When Usman Garuba officially signed his rookie contract with Houston earlier this week, he became the 30th and final first-round pick from the 2021 draft to sign his first NBA deal. There will be no draft-and-stash players among this year’s first-rounders — they’re all now officially on NBA rosters.
As our tracker shows, another 23 second-rounders from this year’s draft class have also signed their first NBA contracts or – in Joe Wieskamp‘s case – agreed to a deal that should be officially completed soon.
That leaves just seven prospects from 2021’s 60-player draft class who have yet to be signed. They are as follows:
- New York Knicks: Rokas Jokubaitis, G, Lithuania
- Boston Celtics: Juhann Begarin, G, France
- Brooklyn Nets: Marcus Zegarowski, G, Creighton
- Philadelphia 76ers: Filip Petrusev, F, Serbia
- Philadelphia 76ers: Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky
- Detroit Pistons: Balsa Koprivica, C, Florida State
- Brooklyn Nets: RaiQuan Gray, F, Florida State
Of these seven players, at least three appear on track to spend the 2021/22 season in Europe. Jokubaitis returned to his team in Barcelona following his Summer League stint with the Knicks, while Petrusev signed with Turkish team Anadolu Efes after playing for the Sixers in Summer League. Begarin, who also played in Summer League for the Celtics, will likely end up heading back overseas to France
That leaves just four true unsigned second-round picks, including a pair of Nets. It will be interesting to see what Brooklyn’s plans are for Zegarowski and Gray. The team currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and one on a two-way deal, so there could conceivably be room for Zegarowski on the 15-man squad, with Gray getting the other two-way deal.
However, DeAndre’ Bembry has a partially guaranteed contract and looks like a good bet to make the Nets’ regular-season roster, and Reggie Perry (free agent) and David Duke (Exhibit 10) are among the other candidates to get a two-way deal from the team. It’s also not clear if Brooklyn intends to carry a full 15-man roster to start the season, since leaving a roster spot open would create major tax savings for the franchise.
I could envision a scenario in which Zegarowski signs a two-way contract and Gray signs a G League deal to play for the Long Island Nets, but that’s just my speculation. There are still a number of ways the Nets could go.
Meanwhile, prospects drafted in the 50s like Bassey (No. 53) and Koprivica (No. 57) are generally good candidates for two-way deals, but the Sixers and Pistons have recently filled both of their two-way openings. Perhaps Philadelphia envisions Bassey taking Anthony Tolliver‘s spot on the 15-man roster, since Tolliver is on a non-guaranteed contract.
It’ll be trickier for Detroit to find a roster spot for Koprivica. The Pistons already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and still may re-sign restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo. Stashing Koprivica overseas or in the G League could be the plan. Koprivica was born and raised in Serbia, so he might be more comfortable spending a season overseas than a typical NCAA draftee would be.
I would drop Tolliver, unless they plan on using his non guaranteed salary (till sept.) in a trade just for salary matching purposes. If not I would waive him and let Bassey take the final bench slot
I’m pretty sure that is their thought. Tolliver isn’t playing 1 min in a 76ers uniform going forward.
How can a drafted player can be stashed in the G-league (outside of a 2 way deal)?
The NBA team would lose their draft rights to the player (unless the player rejected the NBA contract offer in favor of a G-league contract).
The magic did it with Chuma Okeke a couple years back. Basically the NBA team keeps the players rights and they can either play for the affiliate team, or in Chuma’s case, rehab but still get paid
The player signs a general G League contract and the team that drafted him gets his G League rights while retaining his exclusive NBA rights.
It’s rare, but there are usually at least 1-2 second-rounders a year that do it. Vit Krejci in 2020, Jaylen Hands in 2019, Justin Jackson and Kevin Hervey in 2018, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaron Blossomgame in 2017, etc.
But in those cases the player elected to sign the G-league contract vs signing the required tender (1 year non-guaranteed, NBA contract). Seems like a bad call. I get the 2 way deal, because there’s going to be some $$ in a 2 way deal guaranteed (nothing in the NBA contract). Any in a G-league (only) deal? Enough to warrant giving up being a UFA?
Neither is a great option. If the player accepts the required tender and is waived, he probably becomes a free agent in September or October, when most international rosters are fairly set for the season, and no other NBA teams would be permitted to sign him to a two-way contract during that league year. He may end up in the G League anyway in that scenario.
At least if you’re signing a G League contract at the behest of the team that drafted you, they’ll be invested in your development and it likely comes with assurances that you’ll get consideration for a two-way or 15-man spot either later in the season or in the following year (though, as the examples I listed show, that doesn’t always happen).
I also suspect that teams interested in this option run it by the player’s agent before drafting him, though that might not always be the case.
Thanks.
Playing in the G-league you are always auditioning for the entire NBA. Trust me they are watching players who grow. Bassey is an NBA center. Thing is there is no room for him in Philly. Best if he plays rather than sit on big squad. David Duke is an NBA player to me. Needs to get his handle tighter. Also get more aggressive. Like both these guys.
If zegarowskis a long shot its his defensive deficiencies. He was enjoyable to watch in college. I would think he can score at the NBA level.
I think Balsa goes overseas. G League is fine, but Troy Weaver sees something in him so I don’t think he wants to lose him. Overseas, he also gets better competition.
Draft Rights Player (an addition needed to the Hoops Rumors glossary?)
per gleague.nba.com:
The “draft rights player” rule allows NBA G League teams to directly acquire players on their NBA parent club’s draft list, bypassing the usual NBA G League player selection processes, including the NBA G League Draft and the in-season waiver wire.
NBA teams can utilize this rule by declining to sign a drafted player to an NBA contract and instead having him sign a contract with the NBA G League. A player’s status as a draft rights player supersedes any other NBA G League player rights — meaning he will automatically play for the NBA team’s minor-league affiliate.