Kyle Guy

Pacers Waive Cameron Payne, Two Others

3:36 pm: The Pacers have officially waived Payne, the team confirmed in a press release. Recent signees Kyle Guy and Ray Spalding, who are ticketed for the Noblesville Boom in the G League, have also been cut, per the Pacers.

According to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link), the team is still weighing its options at the back of the roster, including whether to keep all of its centers or potentially add another point guard.


2:47 pm: Cameron Payne won’t make the Pacers‘ regular season roster, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), who reports that the team plans to waive the veteran point guard.

After initially targeting Monte Morris this fall for a training camp deal, Indiana pivoted to Delon Wright, who was injured during the preseason, prompting the club to sign Payne last week as a replacement.

A 10-year NBA veteran who has earned regular playing time in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York in recent years, Payne had a potential path to a roster spot on a Pacers team that will be without star Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles tear) for the entire 2025/26 season and is also currently missing T.J. McConnell (hamstring).

However, Payne didn’t stand out over the course of three preseason games, shooting just 28.6% from the field and registering nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven). After getting a start in his first preseason outing as a Pacer, the 31-year-old came off the bench in the last two and was behind rookie guard (and preseason standout) Taelon Peter in the rotation on Friday.

Payne was on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, so waiving him won’t leave any dead money on the Pacers’ cap. Indiana is now in position to keep center Tony Bradley, who is on a standard non-guaranteed contract, assuming the team plans to carry a full 15-man standard roster into opening night.

Pacers Waive Gabe McGlothan, Jalen Slawson

The Pacers have waived forwards Gabe McGlothan and Jalen Slawson, according to a team press release. In subsequent moves, Indiana signed guard Kyle Guy and forward Ray Spalding to Exhibit 10 contracts, with an eye toward having them join the Noblesville Boom.

McGlothan, who was signed to a camp deal last month, was on the Nuggets’ training camp roster in 2024 but was waived before opening night. He spent the season with the Grand Rapids Gold of the G League, averaging 8.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 42 games. McGlothan went undrafted after playing four collegiate seasons at Grand Canyon and was on Dallas’ Summer League roster this July.

Slawson, who joined the Pacers on a camp contract in early July, spent last season with the Osceola Magic in the G League. He appeared in 50 games at that level, averaging 12.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30.1 minutes per contest. The 25-year-old was on the Sixers’ Summer League squad in July.

Indiana’s intent to sign Guy was previously reported. The Boom acquired Spalding’s returning rights from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (the Rockets’ affiliate) in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick earlier this month.

McGlothan and Slawson will likely wind up with the Boom. All four players could earn bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they stay with Indiana’s affiliate for at least 60 days.

Pacers Notes: Wright, Walker, Guy, G League Trade

Although point guard Delon Wright isn’t guaranteed a regular season roster spot with the Pacers, he has a couple factors working in his favor, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

For one, while the Pacers are already carrying 15 players on standard contracts, one of those 15 is journeyman center Tony Bradley, whose salary for 2025/26 is non-guaranteed. As Dopirak observes, Bradley would be Indiana’s fourth center and may not be a necessary piece on this roster unless the team has concerns about one or both of Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman, who are returning from Achilles tears.

Wright has also played for Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle before — Carlisle was the head coach in Dallas when the veteran guard played a regular role off the bench for the Mavericks in 2019/20.

“Delon’s a good NBA player,” Carlisle said earlier this week. “He played for us in Dallas. He’s had good stints in a lot of places. … There’s an opportunity there for him. He seems to be in a good place physically and mentally. I think our style suits his abilities quite well.”

Competing for a roster spot in training camp is a new experience for Wright, who has appeared in 548 regular season games and another 47 playoff contests since entering the NBA as the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft.

“I’ve never actually been in this situation,” Wright said. “I’ve been around the league 11 years now. They know what I do. They brought me here for a reason. If I am on the team, good. If not, I know I’ll give it my all. A lot of it is out of my control.”

Here’s more on the Pacers:

