DJ Steward

Celtics Waive Wenyen Gabriel, DJ Steward

5:40pm: Both Gabriel and DJ Steward have been officially waived by the Celtics, per NBA.com’s transactions log.


9:56am: The Celtics are placing big man Wenyen Gabriel on waivers ahead of the regular season, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A four-year NBA veteran, Gabriel spent last season with the Lakers, appearing in 68 games and averaging 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per night.

Gabriel signed with Boston at the start of training camp after the team included Robert Williams in its trade package for Jrue Holiday. Given the hit the Celtics’ frontcourt depth took in that deal, it appeared the 26-year-old had a path to a regular season roster spot.

However, Gabriel only received a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, which offered no assurances beyond training camp and the preseason, and he was outperformed by two-way player Neemias Queta this month. Boston has also typically kept a 15-man roster spot open into the regular season in recent years, notes Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link).

In addition to their 10 players with guaranteed salaries, the Celtics have Luke Kornet, Svi Mykhailiuk, Dalano Banton, and Lamar Stevens on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed deals, with DJ Steward on an Exhibit 10 pact. It seems likely that Steward will be cut when Boston sets its regular season roster, with the other four making the team, though that has yet to be confirmed.

As for Gabriel, it’s unclear where his next stop might be. Since his contract with Boston didn’t include an Exhibit 10 bonus, he’s not an obvious candidate to join the Maine Celtics, the club’s G League affiliate.

DJ Steward Signs Training Camp Deal With Celtics

SEPTEMBER 30: Steward’s contract with Boston is now official, according to RealGM’s transaction log.


AUGUST 12: The Celtics have reached an agreement on a training camp contract with former Duke guard DJ Steward, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Steward will be given a chance to earn a two-way contract. Boston has one spot open, with JD Davison and Jay Scrubb already holding two-way deals.

Steward signed with the Kings in 2021 and 2022 and wound up in the G League both years. In April, he joined the Vancouver Bandits in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

The 21-year-old played for the Sixers in the Las Vegas Summer League, where he averaged 16.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in five games.

Steward’s signing will give the Celtics 16 players under contract, five short of the offseason limit.

Pacific Notes: McGee, Warriors, Kings, Vanderbilt, Vogel

The Kings beat out the Warriors for free agent center JaVale McGee, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, who suggests both Pacific clubs were in pursuit of the big man after he was waived by Dallas last week.

McGee’s new deal with Sacramento is only for one year and is worth the veteran’s minimum, but it’s fully guaranteed. It’s unclear whether or not Golden State was willing to offer a fully guaranteed contract to the former Warrior. According to Amick, the Kings envision McGee playing a “significant” role in 2023/24 if he shows he’s capable of handling it.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • The Stockton Kings – Sacramento’s G League affiliate – announced in a press release on Thursday that they’ve acquired Skal Labissiere‘s returning rights from the Mexico City Capitanes in a three-team trade that sent DJ Steward‘s rights to the Maine Celtics. Labissiere has agreed to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Kings, while Steward has reached an agreement on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics. This trade will ensure both players are in line to receive their Exhibit 10 bonuses.
  • Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt became extension-eligible on Thursday, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Vanderbilt, whose maximum extension would be $75MM over four years, will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 if he doesn’t sign a new contract before then.
  • In a two-part interview with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, new Suns head coach Frank Vogel discussed several topics, including the philosophy he’ll bring to his new job and what he’s looking for in Phoenix’s fifth starter alongside Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Deandre Ayton. “We’ll have a lot of guys that have an opportunity to be that fifth guy,” Vogel said. “The versatility of maybe being able to guard multiple positions or maybe it’s an elite shooter. Maybe it’s just another play-maker. I think we have a lot of guys with a lot of different skill sets and we’ll put a lot of different combinations throughout the year.”

Kings Waive DJ Steward

5:52pm: Steward has officially been waived, per NBA.com’s transactions log.


4:05pm: The Kings are waiving DJ Steward, a source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and TheKingsBeat.com (Twitter links).

According to Ham, if Steward doesn’t sign with another team, Sacramento is hopeful that he will rejoin the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton, who hold his returning player rights. His new deal, which he just inked last week, included a small partial guarantee for $50K.

A former McDonald’s All American, Steward spent his lone college season with Duke before going undrafted in 2021. He signed a training camp deal with the Kings last year but was waived before the start of the 2021/22 season.

Steward spent all of last season with the Stockton Kings, appearing in 30 regular season games (21 starts, 29.2 MPG) with averages of 14.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.0 SPG on .463/.331/.884 shooting. The 6’2″ guard also played 12 games (four starts, 21.9 MPG) with Stockton during the Showcase Cup last fall, averaging 12.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.1 SPG on .394/.383/.923 shooting.

The Kings have one of the more unique roster situations right now because they only have 12 players on guaranteed contracts, have reportedly reached agreements with four others — Kent Bazemore, Quinn Cook, KZ Okpala and Jeriah Horne — that have yet to become official, plus three players with relatively small partial guarantees in Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke and Sam Merrill.

It appears as though they’ll have a true training camp competition to determine the last few spots on the standard roster, with both two-way spots currently filled by Keon Ellis and Neemias Queta.

Contract Details: Steward, Kleber, Pickett, Vaudrin

DJ Steward‘s new deal with the Kings is a one-year, minimum-salary contract, but it doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. It’s a standard contract that features a small partial guarantee worth $50K.

