If one of this year's camp invitees doesn't appear in a regular season game this year, don't expect him to wind up as a camp invitee again next fall. Only nine of this year's players on non-guaranteed deals without regular season NBA experience have gone to camp with NBA teams before.
Some repeat camp invitees are trying again to make their official NBA debuts on partially guaranteed deals this time around, like Dionte Christmas of the Suns, so a few are able to break through and at least ensure themselves of an NBA paycheck. In many cases, players may not be as willing to accept a second non-guaranteed camp invitation as they were the first time around, since a fruitless October spent with an NBA team can impinge upon opportunities in overseas leagues.
Ron Howard is the ultimate exception to this rule. He'd already been on non-guaranteed camp deals on three different occasions when he accepted yet another invitation this summer, this time from the Pacers. Once more without a guarantee, the 6'5" swingman and longtime D-League standout is competing with three other camp invitees for as many as two open spots on the Indiana roster, hoping that experience will give him an edge.
Players currently on non-guaranteed deals who've yet to play in an NBA regular season game are below, listed by team. Their previous camp teams are listed in parentheses, along with the season in which the camp took place. For the sake of this exercise, we'll include players on fully non-guaranteed multiyear contracts, like Hollis Thompson of the Sixers, as well as those on non-guaranteed one-year camp deals.
- 76ers: Hollis Thompson (2012/13 Thunder)
- Bobcats: None
- Bucks: None
- Bulls: None
- Cavaliers: None
- Celtics: None
- Clippers: Mustapha Farrakhan (2012/13 Bucks)
- Grizzlies: Tony Gaffney (2009/10 Lakers, 2010/11 Celtics), Willie Reed (2012/13 Kings)*
- Hawks: None
- Heat: None
- Jazz: None
- Kings: Brandon Heath (2008/09 Lakers)
- Knicks: None
- Lakers: Eric Boateng (2010/11 Nuggets)
- Magic: None
- Mavericks: None
- Nets: None
- Nuggets: Kyle Fogg (2012/13 Rockets)
- Pacers: Ron Howard (2008/09 Bucks, 2009/10 Knicks, 2011/12 Bucks)
- Pelicans: None
- Pistons: None
- Raptors: None
- Rockets: None
- Spurs: None
- Suns: None
- Thunder: None
- Timberwolves: None
- Trail Blazers: None
- Warriors: Cameron Jones (2011/12 Heat)
- Wizards: None
*— The Grizzlies signed Reed shortly before the end of the regular season this past April, but he has yet to appear in a regular season game.
RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.
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