  • Jarace Walker came off the board eighth overall in the 2023 draft, but has played a relatively limited role at the NBA level thus far, averaging 14.1 minutes per night in 108 total appearances. Walker, who says he has learned a lot from Pascal Siakam, is extra motivated to make an impact after not getting to play in the NBA Finals due to a sprained ankle. The third-year forward has earned praise from Carlisle for his “tremendous” conditioning and hard work in camp. “It’s difficult being a top-10 pick,” Carlisle said, according to Dopirak (subscription required). “You feel like you’re supposed to go in there and be an impact guy. In our situation, his position was pretty crowded, so it took time. But he’s learned and he’s worked extremely hard and he’s positioned himself to be a major factor on this team.”
  • Given that he was supposed to work as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada this season, Kyle Guy is an unlikely addition to the Pacers’ preseason roster. However, he tells Dopirak (subscription required) that he jumped at the opportunity when he got an Exhibit 10 offer from Indiana and is looking forward to playing for the team’s G League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, while holding out hope that he can turn the audition into something more. “The goal is to make the (Pacers’) roster,” Guy said. “I’m not an idiot. I don’t know if that’s in the cards right now, but I think after I get my feet under me and play for the Boom and help establish a winning culture and a fun atmosphere there that I could make those things happen down the road.”
  • Speaking of the Boom, Indiana’s NBAGL affiliate made a trade on Thursday, acquiring forward Ray Spalding‘s returning rights from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (the Rockets‘ affiliate) in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. That could point to Spalding signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pacers later in camp to ensure he gets a bonus for playing for Noblesville this season.

Nevada Assistant Kyle Guy Joining Pacers On Exhibit 10 Deal

Kyle Guy, who was hired in April as an assistant coach at Nevada, will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers, the school announced (via Twitter). The plan is for the 28-year-old guard to play for Indiana’s G League affiliate in Noblesville, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).

Guy, who was named Most Outstanding Player at the 2019 NCAA Tournament after winning the national title with Virginia, began his coaching career as a mentor/special assistant with UVA in 2024. He left after one season “to pursue a new coaching opportunity” and landed at Nevada as an assistant to Steve Alford.

Guy played two seasons with Sacramento after being selected with the 55th pick in the 2019 draft. He also spent part of the 2021/22 season with Miami before heading overseas. His most recent stint as an active player was in 2024 in the Spanish ACB League.

He appeared in 53 total NBA games over three seasons, averaging 3.1 points per night while shooting 36.1% from the field and 30.3% from three-point range.

The Pacers have a full 21-man roster, so another move will be necessary before Guy’s contract can be finalized. Once he joins the G League team, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days there.

And-Ones: Guy, WBD Lawsuit, 21-And-Under Players, More

Former Virginia star Kyle Guy, who was the 55th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, is returning to his alma mater as an athlete development mentor and special assistant, according to a press release from the program.

“C’ville I am back!” Guy said in a statement. “I want to sincerely thank Coach (Tony) Bennett and (athletic director) Carla Williams for trusting me with the opportunity to come back and begin this next chapter of my life. This was not an easy decision for me, but knowing how much love I have for this culture and community made it very clear where I should be with my family. I’m beyond excited to help this team and the University in any way needed.”

Guy, who will turn 27 on Sunday, spent three years in the NBA from 2019-22, appearing in a total of 53 regular season games for the Kings and Heat and averaging 3.1 points in 8.1 minutes per contest. He spent the past two seasons playing internationally in Spain and Greece. However, his new role and his accompanying statement suggest that he’s prepared to put his playing career behind him.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The judge who is overseeing Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit against the NBA has given the league until August 23 to respond, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link). If the NBA moves to dismiss the suit, WBD would have until September 20 to file its opposition, then the league would have until October 2 to respond again. The lawsuit was a response to the league rejecting TNT’s right to match Amazon’s offer for NBA media rights.
  • James L. Edwards III, Kelly Iko and Will Guillory of The Athletic conducted a 24-player mock draft of NBA players who were 21 or younger at the end of the 2023/24 season. Victor Wembanyama, unsurprisingly, was the top pick, followed by Paolo Banchero, Alperen Sengun, Brandon Miller, and Dereck Lively.
  • The rest of the basketball world hasn’t caught up to the United States, but a down-to-the-wire semifinal game against Serbia at the Olympics was a reminder that the gap is narrowing, writes Seerat Sohi of The Ringer. Sohi notes that France, led by Wembanyama and youngsters like Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Tidjane Salaun, and projected 2025 lottery pick Nolan Traore, could be a future powerhouse, while Canada is still on the rise despite a disappointing 2024 outcome.

International Notes: Mirotic, P. Motiejunas, Guy, Mannion

Longtime NBA power forward Nikola Mirotic, who has been back overseas since 2019, will remain in Europe for the immediate future. According to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia (Twitter link), the 6’10” big man has agreed to terms on a deal with Italian club Olimpia Milano after having spent the past four seasons as the best-compensated player in Europe with FC Barcelona.

According to Sportando, Mirotic has two years remaining on his deal with Barcelona. However, the Spanish team reportedly informed the forward that it intends to terminate that contract, as BasketNews.com relays.

