Brandon McCoy

Heat Sign Former Celtic Justin Champagnie

The Heat have signed Justin Champagnie, the team tweets.

While terms were not disclosed, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reports that it’s an Exhibit 10 deal (Twitter link). The addition of Champagnie gives Miami a full 21-man camp roster.

The Celtics waived him at the beginning of the month.

Champagnie, 22, appeared in two regular season and four postseason games for Boston last season. He signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract in April but it was non-guaranteed for the upcoming season. He was due a $50K guarantee if he had remained on Boston’s roster.

Champagnie could earn a little more money via the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus. If he’s waived by the Heat and then spends at least 60 days with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their G League affiliate, he could earn a $75K bonus.

After going undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2021, the 6’6″ swingman inked a two-way deal with the Raptors for the 2021/22 season. The team brought him back aboard for 2022/23, but after he had appeared in just three games for Toronto, he was cut in December.

In a procedural move, the Heat also signed and then waived center Brandon McCoy, who played for the Skyforce last season.

2022/23 NBA G League Draft Results

The NBA G League held its draft for the 2022/23 season on Saturday afternoon.

The 28 G League teams affiliated with NBA franchises participated in the event, as did – for the first time – the Mexico City Capitanes. The G League Ignite, which is made up of top prospects and veteran mentors, doesn’t take part in the draft.

[RELATED: NBA G League Announces Schedule, Format For 2022/23 Season]

The first player selected in today’s G League draft was 2020 second-round pick Sam Merrill, a swingman who was in camp with the Kings this fall but missed out on earning a regular season roster spot.

Merrill’s contract with Sacramento included a partial guarantee of $150K, making him ineligible to suit up for the Kings’ G League affiliate in Stockton this season. The Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers‘ affiliate, snared him with the No. 1 overall pick.

The No. 2 pick was another player who was under contract with an NBA team up until last week. Joe Wieskamp was the odd man out in San Antonio, having been waived by the Spurs (despite having a guaranteed 2022/23 salary) to help the team get down to 15 players for the start of the season. The Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks‘ affiliate, grabbed him with the second overall selection today.

Among the other notable picks was No. 4 overall Jared Rhoden, who was selected by the Hawks‘ affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. Atlanta claimed Rhoden off waivers near the end of the preseason in the hopes of securing his affiliate rights, but it appears he didn’t meet the criteria — the Skyhawks instead secured his G League rights in today’s draft.

The player with the most NBA experience selected in today’s draft was Norris Cole. The veteran guard, with 360 NBA regular season appearances under his belt, went 48th overall to the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets‘ affiliate. Cole, who turned 34 this month, will be looking to take the same path Isaiah Thomas and Lance Stephenson did last season, making an NBA comeback after impressing in Grand Rapids.

Finally, it’s also worth noting that today’s No. 10 overall pick, Amauri Hardy, is the older brother of Mavericks rookie Jaden Hardy. Dallas’ affiliate, the Texas Legends, picked him.

Here are the full 2022/23 G League draft results:


Round One:

  1. Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Sam Merrill
  2. Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): Joe Wieskamp
  3. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Aaron Wheeler
  4. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Jared Rhoden
  5. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Jericole Hellems
  6. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Kadeem Jack
  7. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Terrell Brown Jr.
  8. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Michael Weathers
  9. Texas Legends (Mavericks): Taze Moore
  10. Texas Legends (Mavericks): Amauri Hardy
  11. Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Ty Gordon
  12. Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): Mamoudou Diarra
  13. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): Abu Kigab
  14. Ontario Clippers (Clippers): Warith Alatishe
  15. Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Mayan Kiir
  16. Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): Theo John
  17. South Bay Lakers (Lakers): Nate Roberts
  18. Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): Keith Williams
  19. Long Island Nets (Nets): Taz Sherman
  20. Raptors 905 (Raptors): Devon Daniels
  21. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Jai Smith (Overtime Elite)
  22. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): Adrian Delph
  23. Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): Tyrn Flowers
  24. Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Nick King
  25. Ontario Clippers (Clippers): David Collins
  26. Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): Derek Culver
  27. Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Ryan Turell (Yeshiva — Division III)
  28. Motor City Cruise (Pistons): Tom Digbeu
  29. Maine Celtics (Celtics): Kendall Smith

Round Two:

