Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays To 10-Day Deal

MARCH 30: Mays’ 10-day contract with the Blazers is official, the team announced in a press release.

MARCH 29: The Trail Blazers plan to sign Skylar Mays to a 10-day contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Mays, a 6’4″ guard out of LSU, was the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft and spent his first two professional seasons with the Hawks. He was on two-way contracts until being promoted to Atlanta’s standard 15-man roster during the final week of the 2021/22 regular season.

In 61 total games for the Hawks, Mays averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.0 RPG on .469/.338/.882 shooting in 8.0 MPG. He became an unrestricted free agent last summer when Atlanta opted not to extend him a qualifying offer.

The Sixers signed and waived Mays during the preseason to secure his G League rights, and he spent a good chunk of ’22/23 with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate. In 18 games (27.3 MPG) during the fall Showcase Cup, he averaged 13.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.3 APG and 1.1 SPG, but struggled with his shooting, posting a .392/.333/.800 slash line. His numbers declined in 13 regular season games (19.2 MPG) with the Blue Coats, averaging just 7.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 3.8 APG on .364/.174/.923 shooting.

However, the 25-year-old has played well with the Ciudad de Mexico Capitanes, averaging 19.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 6.1 APG on .458/.341/.868 shooting in 16 regular season games (34.4 MPG).

The Blazers have a full 15-man standard roster at the moment, but they have several injured players, so Mays will likely be signed using the hardship exception, which allows teams to exceed the typical roster limit in special circumstances.