Jordan Schakel

Celtics Sign, Waive Brandon Slater; Cut Two Others

The Celtics officially completed a series of roster moves on Thursday, per RealGM, signing and then waiving forward Brandon Slater while also cutting wing Jordan Schakel and forward Taylor Funk.

Slater went undrafted in June after spending five years playing for Villanova at the college level. As a super-senior in 2022/23, he averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game across 34 appearances (all starts) for the Wildcats.

Schakel had signed with the Celtics earlier this week, while Funk joined the roster in early September. Like Schakel and Funk, Slater likely received an Exhibit 10 contract, which will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate.

The series of roster moves reduces Boston’s roster count to 18 players under contract, including 11 on guaranteed deals, four on non-guaranteed pacts, and three on two-way contracts. The team will likely fill out its 21-man roster before training camp begins next week, with DJ Steward among the anticipated additions.

Celtics Sign Jordan Schakel To Non-Guaranteed Camp Deal

The Celtics have signed free agent guard/forward Jordan Schakel, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). It will be a non-guaranteed training camp deal, Smith adds, likely featuring Exhibit 10 language.

A 6’6″ wing, Schakel went undrafted out of San Diego State in 2021. He caught on with the Wizards for his rookie season, signing an Exhibit 10 contract before being waived and spending the bulk of 2021/22 with their NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

Schakel, who signed a 10-day hardship deal with Washington during the COVID-19 outbreak a couple years ago, inked a two-way contract with the Wizards prior to last season, but was released last November. Overall, he has played in six NBA games for 36 total minutes, all with the Wizards.

While he hasn’t played much at the NBA level, he was a G League regular the past two seasons. In 2022/23, he spent the fall Showcase Cup with the Go-Go, averaging 14.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 2.1 APG on .451/.360/.919 shooting over 17 games (31.3 MPG).

However, after spending six regular season games with the Go-Go, he finished last season with Golden State’s affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. Overall, he averaged 10.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 1.5 APG on .452/.399/.862 shooting in 33 combined games with the two clubs (25.5 MPG).

It’s worth noting that since Schakel’s returning player rights are held by the Warriors, the Celtics will have to acquire his G League rights if the plan is for him to spend the upcoming season with their NBAGL affiliate in Maine, which seems highly likely. If he’s waived before the season starts, he could earn a bonus worth $75K — in addition to his G League salary — if he spends at least 60 days with Maine.

After signing Schakel, the Celtics now have 20 players on their roster ahead of training camp, one shy of the offseason limit.

International Notes: Whiteside, Vonleh, Figueroa, Schakel, Schmidt

A former All-Defensive player and a former lottery pick are among the veteran NBA free agents reportedly receiving overseas interest.

Big man Hassan Whiteside, who led the league in blocks per game twice and made an All-Defensive team in 2016, has drawn interest from Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv, per Omri Manhime of Sport5 (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). Whiteside was out of the NBA in 2022/23 and played in Lebanon earlier in his professional career.

Meanwhile, Greek team Panathinaikos is said to be eyeing Noah Vonleh, according to Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 362 career regular season NBA games, including 23 last season for Boston. He played for the Shanghai Sharks in 2021/22 but has never joined a European team.

Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:

  • Former Oregon guard L.J. Figueroa, who has spent the last two seasons in the G League playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors and South Bay Lakers, has signed with German club Ratiopharm Ulm, per a press release from the team. Although Figueroa signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Golden State and L.A., he has yet to play in a regular season NBA game.
  • Jordan Schakel, a member of the Wizards for parts of the last two seasons, is aiming to play for the German national team in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, agents Mike Naiditch and Daniel Poneman tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Schakel has only appeared in six games at the NBA level, but made 39.9% of his three-point attempts in the G League last season.
  • Ryan Schmidt has left his job as the head coach of the London Lions in the British Basketball League in order to take a coaching job with an NBA team, according to a press release. While his destination isn’t yet known, Schmidt will be joining an Eastern Conference club, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. He previously had a four-year stint as an assistant coach for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team (2017-21).

Wizards Sign Devon Dotson To Two-Way Deal, Waive Jordan Schakel

3:45PM: The moves are now official, the Wizards have announced in a press release.