  1. Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Rashad Vaughn
  2. Mexico City Capitanes (N/A): Jassel Perez (Dominican Republic)
  3. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): Tyson Jolly
  4. Raptors 905 (Raptors): Hasahn French
  5. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): No pick
  6. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Landon Kirkwood
  7. Austin Spurs (Spurs): Justin Kier
  8. Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves): No pick
  9. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Jayce Johnson
  10. Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
  11. Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): Remy Martin
  12. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Noah Starkey (Southern Nazarene – Division II)
  13. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Philip Flory
  14. Maine Celtics (Celtics): Zak Irvin
  15. Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Jahvon Blair
  16. Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat): Brandon McCoy
  17. South Bay Lakers (Lakers): John Meeks
  18. Stockton Kings (Kings): Seth Allen
  19. Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): Norris Cole
  20. Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies): No pick
  21. Stockton Kings (Kings): Austin Trice
  22. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): No pick
  23. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): No pick
  24. Stockton Kings (Kings): Isaac Johnson
  25. Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Elijah Lufile
  26. Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
  27. Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets): Eron Gordon
  28. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): Jack Nolan (Washington University in St. Louis – Division III)
  29. Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz): Armon Fletcher

Round Three:

  1. Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): J.J. Moore
  2. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): No pick
  3. Greensboro Swarm (Hornets): No pick
  4. Lakeland Magic (Magic): Jachai Taylor
  5. Lakeland Magic (Magic): No pick
  6. Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans): Trey McGowens
  7. Austin Spurs (Spurs): No pick
  8. Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder): Kevin Kangu
  9. Windy City Bulls (Bulls): Wayne Stewart Jr. (Texas A&M-Commerce – Division II)
  10. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): No pick
  11. Maine Celtics (Celtics): No pick
  12. Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers): No pick
  13. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers): No pick
  14. Maine Celtics (Celtics): No pick
  15. Westchester Knicks (Knicks): Dazon Ingram
  16. Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): No pick
  17. Mexico City Capitanes (N/A): No pick
  18. Windy City Bulls (Bulls): No pick
  19. Long Island Nets (Nets): Alan Griffin
  20. Austin Spurs (Spurs): No pick
  21. Austin Spurs (Spurs): No pick
  22. College Park Skyhawks (Hawks): No pick
  23. Wisconsin Herd (Bucks): No pick
  24. Grand Rapids Gold (Nuggets): No pick
  25. Ontario Clippers (Clippers): No pick
  26. Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers): No pick
  27. Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors): No pick
  28. Capital City Go-Go (Wizards): Nick Hornsby
  29. Raptors 905 (Raptors): No pick

Teams will fill out their rosters with affiliate players, returning-rights players, tryout players, and players who are assigned to the G League from the NBA roster (including those on two-way contracts).

G League training camps open on Monday, with this year’s NBAGL Showcase Cup tournament tipping off on November 4.

Cole, Wieskamp Headline G League Draft Pool

Norris Cole and Joe Wieskamp are among 128 players who are eligible for the annual NBA G League draft, which will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Cole, 34, played for Miami, New Orleans and Oklahoma City during his NBA career, which spanned 2011-17. He’s played for a variety of European teams since, most recently JL Bourg in France. He also played for Team USA this summer.

Wieskamp was waived by the Spurs on Monday. Wieskamp, 23, was drafted 41st overall in 2021 by the Spurs and spent most of his rookie season on a two-way contract with the team. He was converted to a rest-of-season standard contract in March, then re-signed with San Antonio in August on a two-year deal that includes a guaranteed $2.175MM salary for 2022/23.

Jared Rhoden, who was waived by both the Trail Blazers and Hawks this preseason, is another prominent name on the list.

Here is the full list of players eligible to be drafted, as provided by a G League press release:

Name (Position, School)

NBA Announces 80 Players For G League Elite Camp

The NBA has announced in a press release that 80 players are set to participate in its G League Elite Camp next week in Chicago from May 12-14. The event will include 40 prospects who are eligible for this year’s draft, as well as 40 standout prospects from the 2018/19 G League season.

Heading into this spring, the NBA revamped its G League Elite Camp, which in past years has simply showcased some of the NBAGL’s top performers.  That aspect of the event will still exist, but G League players will only participate in the first two days of the event.

The second half of the event will feature 40 draft-eligible prospects who aren’t among the 60 prospects invited to the actual draft combine. The list of participants was determined by an NBA team vote, and those prospects will work out and scrimmage during the final two days of the event — there will be no overlap with the G League portion of the event.

As this week’s announcement confirms, a select number of draft-eligible prospects participating in the G League Elite Camp will also be invited to attend the combine itself, which takes place from May 15-19 in Chicago.

