MONDAY, 10:17am: The signing is official, the Nuggets announced (Twitter link). It’ll cover six games, against the Heat, Magic, Hornets, Hawks, Cavs and Sixers.
SUNDAY, 10:37am: The Nuggets will sign Axel Toupane to a second 10-day contract, tweets Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. The rookie swingman has impressed the Denver coaching staff since signing with the team on March 3rd, averaging 4.6 points in 13.4 minutes of action. He scored 10 points Thursday in a win over Phoenix.
“Axel has been terrific,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told Dempsey. “I like guys — and it’s appropriate for guys on a 10-day contract — to fit in before you try to stand out. Axel comes in here — yeah, he knows Joffrey [Lauvergne] for a long time — but he doesn’t try to be anything he’s not. He knows his role, he works hard.”
Toupane, who collects $30,888 on each 10-day deal, was an affiliate player with the Raptors before joining the Nuggets. He had been with Toronto’s D-League team since being cut in the preseason. Denver picked him up after Danilo Gallinari tore two ligaments in his right ankle. This is Toupane’s first season in North America after several years with Strasbourg IG in his native France.
“Everybody did a great job to work with me on the team and make me feel part of the family,” Toupane said, according to Dempsey. “I had no expectation coming here. I just wanted to, every time the coach called my name, just go all out and give everything I had. I’m just happy to be here and just go hard and give everything I have.”
The flurry of 10 days the past month shows that the D-League system is working. If you’re good enough, you’ll eventually catch someone’s eye.