Isaiah Miller

G League Notes: Simpson, Boeheim, McGowens, More

The Hornets‘, Pistons‘, Spurs‘ and Thunder‘s G League affiliates completed a four-team trade, according to a release (Twitter link) and the G League transactions log.

In the trade, the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets) obtained the returning player rights to both Zavier Simpson and Caleb McConnell. The Motor City Cruise (Pistons) acquired RaiQuan Gray‘s rights, along with OKC’s 2025 second-round pick. The Austin Spurs got the rights to Nathan Mensah while the Oklahoma City Blue obtained Buddy Boeheim‘s.

Acquiring a player’s returning G League rights doesn’t necessarily mean that player will suit up for his new team. These trades ensure that if a player signs an NBAGL contract, he will play for the club that acquired his rights. When deals occur at this point in the offseason, they’re often precursors to players signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the parent club, lining them up to receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they’re waived and then spent at least 60 days in the G League.

This deal appears to be for exactly those purposes, at least in part. Mensah and Boeheim reportedly agreed to training camp deals with the Spurs and Thunder, respectively, so these trades indicate those agreements will be completed soon. Mensah played in 25 games for the Hornets last season, averaging 1.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest. Boeheim played two seasons with the Pistons, appearing in 20 games and averaging 2.5 PPG.

The other names in the trade are interesting. Simpson played in Summer League with the Hornets but previous reporting from HoopsHype indicated he was set to head overseas this season. He may very well still be doing that, but Charlotte clearly likes him. Gray, meanwhile, was traded while on a two-way contract to the Bulls before being waived.

Simpson has 11 games of NBA experience, averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 assists. McConnell, a former Rutgers player, also played for Charlotte in Summer League. While he hasn’t yet appeared in an NBA game, he suited up for 47 G League contests and averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last season. Gray played parts of two seasons with the Nets and then Spurs, averaging 9.8 points in his four games.

We have more from the G League:

  • The Cruise and Spurs participated in another multi-team trade, with Motor City acquiring the rights to Javante McCoy and Reggie Kissoonlal along with unspecified draft capital, according to the log and a team release (Twitter link). Austin obtained the rights to Isaiah Miller and Jaylen Johnson, while the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz) got a 2025 first round pick and Jayce Johnson. None of those players have yet agreed to sign Exhibit 10 deals, but as teams start fielding their training camp rosters, they’ll be names to monitor. All players involved have previously participated in training camps with NBA teams.
  • The Long Island Nets and Cleveland Charge completed their own trade, with the rights to Trey McGowens heading to Cleveland in exchange for Tray Maddox‘s rights (Twitter link). McGowens signed an Exhibit 10 with Brooklyn last season and averaged 10.1 points in 16 G League games last season. Maddox, a Western Michigan product who went undrafted in 2023, averaged 6.1 PPG last season for the Charge.
  • In case you missed it, Lonnie Walker IV signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics and may end up playing for their G League affiliate this season, at least to begin the year.

Jazz Sign, Waive Isaiah Miller

Free agent shooting guard Isaiah Miller has been signed and waived by the Jazz, the team announced in a press release.

Miller, 25, played last year with Utah’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, after being signed and waived shortly before the start of the season. He averaged 7.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 29 regular season games.

Assuming he received an Exhibit 10 contract, which is a safe bet, Miller can earn a bonus of up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Salt Lake City.

Three Players Signed, Waived By Jazz

The Jazz have placed forward Tyler Cook and guards Frank Jackson and Isaiah Miller on waivers, the team announced in a press release. Their signings were announced earlier today, as Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets.

Cook, a 25-year-old forward, appeared in 20 games with the Bulls last season on a two-way contract. He entered the league with the Cavaliers in 2019 and has also played for the Nuggets, Pistons and Nets.

Jackson spent the past two seasons with the Pistons and played two years with the Pelicans as well. The 24-year-old guard was the 31st pick in the 2017 draft.

Miller, a 24-year-old point guard, was waived by the Trail Blazers earlier this week. He spent last season with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate.

All three players are likely to end up with Utah’s G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, once they clear waivers.