1:18PM: Point guard Devon Dotson, currently with the Wizards‘ NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, will be promoted to Washington on a two-way contract, his agent Kevin Bradbury informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Woj adds that the Wizards will waive current two-way player Jordan Schakel, a 6’6″ wing out of San Diego State, to make room for Dotson. Two-way player Jordan Goodwin, a 6’3″ combo guard who has already appeared in nine games for the Wizards and put up solid numbers, will be unaffected by the minor roster shake-up.

The 6’2″ Dotson, an athletic guard, went undrafted out of Kansas in 2020. He then signed two-way deals with his hometown Bulls for the 2020/21 and ’21/22 seasons. Across 22 NBA games for Chicago, Dotson averaged 2.4 PPG on 50% shooting from the floor in 6.1 MPG. In seven contests with the Capital City Go-Go this year, Dotson is averaging 12.1 PPG, 6.9 APG, 4.1 RPG and 0.9 SPG.

Schakel has played sparingly for the Wizards over parts of two NBA seasons. After going undrafted in 2021, he joined the Go-Go as an affiliate player for the 2021/22 season and signed a 10-day deal with Washington later that year before returning to the Go-Go when that deal expired. Schakel joined Washington this season on a two-way deal. He appeared in just two games for the club this season, playing 3.0 minutes per night

As Ava Wallace of The Washington Post notes (Twitter link), Dotson will provide some depth in a banged-up Wizards backcourt and could see immediate playing time. Reserves Delon Wright and Monte Morris have both been ruled out for the Wizards today, tweets The Athletic’s Josh Robbins.

Wizards Notes: Porzingis, 5-Team Trade, Westbrook, Schakel

Kristaps Porzingis has only played three games since being acquired from Dallas last month, but the Wizards are encouraged by what they’ve seen, writes Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Porzingis was sidelined by knee soreness at the time of the trade and didn’t start playing until Sunday. He has averaged 19.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per night and has contributed as a rim protector and play-maker as well.

“It’s tough, it’s been a handful of games, so he’s still trying to work his way through it. He’s going to have some big nights and he’s going to struggle at times, just like everybody else,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “But he’ll find that level of consistency, it’ll even out. He’s too good of a player.”

Porzingis has barely practiced since coming to Washington, Wallace notes, so he’s still trying to develop chemistry with his new teammates. He will miss tonight’s game at Portland for precautionary reasons because it’s the second night of a back-to-back, but Unseld doesn’t expect him to have any more restrictions for the rest of the season.

“Of course, I want to play and have longer stretches of playing,” Porzingis said. “Sometimes it kind of creeps in your mind and you want to force some things out there because, ‘Ah, I might be coming out in a couple minutes,’ so I just [need] to have that calmness and knowing that I’m going to get there. I just need to stay focused and play the right way.”

There’s more on the Wizards:

  • The five-team trade that Washington was part of last summer continues to evolve, observes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Although there’s a perception that the Wizards got the better of the deal because Russell Westbrook has struggled with the Lakers, the pieces they got in return have already changed significantly. Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell and Aaron Holiday were all shipped out at the trade deadline.
  • Westbrook’s desire to go home and play for the Lakers sparked that five-team deal, but he had a much better situation in Washington, contends Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. Westbrook became a team leader after sparking the Wizards to a late-season surge that got them into the play-in tournament last season, Buckner points out. He also had an All-Star backcourt partner in Bradley Beal who was willing to adjust to his style of play.
  • Jordan Schakel‘s new two-way contract will cover two seasons, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors.

Jordan Schakel Signs Two-Way Deal With Wizards

MARCH 9: The Wizards have officially signed Schakel to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release. As we relayed earlier today, the team waived Ayayi to make room for Schakel.


MARCH 8: Shooting guard Jordan Schakel will sign a two-way contract with the Wizards, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Schakel most recently played for Washington’s NBA G League club, the Capital City Go-Go.

The Wizards currently have both their two-way slots occupied, by guards Joel Ayayi and Cassius Winston. One of those two players will need to be waived for the Wizards to complete the signing of Schakel.

Schakel, 23, is an undrafted rookie out of San Diego State. The 6’6″ wing had previously signed a 10-day hardship contract with Washington in December, appearing in two games. He averaged just 7.0 MPG in those contests with the Wizards.