Here are the list of draft-eligible prospects who are expected to participate in the 2019 G League Elite Mini Camp, per the NBA:

  1. Tyus Battle (Syracuse)
  2. Bennie Boatwright (USC)
  3. Phil Booth (Villanova)
  4. Oshae Brissett (Syracuse)
  5. Bryce Brown (Auburn)
  6. Zylan Cheatham (Arizona State)
  7. Chris Clemons (Campbell)
  8. Amir Coffey (Minnesota)
  9. Tyler Cook (Iowa)
  10. Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
  11. Aubrey Dawkins (Central Florida)
  12. Javin DeLaurier (Duke)
  13. Mamadi Diakite (Virginia)
  14. CJ Elleby (Washington State)
  15. Tacko Fall (UCF)
  16. Robert Franks (Washington State)
  17. Jared Harper (Auburn)
  18. Ethan Happ (Wisconsin)
  19. Dewan Hernandez (Miami)
  20. Amir Hinton (Shaw (NC))
  21. DaQuan Jeffries (Tulsa)
  22. Sagaba Konate (West Virginia)
  23. Matur Maker (Mississauga Prep (Canada))
  24. Terance Mann (Florida State)
  25. Caleb Martin (Nevada)
  26. Cody Martin (Nevada)
  27. Luke Maye (North Carolina)
  28. Trey Mourning (Georgetown)
  29. Andrew Nembhard (Florida)
  30. James Palmer Jr. (Nebraska)
  31. Josh Perkins (Gonzaga)
  32. Reggie Perry (Mississippi State)
  33. Jalen Pickett (Siena)
  34. Myles Powell (Seton Hall)
  35. Justin Robinson (Virginia Tech)
  36. Marial Shayok (Iowa State)
  37. Max Strus (DePaul)
  38. Lindell Wigginton (Iowa State)
  39. Kenny Wooten (Oregon)
  40. Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra)

Here are the 40 G League players set to participate in the G League Elite Camp:

  1. Josh Adams (Raptors 905)
  2. Jaylen Barford (Greensboro Swarm)
  3. Amida Brimah (Austin Spurs)
  4. Jared Brownridge (Delaware Blue Coats)
  5. Antonius Cleveland (Santa Cruz Warriors)
  6. Charles Cooke (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  7. Cody Demps (Stockton Kings)
  8. Aaron Epps (Northern Arizona Suns)
  9. Abdul Gaddy (Oklahoma City Blue)
  10. John Gillon (Greensboro Swarm)
  11. Kaiser Gates (Windy City Bulls)
  12. Isaac Haas (Salt Lake City Stars)
  13. Johnny Hamilton (Grand Rapids Drive)
  14. Dusty Hannahs (Memphis Hustle)
  15. Zak Irvin (Westchester Knicks)
  16. Peter Jok (Northern Arizona Suns)
  17. Matt Jones (Stockton Kings)
  18. Marcus Lee (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  19. Zach Lofton (Grand Rapids Drive)
  20. Tahjere McCall (Long Island Nets)
  21. Brandon McCoy (Wisconsin Herd)
  22. MiKyle McIntosh (Raptors 905)
  23. Jordan McLaughlin (Long Island Nets)
  24. Jaylen Morris (Erie BayHawks)
  25. Mychal Mulder (Windy City Bulls)
  26. Malik Newman (Canton Charge)
  27. Retin Obasohan (Northern Arizona Suns)
  28. Chinanu Onuaku (Greensboro Swarm)
  29. Norvel Pelle (Delaware Blue Coats)
  30. Darel Poirier (Capital City Go-Go)
  31. Billy Preston (Texas Legends)
  32. Desi Rodriguez (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario)
  33. Kenneth Smith (Grand Rapids Drive)
  34. Richard Solomon (Oklahoma City Blue)
  35. Emanuel Terry (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
  36. Juan Toscano-Anderson (Santa Cruz Warriors)
  37. Dakarai Tucker (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
  38. Andrew White III (Maine Red Claws)
  39. Thomas Wimbush (Long Island Nets)
  40. Todd Withers (Grand Rapids Drive)

Pelicans Waive Brandon McCoy, Darius Morris

The Pelicans have waived center Brandon McCoy and point guard Darius Morris, the team’s PR department tweets.

New Orleans is now down to 18 players on the training camp roster, including two-way player Trevon Bluiett.

Both appeared in three preseason games. McCoy was waived by the Bucks last month, then signed with the Pelicans on September 29th. He was undrafted out of Nevada-Las Vegas this summer. The 7-foot-1 McCoy averaged 16.9 PPG and 10.3 RPG for UNLV last season.

Morris signed a non-guaranteed two-year deal in early September.

Morris, a second-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, spent four seasons playing for the Lakers, Sixers, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Nets after entering the league. In 132 total regular season contests, he averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.4 APG but hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since 2015. Since then, Morris had played in the G League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and in China for the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

With the Pelicans subtracting Morris, Jarrett Jack‘s chances of making the roster have seemingly increased.