Selected in the 2011 draft with the No. 23 pick, Mirotic logged major rotation minutes on the Bulls, Pelicans and Bucks from 2014-19. Instead of springing for a lucrative new contract in free agency that summer, he opted for a return to international play, where he had begun his career with Real Madrid in 2008.

Here’s more news and notes from around the basketball world:

  • The EuroLeague, widely considered to be the second-most competitive basketball organization in the world, has officially named its new CEO: Paulius Motiejunas. According to BasketNews.com, EuroLeague shareholders unanimously voted for Motiejunas, who has served as the president and owner of EuroLeague club Zalgiris Kaunas for a decade.
  • After just one season with Spain’s Joventut Badalona, former NBA guard Kyle Guy will find a new home next season, per Eurohoops. Guy was selected out of Virginia with the No. 55 pick in 2019, and logged time with the Kings, Cavaliers, and Heat — plus their respective NBAGL affiliates — from 2019-22. He averaged 11.5 PPG on a .408/.345/.802 slash line across 34 contests in Liga ACB play.
  • Spanish team Saski Baskonia is considering signing ex-Warriors point guard Nico Mannion, currently with Virtus Bologna, writes Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. The 22-year-old out of Arizona appeared in just 30 NBA games with Golden State during the 2020/21 season, averaging 4.1 PPG, 2.3 APG nd 1.5 RPG in 12.1 MPG. Mannion, who would be a Warriors restricted free agent if he were to attempt a return to the NBA, averaged 9.9 PPG and 3.1 APG in the LBA with Virtus Bologna this past season.

Kyle Guy Signs With Joventut Badalona

Free agent guard Kyle Guy has finalized a one-year deal with Spanish team Joventut Badalona, the club announced in a press release. An earlier report indicated that the two sides were closing in on an agreement.

The No. 55 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Guy spent his first three professional seasons in the NBA and the G League, appearing in a total of 53 NBA regular season games for the Kings and Heat while also spending time with the Stockton Kings, Cleveland Charge, and Sioux Falls Skyforce.

The former Virginia standout caught on with Miami last season during the NBA’s COVID-19 outbreak, signing a pair of 10-day hardship deals and then a two-way contract. He appeared in 19 games for the Heat, averaging 3.9 PPG and 0.9 RPG on .400/.350/.667 shooting in 9.8 MPG before being waived.

Guy’s new team, Joventut Badalona, plays in Spain’s top league (Liga ACB) and also competes in the EuroCup. Guy is the second noteworthy NBA veteran to sign with the club this offseason — 2016 first-round pick Henry Ellenson joined Joventut earlier in July.

And-Ones: Guy, Johnson-Odom, 2025 Cap, Summer League Takeaways

Free agent guard Kyle Guy, the 55th pick of the 2019 draft, is closing in on a deal with Spanish club Joventut, tweets Spanish basketball reporter Gerard Solé (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops).

Guy spent his first two NBA seasons with the Kings on a two-way contract, appearing in 34 total games with modest averages of 2.7 PPG and 1.1 RPG in 7.2 MPG. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Cavaliers prior to last season, was waived, and then spent time with the team’s G League affiliate, the Canton Charge.

Last December, during the league’s COVID-19 outbreak, Guy caught on with the Heat, signing a couple of 10-day hardship deals and then a two-way contract. He appeared in 19 games for Miami, averaging 3.9 PPG and 0.9 RPG in 9.8 MPG. He was waived in March and rejoined the Charge for the remainder of 2021/22.

Guy participated in a free agent workout with the Lakers a few weeks ago, but evidently nothing came of it. If he finalizes the deal with Joventut, he’ll be playing in the top league in Spain, Liga ACB.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Guard Darius Johnson-Odom, who appeared in seven NBA games with the Lakers and Sixers from 2012-14, has signed with Romanian club Rapid Bucharest, the team announced on Facebook (hat tip to Dario Skerletic of Sportando). The well-traveled veteran has made international stops in Russia, China, Turkey, Greece, Italy and most recently in France with Le Mans of the LNB Pro A league last season.
  • Agents like Mark Bartelstein are anticipating a big salary cap increase in 2025, when the NBA’s new media rights deal will kick in. The new deal should be much more lucrative than 2016, when the cap increased by 34%. “I think there’s going to be a huge jump,” Bartelstein told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “The NBA is as hot as can be and everybody wants a piece of it. People can’t get enough of it.” Vorkunov wonders if cap smoothing might be considered by the Players Association this time around after it was rejected in 2015. Smoothing, as the name implies, would artificially lower the salary cap and phase in the increase over several years in order to prevent a big single-year spike.
  • With the caveat that it’s Summer League and thus should be taken with a grain of salt, John Hollinger of The Athletic provides his takeaways from Las Vegas. According to Hollinger, all of the top six picks of last month’s draft looked outstanding, a few first-rounders struggled (Johnny Davis, Jake LaRavia and Peyton Watson), while a couple late second-rounders stood out for good reasons (Jabari Walker and JD Davison).