If Steward is eventually waived, he would still be eligible to play for the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, since his guarantee doesn’t exceed $50K. So the most tangible difference between Steward’s deal and an Exhibit 10 contract is that Sacramento won’t have the option of converting it into a two-way contract. The former Duke guard isn’t ineligible to sign a two-way deal with the Kings, but he would have to pass through waivers first.

Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:

  • Maxi Kleber‘s new three-year extension with the Mavericks is fairly straightforward — it features $11,000,000 annual base salaries in each of the three seasons and doesn’t include any bonuses or options years. Kleber’s extension will begin in 2023/24.
  • The contracts signed with the Cavaliers by Jamorko Pickett and Chandler Vaudrin are Exhibit 10 deals, Hoops Rumors has learned. Both of Cleveland’s two-way slots are currently full, so Pickett and Vaudrin could end up becoming affiliate players for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs’ G League team.
  • In case you missed it, we’re tracking each team’s players with partially guaranteed and non-guaranteed contracts, including Exhibit 10 deals, right here.

DJ Steward Signs With Kings

The Kings have brought back free agent guard DJ Steward, signing him to a new contract, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.

Last year, Steward also joined Sacramento on a training camp deal, but he was waived by the club ahead of opening night. The 6’2″ guard, who went undrafted out of Duke in 2021, ultimately joined Sacramento’s NBAGL affiliate, the Stockton Kings.

Over the course of 30 regular season games (21 starts) with Stockton, he averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 3.4 APG. The 20-year-old posted shooting splits of .463/.331/.884 while in the G League last season.

Sacramento currently has 12 players inked to guaranteed spots on its 15-man standard roster. Three others are signed to non-guaranteed deals, and the team has reportedly reached agreements with KZ Okpala, Quinn Cook, and Kent Bazemore. Shooting guard Keon Ellis and center Neemias Queta occupy the club’s two-way player slots.

According to Anderson, it’s not clear if Steward will join the Kings for training camp or if his new deal is just an Exhibit 10 contract designed to get him a bonus if and when he returns to Stockton. Given all of Sacramento’s other reported signings, the latter scenario seems more likely.

Summer League Commitments: Hawks, Kings, Mavericks, Sixers

Free agent swingman Chandler Hutchison has agreed to play summer league with the Hawks, a league source told Hoops Rumors. Hutchison has spent time with the Bulls, Wizards and Suns since being drafted with the 22nd overall pick in 2018.

The 26-year-old joined Phoenix on a two-way contract this past season. Upon being waived in January, he joined the Heat’s G League affiliate, where he averaged 11.4 points in 20 games.

There’s more summer league news tonight:

  • The Kings have received a commitment from guard DJ Steward to play in Las Vegas, a source told Hoops Rumors. Steward attended training camp with the team in the fall. He averaged 14.6 points per game in the G League this season.
  • Former Boise State star Derrick Alston Jr. will play summer league with the Mavericks, Hoops Rumors has learned. Alston played for the Jazz’s G League affiliate this season, averaging 18.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
  • The Sixers are adding Cassius Winston and Justin Smith to their summer league roster, according to sources. Winston, 24, has spent time with the Wizards on a two-way contract, while Smith, 23, briefly played for the Raptors’ G League affiliate this past season.

Kings Waive Matt Coleman III, DJ Steward

The Kings have waived guards Matt Coleman III and DJ Steward, the team announced in a press release.

Both players signed training camp deals with Sacramento in late July after going undrafted. They faced long odds to earn a roster spot and will likely wind up with the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton.

Coleman, who played four years at Texas, got into all three of the Kings’ preseason games, but didn’t score and averaged just 4.1 minutes per night. Steward, who spent one season at Duke, only appeared in Monday’s preseason contest, scoring two points in 3.5 minutes.

Sacramento is now down to 18 players in camp, with 14 guaranteed contracts.

Kings Confirm Deal With DJ Steward, Set 20-Man Camp Roster

The Kings have put out their 20-man training camp roster, as Sean Cunningham of ABC10 relays (via Twitter), and it doesn’t include any surprises. In addition to the 19 players who were already under contract with Sacramento, the 20-man squad includes undrafted rookie guard DJ Steward, whose contract agreement with the team was reported way back in July.

Steward declared for the draft this spring after just one year at Duke. In his only college season, he put up 13.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a shooting line of .426/.341/.811 in 24 games (30.8 MPG), earning a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team. After going undrafted, he suited up for the Kings during the Las Vegas Summer League last month.

While terms of the Kings’ deal with Steward weren’t disclosed, an Exhibit 10 arrangement seems likely. That would put him in line to earn a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived by Sacramento and then joins the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton for at least 60 days.

The Kings are now carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts, four on non-guaranteed deals, and two on two-way pacts.

Kings Agree To Sign Matt Coleman, DJ Steward To Camp Deals

The Kings have agreed to a training camp deal with undrafted guard Matt Coleman, according to Jeremy Woo of SI.com (Twitter link), and have done the same with undrafted guard DJ Steward, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Coleman spent all four of his college seasons with Texas, averaging a career-high 13.2 PPG on .485/.377/.813 shooting in 27 games (34.4 MPG) as a senior in 2020/21. He was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team in both 2020 and 2021.

Steward declared for the draft this spring after just one year at Duke, where he put up 13.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a shooting line of .426/.341/.811 in 24 games (30.8 MPG). He earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team.

Although the reports from Woo and Charania don’t specify the terms of Coleman’s or Steward’s contract, a non-guaranteed deal with an Exhibit 10 clause seems likely for each player. An Exhibit 10 contract can be converted to a two-way deal or can ensure a player receives a bonus if he ends up joining his team’s G League affiliate.