Trail Blazers Waive Jared Rhoden, Isaiah Miller

3:45pm: The Blazers have officially cut Rhoden and Miller, the team confirmed in a press release.


3:35pm: The Trail Blazers intend to waive guards Jared Rhoden and Isaiah Miller, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Rhoden and Miller had been in camp on Exhibit 10 contracts.

Rhoden, who went undrafted out of Seton Hall in June, played for Sacramento’s Summer League teams in July before signing a training camp contract with Portland. Miller went undrafted in 2021 out of UNC Greensboro and spent the season in the G League as an affiliate player with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 32 games.

Neither player will report to the Trail Blazers’ G League team, since Portland is one of two NBA teams that doesn’t have an NBAGL affiliate.

The cuts, once they’re official, will leave the Blazers with 15 players under contract — 14 of those players have guaranteed standard deals, while Olivier Sarr is on an Exhibit 10 contract.

Fentress notes that Sarr has had a strong preseason and seems to have a strong chance to make the regular season roster, though I’d be surprised if the tax-conscious Blazers keep him on the standard 15-man roster rather than converting him to a two-way deal. Both of Portland’s two-way slots are currently open.

Contract Details: M. Morris, Vonleh, M. Hill, Blazers

Markieff Morris‘ one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nets is non-guaranteed for now, but the veteran forward will receive a partial guarantee worth $500K if he isn’t waived on or before the first day of the regular season, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Morris’ partial guarantee would increase to $1MM if he hasn’t been cut by December 10. He would lock in his full $2,905,581 minimum salary (only $1,836,090 counts against the Nets’ cap) after the league-wide guarantee date in January, assuming he remains under contract.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

  • Noah Vonleh‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Celtics, which is now official, includes an Exhibit 9 clause, but not an Exhibit 10. Teams generally include Exhibit 10 clauses in order to either convert a contract to a two-way deal or because they expect the player to suit up for their G League affiliate. Vonleh isn’t eligible for a two-way deal and it appears there are no plans to have him join the Maine Celtics if he doesn’t make Boston’s regular season roster.
  • Malcolm Hill accepted his two-way qualifying offer from the Bulls, Hoops Rumors has confirmed, so his two-way deal only covers one year — he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2023.
  • As expected, the four camp invitees signed by the Trail BlazersDevontae Cacok, Olivier Sarr, Jared Rhoden, and Isaiah Miller – all received Exhibit 10 contracts. Portland doesn’t have a G League affiliate, so those players won’t receive Exhibit 10 bonuses, but their contracts could be converted into two-way deals.

Trail Blazers Officially Announce Four Camp Signings

The Trail Blazers have officially signed Devontae Cacok, Olivier Sarr, Isaiah Miller and Jared Rhoden, the team announced. All four players, whose deals were previously reported, received Exhibit 10 training camp deals.

Of the group, only Cacok and Sarr hold NBA experience — Cacok has appeared in 36 games in parts of three seasons with the Lakers and Spurs, while Sarr played 22 games with the Thunder last season. Miller went undrafted out of UNC Greensboro in 2021 and spent last season in the G League with the Iowa Wolves; Rhoden is an undrafted rookie out of Seton Hall.

The Blazers have an unusual roster situation for a couple of different reasons. At the end of August, they waived Didi Louzada, using the stretch provision to stay below the luxury tax threshold of $150,267,000. That left the standard 15-man roster with 14 players on guaranteed deals, but even adding a minimum-salary player would push them over the tax line, so that last spot will almost certainly remain open for now (they could sign someone later in the season if they want to, since NBA salaries are prorated).

The second reason the roster situation is unusual is because Portland is one of only two teams without an NBA G League affiliate (the Suns are the other). Ordinarily players signed to Exhibit 10 deals are earmarked as affiliate players, and assuming they’re waived before the regular season, they become eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K.

However, since the Blazers don’t have an affiliate, none of the four players will be eligible for the bonus. Instead, evidently all four will be competing for the club’s lone two-way spot that’s still open — Brandon Williams currently occupies the other. Players on two-way contracts are eligible to appear in up to 50 games, but aren’t eligible for the postseason.

