50K if they’re waived and then spend at least 60 days with the Ontario Clippers, L.A.’s G League affiliate.

Three Players Reach Exhibit 10 Deals With Clippers

The Clippers are adding three players to their roster via Exhibit 10 contracts.

Michael Devoe, a 6’5″ guard out of Georgia Tech, has reached an agreement with the team, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Devoe, 22, was a third-team All-ACC selection this season after averaging 17.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for the Yellow Jackets.

Loyola shooting guard Lucas Williamson is also joining the Clippers, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype (Twitter link). Williamson was named Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons and was MVP of this year’s conference tournament.

L.A. is also adding Utah State’s Justin Bean, tweets Josh Newman of The Salt Lake Tribune. The 6’7″ combo forward is 25 years old after playing four years with the Aggies and redshirting in his freshman season.

Devoe will be given a chance to earn a two-way contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), and presumably Williamson and Bean will as well.

An Exhibit 10 deal is a one-year, minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. Although it’s not guaranteed, a player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate. An Exhibit 10 contract can also be converted into a two-way deal before the start of the regular season.

Southeast Draft Notes: Beauchamp, Agbaji, Daniels, Washington, Devoe, Toney

Projected first round prospects MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite) and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas) are among the players visiting the Wizards on Friday, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Beauchamp is ranked No. 23 on ESPN’s Best Available list, while Agbaji sits at No. 16. Washington holds the No. 10 selection. Ryan Allen (Delaware), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Brady Manek (North Carolina) and Cole Swider (Syracuse) will also work out.

We have more draft-related notes for the Southeast Division:

Draft Notes: O’Neal, Eason, Lakers, Weathers, Nembhard, Mobley

LSU junior Shareef O’Neal is eligible to be selected in the draft, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The son of Shaquille O’Neal, Shareef O’Neal was mistakenly included in the list of withdrawals released by the league last week. He has upcoming team workouts, Charania adds.

We have more draft-related info:

  • Another LSU player, wing Tari Eason, has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Cavaliers, Grizzlies and Spurs, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. He has already worked out for a number of teams, including the Bulls, Thunder and Knicks. Eason is ranked No. 18 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.
  • The Lakers hosted six prospects on Monday, including UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. That group also included Remy Martin (Kansas), Jermaine Samuels (Villanova), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Haowen Guo (Shanghai Sharks) and Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Louisiana Tech).
  • SMU’s Marcus Weathers worked out for the Spurs on Monday, Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com tweets. Gonzaga’s Andrew Nembhard and USC’s Isaiah Mobley were also among the six prospects San Antonio hosted, Nicola Lupo of Sportando tweets. Nembhard, a point guard, projects as a potential first-rounder. He’s ranked No. 35 on ESPN’s list.

44 Prospects Announced For 2022 NBA G League Elite Camp

The NBA G League has formally announced its field of 44 draft prospects for the 2022 NBA G League Elite Camp.

The event, which will take place May 16 and 17 in Chicago, “gives draft prospects an opportunity to display their skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives over the course of the camp by playing in five-on-five games and participating in strength and agility drills.”

The top performers from the camp will be invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which will take place from May 18-22 in Chicago. Some NBA players who have participated in past G League Elite Camps include Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, Pacers forward Oshae Brissett, Clippers wing Terance Mann, and Heat wing Max Strus.

Here’s the list of 44 draft-eligible attendees:

The list of attendees features 13 players on ESPN’s big board, notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN (via Twitter), so some players have a chance to be drafted.

The top-ranked prospect at the camp is Scheierman (No. 69), who averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals on .508/.469/.802 shooting this season for South Dakota State (35 games, 33.3 minutes per contest).

Hawks Notes: Offseason Priorities, Draft Workouts, More

Appearing on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said, unprompted, that the front office is committed this offseason to making roster changes in an attempt to improve the team after standing relatively pat a year ago.

“We made the decision last year to kind of run the same group back and we probably should’ve tried to upgrade as opposed to stay status quo,” Schlenk said. “This year, the way the season ended and played out, we’re certainly going to try to upgrade the roster moving forward into next season.”

Asked specifically about how much turnover the Hawks’ roster could experience, Schlenk suggested the club won’t be looking to re-sign all of its free agents.

“We have some guys that are free agents, we have some guys that have contract situations. We’ve got a guy eligible for a contract extension,” Schlenk said. “All that stuff plays into it. Every year, the only thing that’s really consistent in this league is change, so we anticipate that there will be some change, certainly with some of our free agents as we look to upgrade our roster.”

Delon Wright, Lou Williams, Gorgui Dieng, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Kevin Knox, and Skylar Mays will be free agents this offseason, while Danilo Gallinari has a small partial guarantee on his salary for 2022/23 and De’Andre Hunter will be eligible for a rookie scale extension.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

  • Schlenk said during his appearance on 92.9 The Game that the Hawks’ defense was a “big letdown” in 2021/22 and will be an area the club looks to address in the offseason. Schlenk added that having another reliable secondary ball-handler and shot creator to relieve the pressure on Trae Young will be a priority.
  • The Hawks announced in a press release that they’ve brought in 12 prospects this week, hosting six for a group workout on Monday and another half-dozen on Wednesday. Justin Bean (Utah State), Darius Days (LSU), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Gaige Prim (Missouri State), Will Richardson (Oregon), and Cole Swider (Syracuse) were in earlier this week, while Keve Aluma (Virginia Tech), Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), Jamal Cain (Oakland), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Allen Flanigan (Auburn), and Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) were part of today’s pre-draft workout.
  • Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines 10 offseason questions facing the Hawks, including whether team owner Tony Ressler is willing to go into luxury-tax territory, whether the team can attract a second star, and what level of pressure head coach Nate McMillan is under.