Damion Lee Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Sign Jeremy Evans To 10-Day Deal

April 1st, 2018 at 1:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

APRIL 1, 1:05pm: The signing is official, the Hawks announced via Twitter. No corresponding roster move was required because Atlanta was granted a hardship exception by the NBA, allowing the team to add a 16th player to its 15-man roster.

MARCH 31, 2:12pm: Former Slam Dunk Contest winner Jeremy Evans will sign a 10-day contract with the Hawks, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.

Evans, 30, has spent this season with the Erie Bay Hawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate, where he is averaging 15.3 points and 9.9 rebounds in 39 games. His last NBA appearance came in 2015/16, when he played 30 games for the Mavericks. He was a second-round pick by the Jazz in 2010 and spent five seasons with Utah.

The Hawks need a roster opening to add Evans, so Damion Lee may not be kept once his second 10-day deal with the team expires tomorrow. Lee has averaged 10.4 points in nine games with Atlanta, starting six of them.

Hawks Sign Damion Lee To Second 10-Day Deal

March 23rd, 2018 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

4:06pm: The signing is official, per an official release and tweet from the team. The deal will run through next Sunday, April 1.

2:38pm: The Hawks will sign Lee to a second 10-day contract after all, Cunningham reports (via Twitter).

11:38am: Damion Lee‘s 10-day contract with the Hawks expired overnight on Thursday, and the team had planned to lock him up to a second 10-day deal, according to Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. However, a source tells Cunningham that Lee is exploring other options available to him.

Lee, 25, has appeared in his first five NBA games over the last 10 days and has looked good as a regular part of the Hawks’ rotation. In 23.8 minutes per contest, the rookie shooting guard has averaged 10.4 PPG on .447/.375/.800 shooting, chipping in 3.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG.

It’s not clear which other teams might be looking to lure Lee away from Atlanta, or if another club might be willing to give him a rest-of-season contract rather than just another 10-day deal. As Cunningham observes, Lee may have interest in signing with a team that would give him a better chance to stick around for 2018/19 — the Hawks have a crowded depth chart at shooting guard.

We’ll have to wait to see where he ultimately lands, but given his solid play in the G League and a promising start to his NBA career, it’s no surprise that Lee is drawing interest from more than one team.

Mark Suleymanov of Hoops Rumors took an in-depth look on Thursday at Lee’s long road to the NBA, a journey that saw him make his way back from ACL tears in both knees.

Damion Lee’s Resilience Paid Off With NBA Opportunity

March 22nd, 2018 at 12:40pm CST by marksuleymanov

Damion Lee has twice suffered an injury that is known to shorten – or even end – careers.

While at Drexel University, Lee missed most of his junior season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee in December 2013. Just 16 games into his professional career in January 2017, Lee tore the ACL in his left knee and was released by the G League’s Maine Red Claws.

Successfully returning from one ACL tear is difficult enough, as the recovery process can last upwards of one year – Lee had to endure that process twice. Despite the long odds, Lee said he was never deterred from his goal of playing in the NBA.

“Retirement has never crossed my mind,” Lee said in an interview with Hoops Rumors via email earlier this month. “After the second injury in 2016, it actually made me stronger and motivated me, because I knew that I have returned from the same injury. My belief during the entire rehab process was that I could return to the court the second time around stronger than ever.”

Lee, 25, said his first ACL injury was the more challenging of the two tears. Lee’s first bout with the injury included a meniscus tear, which kept him off his feet for two months. The second injury was a partial tear of the ACL, which enabled Lee to do weight-bearing exercises the day after surgery and be off crutches in two weeks.

“The second time I tore my ACL it was a freak accident,” Lee said. “I actually thought it was a meniscus injury. I received an MRI the following morning, and the doctors told me it was partially torn; there are two bundles (of ligaments), and only one bundle was torn. I sort of knew what to expect from the recovery process that time around, so I attacked the recovery process better because I had expectations on how to approach it.”

Lee was rewarded for his persistence last week when the Hawks signed the combo guard to a 10-day contract. It was the payoff to a successful G League campaign in which Lee averaged 15.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 2.6 APG in 38 games with the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Four games into his NBA career, Lee has shown flashes of the skills that earned him a look in Atlanta.

Lee recorded 13 points and 14 points in his first two contests, becoming the first Hawks rookie to score double-digit points in his first two games since Paul Graham in 1992, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). On Tuesday, he played 32 minutes against the Jazz in his first career start.

Lee said he made it a point to not let his past injuries impact his ability to contribute to his team.

“My playing style actually hasn’t changed at all. I’ve always been a land-loving, slashing, high basketball IQ player since I started playing the game,” Lee said. “I may not be the flashiest, but I try to be the most efficient, effective player I can be. I try to do the little things on the court that contribute to the success of my team.”

