MONDAY, 9:07am: The deal is official, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
SATURDAY: The Magic will sign point guard Keith Appling to a 10-day contract, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Appling has been a standout with Orlando’s D-League affiliate in Erie, averaging 15.9 points and 5.4 assists in 16 games. The Magic have just 14 players under contract, so another move will not be necessary.
Appling, 23, played with Orlando’s summer league team and received an invitation to training camp. He played sparingly in the preseason, seeing just 43 minutes of court time in five games before being waived. The Magic retained Appling’s D-League rights from the previous season, so he was allocated to Erie after clearing waivers.
Appling was a star guard at Michigan State before going undrafted in 2014. He signed with the Lakers in September of that year and wound up with the D-League Los Angeles D-Fenders as an affiliate player. The D-Fenders traded him to Erie in March of 2015.
Izzo always considered Appling an outstanding defender. His offensive shortcomings made him a fringe prospect.