Pacific Notes: Johnson, Kings, Atkinson, Lakers

After suffering a frustrating seven-game Western Conference Semifinals loss to the Mavericks, the Suns face some key rotation decisions during a 2022 offseason that arrived earlier than expected. One of those decisions involves Cameron Johnson, eligible for his rookie contract extension this summer. Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic examines whether or not it would behoove Phoenix to extend Johnson this year, and whether he should be moved into the team’s starting rotation for the start of the 2022/23 season.

Johnson, the No. 11 pick out of North Carolina in 2020, proved to be a key contributor off the bench for the Suns during the team’s 64-18 season. He averaged a career-high 12.5 PPG on .460/.425/.860 shooting from the floor, while chipping in a career-best 4.1 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.9 SPG. Johnson also was the first player promoted to a starting role when All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker missed three postseason games due to a hamstring injury.

Rankin predicts that Johnson could earn between $15-20MM annually on an extension, and points to the fact that the Suns reached rookie extension agreements with two of its three most important extension-eligible young players during the 2021 offseason. Jae Crowder started ahead of Johnson at power forward in his 80 games of regular season availability, but as he embarks on the last season of the three-year, $30MM contract he inked with the Suns in 2020, Rankin wonders if a Johnson extension would eventually necessitate the younger player’s move into the starting five over Crowder.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • The Kings, who have not made the playoffs since 2006, are believed to be on the hunt for a “win-now player” using their lottery pick, league sources inform Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Sacramento owns the fourth pick in this year’s draft, and could either draft an NBA-ready player or use the selection in a trade to acquire a veteran who could grow with the team’s current core.
  • Thanks to successive seasons as an assistant coach with the Clippers and now the Warriors, former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson has joined the ranks of top assistants vying for head coaching vacancies once again, as Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com writes. Atkinson was in the running late to become the new Lakers head coach, and is a major contender to be the prime shot-caller for the Hornets. “It’s a great experience being considered (for head coaching jobs), but, man, I’m in such a great place — not only from basketball, but from a living in California, the Bay Area, the whole thing,” Atkinson said of his current gig as a Golden State assistant under head coach Steve Kerr. “So it almost takes the pressure off when you’re really in a good situation. I mean, I’m still competitive, and I try to do my best in interviewing and everything, but also in the back of my mind I’m saying, like, man, if I don’t get another shot, I’m in a great, great situation.”
  • The Lakers, who may need to replace as many as seven now-free agent players from its 2021/22 roster, got an in-person look at several free agents on Tuesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin reports that free agents Alize Johnson, Langston Galloway, Kyle Guy, Louis King and D.J. Wilson were in attendance for a workout.

Central Notes: Ball, Grant, Carlisle, Guy, Wade

Lonzo Ball will be reevaluated this week and “wants to come back and play,” Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago tweets.

A week ago, the Bulls announced Ball would not run for 10 days. His rehab from surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee was halted after he felt discomfort in the knee. Ball’s reevaluation is expected to happen when the team returns from its road trip, which ends on Tuesday. There’s hope Ball can ramp up to full-speed running and cutting after he’s reevaluated.

“Lonzo really wants to come back and play. He wants to do everything possible…,” coach Billy Donovan said. “If we do start ramping up and [he doesn’t respond well again], I don’t know what they’ll do because we have not discussed that.”

Ball has been out since January 14.

We have from the Central Division:

  • Jerami Grant, the Pistons’ leading scorer, will sit out the rest of the season due to a left calf strain, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. Grant suffered the injury against Washington on Friday. A prime trade candidate this offseason, he has one year remaining on his three-year contract.
  • Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has returned to the sidelines after leaving the team for two games due to personal reasons, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star tweets. “Felt very bad about not going on that trip because it’s just a hard set of couple games, given our personnel situation. But we’ve got seven (games) left, and we’ve got to focus,” he said.
  • Guard Kyle Guy has rejoined the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G League team, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Guy was waived by the Heat on Thursday. Guy signed a two-way contract with Miami in mid-January after playing with the Charge. He appeared in 19 games with Miami, averaging 3.9 PPG in 9.8 MPG.
  • Cavaliers forward Dean Wade has a six-to-eight week recovery period from his knee surgery, Kelsey Russo of The Athletic tweets. The meniscus surgery on his right knee will be a cleanup procedure and he should be a full participant in Summer League activities, Russo adds.