In 21 games for the Go-Go this season, Schakel is averaging 14.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.9 SPG. Across 32.0 MPG, he boasts shooting splits of .431/.352/.941.

Schakel will join a Wizards team at a bit of a crossroads this season. Washington, which has won five of its last 10 games, remains very much in the Eastern Conference play-in picture, despite the shelving of star guard Bradley Beal for the rest of the season following a left wrist surgery. At 29-34, the No. 11 Wizards are just 1.5 games behind the tenth-seeded Hawks and two games behind the No. 8 Hornets and No. 9 Nets.

Wizards Sign Jordan Schakel To 10-Day Deal

DECEMBER 22: Schakel’s 10-day deal is now official, the Wizards announced in a press release. It’ll run through December 31.


DECEMBER 21: The Wizards are calling up rookie wing Jordan Schakel from their G League affiliate, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Schakel will sign a 10-day contract via a hardship exception.

Schakel, who went undrafted earlier this year out of San Diego State, joined the Wizards for training camp, but didn’t make the team’s regular season roster. The 23-year-old joined the Capital City Go-Go and has averaged 14.1 PPG and 3.1 RPG in his first 14 games (32.1 MPG) in the G League, knocking down an impressive 39.6% of his 7.9 three-point attempts per game.

The Wizards haven’t had major issues this month with COVID-19, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tested positive on Monday night and was placed in the protocols today, making the team eligible for a hardship exception.

Schakel’s 10-day deal won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.

Wizards Cut Jay Huff, Jordan Schakel

The Wizards removed a pair of players from their preseason roster, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Jay Huff and Jordan Schakel.

A 7’1″ forward/center, Huff spent his college career at Virginia and was a full-time starter for the first time as a senior in 2020/21. He averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG with a stellar .585/.387/.837 shooting line in 25 games (27.0 MPG). Huff, who won a national title in 2019, made the All-ACC Second Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team in 2021.

The 6’6″ Schakel averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .473/.461/.908 shooting in his final college season at San Diego State in ’20/21. The 23-year-old was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team.

Both players had signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Washington as undrafted free agents and now appear on track to join the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League affiliate.

Wizards Sign Jordan Schakel To Training Camp Contract

8:08pm: The Wizards have officially inked Schakel to an Exhibit 10 deal, the team announced today (via Twitter).


7:40pm: Rookie wing Jordan Schakel has signed a training camp contract with the Wizards, sources inform JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

The 6’6″ Schakel went undrafted following a four-season San Diego State stint. During his final collegiate season in 2020/21, he averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.0 SPG on .473/.461/.908 shooting. The 23-year-old was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team for his efforts.

Shaw notes that Schakel most recently suited up for the Kings’ championship-winning 2021 Summer League squad.

The revamped Wizards have 14 guaranteed contracts on their books heading into the 2021/22 season. The minimum-salary contract of center Daniel Gafford only becomes fully guaranteed on January 7, 2022, but it seems highly likely that Washington will re-up on the springy big man. Washington has one of its two two-way contract openings still available.

Schakel could conceivably compete for the Wizards’ available two-way slot in training camp. Should that not transpire, he could still log time for the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. If Schakel can stick with the Go-Go for at least 60 days, he will earn a $50K bonus.

JD Shaw contributed to this report.

Draft Notes: Mann, Taylor, Cunningham, Hornets

NBA draft prospect Tre Mann expressed confidence that he’s the best guard in this year’s class, as relayed by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Mann, 20, spent the past two seasons at Florida. He held per-game averages of 16 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the 2020/21 campaign, shooting 46% from the floor and 40% from deep.

“I think I’m the best guard in the draft, top-five for sure,” Mann said.

When asked about his strengths and weaknesses ahead of Thursday’s event, he gave a fair outlook.

“My strengths are my ability to create for myself and my teammates, my craftiness, and my ability to shoot off the dribble on the three-point line or a couple of steps behind the line,” Mann said. “The weaknesses that I think I need to work on are the simpler plays, like making the simple reads out of the ball screens and trying to make the game as easy as possible.”

Here are some other draft-related notes to pass along: