Lamar Stevens‘ first 10-day contract with Memphis expired overnight, but he won’t hit the open market — the Grizzlies have officially brought him back for another 10-day deal, announcing the news in a press release (via Twitter).
A Philadelphia native who went undrafted out of Penn State in 2020, Stevens spent his first three seasons with Cleveland prior to being traded to San Antonio in the 2023 offseason. He was later waived by the Spurs, but signed a training camp deal with the Celtics and wound up making their regular season roster.
Stevens was traded to Memphis ahead of last season’s deadline, finishing out the 2023/24 campaign with the Grizzlies. He caught on with the Pistons for training camp this past fall, but was released before ’24/25 began.
The 27-year-old forward had spent the entire season in the G League with the Motor City Cruise prior to receiving his call-up from the Grizzlies. He made his ’24/25 season debut on Saturday vs. San Antonio, recording six points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
In 29 combined games for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate in ’24/25, Stevens averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.4 blocks in 34.0 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .438/.328/.744. He’s known for his energy, athleticism, toughness and defense.
Stevens will be eligible to play in six games over the course of his second 10-day contract, which will expire overnight on March 12. At that point, the Grizzlies will have to decide if they want to retain him for the rest of the season, as players can only sign up to two 10-day contracts with the same team.
As our tracker shows, Stevens will fill the 15th and final spot on Memphis’ standard roster. The Grizzlies are also at the limit of three players on two-way contracts.
There are so many veterans who are still free agents but guys like this Lamar Stevens still get signed. The G-League has ruined the NBA.
What are you talking about? Lamar has been in the league for five seasons now, has familiarity with the team, and isn’t a horrible plug/play option.
Sorry if Memphis doesn’t want to sign some washed-up 35+ year-old scrub. They only have the 7th best record in the league, so clearly they have no idea on how to run a roster /s
you can criticize the nba about a lot of things, but first I’m hearing this take.
and Lamar Stevens is pretty good.