Contract Details: Muscala, Harden, Blazers, More

The new contract that veteran forward/center Mike Muscala signed with the Thunder is essentially identical to the one he signed with the team in 2021, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Muscala’s new deal covers two years and has matching $3.5MM cap hits in each of those two seasons for a total of $7MM. The first year is guaranteed, while the second year is a team option. All of those details also applied to the two-year, $7MM contract he signed in ’21.

The Thunder chose to decline Muscala’s $3.5MM team option for 2022/23 back in June, but will now pay him that exact salary next season, with another $3.5MM team option for ’23/24. Since Oklahoma City had Muscala’s Bird rights, the club didn’t have to dip into its mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

  • James Harden‘s new two-year contract with the Sixers will pay him exactly $33MM in 2022/23 and includes a 2023/24 player option worth $35.64MM. The two-year, $68.64MM pact includes a 15% trade kicker.
  • The training camp contracts that Norvel Pelle and Isaiah Miller signed with the Trail Blazers include Exhibit 10 language. That gives Portland the option of converting either contract into a two-way deal before the regular season begins.
  • The new two-way contracts signed by Duane Washington (Suns) and Trent Forrest (Hawks) are each just for one season.

Trail Blazers Sign Isaiah Miller

9:00pm: Miller has officially signed with Portland, according to the NBA transactions log at RealGM.


4:28pm: Isaiah Miller has a contract agreement with the Trail Blazers, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The free agent guard will be given an opportunity to win a roster spot in training camp, sources tell Haynes.

Miller, 24, signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Timberwolves last September after going undrafted out of UNC Greensboro. He spent the season in the G League as an affiliate player with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 32 games.

Miller attended a free agent mini-camp with the Jazz in early June and earned a spot on Utah’s Summer League roster. He appeared in two games and averaged 5.0 PPG.

Portland currently has 15 players with guaranteed contracts, but only one of the team’s two-way slots is filled.

Jazz Notes: Far From Contending, Mini-Camp, Prospect Workouts

All four of the 2021/22 Conference Finalists — the Warriors, Mavericks, Celtics and Heat — proved how far the Jazz are from contending for a championship, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News opines.

Todd notes that head coach Quin Snyder, whose status remains uncertain for next season, said Utah was very close to competing at the highest level at his end-of-season press conference.

This year, I thought that our record didn’t necessarily reflect what we could do in the playoffs. I felt like we were this close to having a spark and kicking it in and finding that unity, that extra secret sauce, and taking off. And obviously that didn’t happen,” Snyder said, per Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Todd disagrees. Even assuming the Jazz had advanced past Dallas in the first round (they lost in six games), Todd is doubtful the Jazz would have been able to take the Suns to seven games in the second round, as Dallas was able to do.

She also doesn’t think the Jazz would have fared any better than the Mavs did against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, if they’d gotten past Phoenix.

Ultimately, the Todd believes the flawed roster was too much to overcome, and Utah’s front office will have a tough job improving it this summer.

Here’s more from Utah:

Timberwolves Waive Chris Silva, Three Others

The Timberwolves announced in a press release today that they waived Chris Silva, Brian Bowen II, Matt Lewis and Isaiah Miller.

All four players had been signed to Exhibit 10 contracts, which means that if they spend at least 60 days with Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, they could earn bonuses of up to $50K.

Silva has the most NBA experience of the group, playing in 59 games with career averages of 2.8 PPG and 2.6 RPG (7.4 MPG) over the past two seasons with the Heat and Kings.

Bowen has 12 NBA games under his belt with the Pacers, but only saw action for 46 total minutes. His stats for the Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, were somewhat mixed. He most recently played for the Wolves in both Summer League and briefly in the preseason.

Lewis went undrafted in 2019-20 and was named CAA Player of the Year in his final season for James Madison University.

Miller also went undrafted in 2019-20 and was SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Defensive Player of the Year in his last season for UNC Greensboro.

All four players figure to see time in the G League.

The Timberwolves’ roster now sits at 16 total players, with 13 under guaranteed contracts, Jaylen Nowell on a non-guaranteed deal, and both two-way slots filled.