Pelicans Sign Brandon McCoy

The Pelicans have signed free agent center Brandon McCoy, the team announced on Twitter.

McCoy was waived by the Bucks last week after signing with the team at the end of July. After going undrafted out of Nevada-Las Vegas, McCoy earned a training camp contract with his performance for Milwaukee’s summer league team.

Today’s signing brings the Pelicans up to the 20-player limit for training camp.

Bucks Cut Two Players, Sign James Young

The Bucks continue to tweak their offseason roster, officially waiving two players and signing two more today. Jordan Barnett and Brandon McCoy have been released by Milwaukee, with James Young and Robert Johnson taking their spots on the roster, per RealGM’s transactions log. Johnson’s deal was reported on Monday.

Like other teams around the NBA, the Bucks will be rotating players on and off their roster leading up to the start of the regular season as they secure players’ rights for their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. Barnett and McCoy apparently won’t come to camp with the NBA squad, but they’re candidates to end up with Milwaukee’s NBAGL team once the season gets underway.

Of the four players involved in today’s transactions, Young is the most notable. The former first-round pick, selected 17th overall in 2014, has yet to make much of an impact at the NBA level, but has put up big numbers in the G League (19.8 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 70 games) and is still just 23 years old. He was in camp with the Bucks last fall, then spent part of the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Sixers.

Today’s moves leave Milwaukee’s 20-man offseason roster full, but more transactions figure to come soon. The club has reached reported agreements with Shabazz Muhammad and Christian Wood, and ESPN’s Bobby Marks and RealGM’s Keith Smith (Twitter links) both indicate that veteran guard Tim Frazier is likely to join the roster at some point too. In order to accommodate those signings, the Bucks will need to open up three roster spots.

Bucks Sign Brandon McCoy To Camp Contract

The Bucks announced a series of signings today in a press release, adding Jaylen Morris on a two-way deal and inking a pair of players to training camp contracts. While we already knew that the signings of Morris and Travis Trice were official, the club’s confirmation that undrafted rookie Brandon McCoy has also formally signed a camp deal is new.

McCoy, who was the No. 73 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com prior to the 2018 draft, declared as an early entrant after his freshman year at UNLV. However, the 7’1″ forward/center went undrafted after averaging a double-double (16.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG) to go along with 1.8 BPG in his lone college season. He played sparingly for Milwaukee in two Summer League games earlier this month.

Having officially added McCoy, Trice, and Morris to their offseason roster, the Bucks are now carrying 19 players, one away from the 20-man limit. The team will have to decide by Wednesday whether or not to guarantee Brandon Jennings‘ $2.22MM salary for 2018/19. If Milwaukee moves on from Jennings, it would open up a second spot on the roster.

McCoy’s agreement with the Bucks was first reported back in June. At that time, Missouri’s Jordan Barnett was said to have received a training camp invite from the club as well. It’s not clear whether Barnett accepted it, or if it’s still on the table.

Brandon McCoy, Jordan Barnett To Join Bucks

Following the conclusion of last night’s NBA draft, the Bucks quickly scooped up a pair of undrafted rookies. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Milwaukee reached an agreement with UNLV’s Brandon McCoy. Meanwhile, Alec Lewis of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that Missouri’s Jordan Barnett received a training camp invite from the club.

McCoy, the No. 73 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, declared for the draft after his freshman year at UNLV. The 7’1″ forward/center averaged a double-double (16.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG) to go along with 1.8 BPG in his lone college season.

As for Barnett, he was a senior in 2017/18, averaging a career-best 13.7 PPG and 5.9 RPG for Mizzou. The 6’7″ sharpshooter also knocked down 41.4% of his three-point attempts.

As we’ve noted in other stories on agreements between NBA teams and undrafted free agents, the wording involved in these reports can create a little uncertainty. Charania’s tweet, for example, doesn’t specify what kind of deal McCoy agreed to, while Lewis’ report doesn’t clarify whether Barnett has formally accepted the Bucks’ invite to camp. As such, it’s possible both players will just end up playing for the Bucks in next month’s Summer League.

For now though, we’ll assume that both of these players are on track to attend camp with the Bucks in the fall. If that’s the case, they’ll be able to finalize their contracts with the team once the new league year begins in July.

Draft Workouts: T. Young, Cavs, Blazers, Warriors

Potential top-10 pick Trae Young conducted a “secret” workout for the Cavaliers on Saturday, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Givony, echoing what Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com wrote earlier today, suggests that Michael Porter Jr. may be Cleveland’s top target at No. 8.

However, if Porter is no longer available, the Cavaliers’ decision could come down to Young vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, according to Givony, who notes that he has the team taking Gilgeous-Alexander in his latest mock draft.

Here are a few more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the NBA: