JD Davison, who played 44 games for the Maine Celtics last season, has signed a two-way deal with the Boston Celtics. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
The Boston Celtics signed guard JD Davison to a two-way contract for the 2023-24 season.
The Celtics selected Davison from Alabama with the 53rd choice in the 2022 NBA Draft, and he played his rookie season on a two-way contract, too.
A two-way contract allows a player to move between a team’s NBA roster and its NBA G League affiliate without the waiver process.
Two-way players are limited to 50 games with the NBA team. A two-way contract is worth $559,782, which is half of the NBA rookie minimum for the 2023-24 season.
Davison played in 12 games with the Celtics last season. In 66 minutes on the court with Boston, he had 19 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and two blocks.
The 6-foot-3 guard played in 44 games with the G League’s Maine Celtics and averaged 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists. His 339 assists were the fourth-most in the G League in the 2022-23 season and were the second-most in one season in franchise history.
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA’S, and likely last, Summer League is over.
The San Antonio Spurs have seen all they needed from the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and won’t play him during their remaining games in Las Vegas.
Wembanyama’s final numbers from two games: 36 points, 20 rebounds, eight blocks and three assists on 41% shooting from the floor. He played about 54 minutes.
Shutting him down from games – San Antonio has either three or four games left in Las Vegas – starts what will be a needed break for the 19-year-old from France whose last professional season in his homeland started nearly a year ago. He was in the French playoffs up until a few days before the draft in June, and his schedule has been crazed since.
Put simply, the Spurs believe he needs a chance to rest and reset to get ready for training camp that starts in early October and then an 82-game regular season.
“In the past month, I think basketball wasn’t even 50% of my schedule,” Wembanyama said. “I can’t stand it. I know it’s a special moment in my life, but I’m glad it’s over. Honestly. I just want to hoop. I just want to work out, lift because this is my life. Obviously, every first pick is going to go through this. And it just makes me better for the future.”
HOUSTON ROCKETS FORWARD Jabari Smith Jr. is putting in the work and looks poised to make a leap as he heads into his second NBA season.
The No. 3 pick in the 2022 draft capped his first summer league performance this season with a game-winning 3-pointer in a 100-99 victory over Portland on Friday, scoring 29 of his 33 points in the second half. He followed that by posting 38 points, seven rebounds and six assists on Sunday in a 113-101 win over Detroit.
Smith is showing variety at a high level, from hitting 3-pointers to rebounding to handling the ball at 6-foot-11.
“I think it shows that he’s growing as a player, he’s blossoming as a player.” Rockets summer league coach Ben Sullivan said after the win over Detroit. “He has a lot of stuff that he’s really good at, and he’s putting it all together.”
The Rockets were thrilled when Smith, expected by many to go No. 1 overall in last year’s draft, slipped to No. 3. He had a solid first season with 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and made the All-Rookie second-team. However, the former Auburn star didn’t get a single vote for rookie of the year. Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams, Utah’s Walker Kessler, Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin, Sacramento’s Keegan Murray and Detroit’s Jaden Ivey all got rookie of the year votes, despite being drafted after Smith.
Smith immediately got back to work after the season and looks comfortable in the system of new coach Ime Udoka. He leads the summer league in free throws made and attempted per game.
“Learning a new offense, learning a new play style, new defensive coverages, new teammates, new faces on the bench — it’s just going out there getting reps,” Smith said. “Playing in a different role and just having fun.”
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