That mentality was noticed by Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer, who spoke highly of Lee after his second NBA appearance in a 129-117 loss to the Hornets.

“There’s a confidence. He has the ability to shoot the 3 but also slashing behind shifts,” Budenholzer said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Just a good feel for the game. Sticking his nose in there on rebounds and loose balls. Great first impression for him this week.”

The Hawks have brought in several guards on 10-day contracts recently, including Antonius Cleveland and Jaylen Morris, who have both since signed multiyear deals with the team. Atlanta now has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with Lee’s 10-day deal – which is set to expire – occupying the 15th and final spot on the roster.

While it remains to be seen if the Hawks will sign him to a second 10-day contract, Lee said his long journey to the NBA has taught him to persevere.

“Tearing an ACL is devastating, but the reality is that everyone in life experiences devastating and tragic events,” Lee said. “One thing that I took away from going through these injuries is a confidence that one day I will return to the court and play this game, and it will be a safe haven for me.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hawks Sign Damion Lee To 10-Day Contract

March 13th, 2018 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 13: The Hawks have officially signed Lee to a 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release. It will run through next Thursday (March 22).

MARCH 12: The Hawks are expected to add yet another player on a 10-day contract. G League guard Damion Lee will become the latest player to ink a deal with Atlanta, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN (Twitter link).

Lee, who played his college ball at the University of Louisville, went undrafted in 2016 and signed a camp contract with the Celtics. He spent most of his rookie season playing for the Maine Red Claws (Boston’s G League affiliate) before joining the Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State’s affiliate) for the 2017/18 season.

In 38 games this season for Santa Cruz, Lee has averaged 15.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 2.6 APG. He has struggled a little with his outside shot, seeing his 3PT% dip to .305 after posting a .466 mark in 16 G League contests last season.

The Hawks currently have one open roster spot, so they can sign Lee without waiving anyone. Atlanta was already the only NBA team with multiple players currently on 10-day deals, with Antonius Cleveland and Jaylen Morris both on those short-term contracts. Morris will reportedly miss the next two to four weeks with an ankle injury though, so it’s not clear if the Hawks will keep him on the roster throughout his recovery, or if they’ll move on.

Cavaliers Sign Marcus Thornton To 10-Day Contract

February 22nd, 2018 at 10:53am CST by Arthur Hill

FEBRUARY 22: The Cavs have officially announced their 10-day deal with Thornton. However, it sounds like Thornton’s role with his G League squad won’t change much, as the Cavs’ announcement indicates he’ll be assigned to the Canton Charge before Friday’s game.

Meanwhile, Damion Lee of the Santa Cruz Warriors will replace Thornton on USA Basketball’s roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

FEBRUARY 21: The Cavaliers will fill one of their open roster spots by signing G League guard Marcus Thornton to a 10-day contract, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Cleveland had been carrying a 13-man roster since making three deals at the February 8 trade deadline. NBA rules require teams to have at least 14 players, but they are permitted to go below that number as long as they get back to 14 within two weeks.

Thornton was a second-round pick by the Celtics in 2015 and has played in Australia, Italy and the G League. The Celtics renounced their rights to Thornton over the summer and he signed with the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s G League affiliate, in November. The 25-year-old averaged 18.8 points in 37 games with Canton.

Thornton will receive $46,080 for the 10 days, but his salary will count $83,129 toward the luxury tax, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The signing will cost the Cavs about $353K in luxury taxes, raising their overall bill to $50.3MM.

Once Thornton’s contract expires, Cleveland can sign him to another 10-day deal, keep him for the rest of the season or release him and make another move to stay at the 14-player limit.

Thornton’s signing also affects Team USA in its quest to qualify for the FIBA World Cup, notes Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Coach Jeff Van Gundy will have to find a replacement for Thornton before upcoming games on Friday and Monday.

And-Ones: Thunder, CBA, Lee, Smith-Rivera

December 29th, 2016 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Thunder have put together a reasonably strong supporting cast around Russell Westbrook, there’s no simple way for the team to add a second star to complement the standout point guard, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. According to Mannix, Oklahoma City has received zero indications that Blake Griffin is interested in coming home in free agency next summer, and the team would be hard-pressed to create the cap room for another max player anyway.

Still, with players like Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, and Domantas Sabonis locked up on long-term deals, it makes plenty of sense for Westbrook to stick with the Thunder, particularly if the team takes advantage of the designated veteran extension to offer him a five-year pact next summer, Mannix writes.

Here’s more from around the NBA:

In an informative piece for The Vertical, former NBA front office executive Bobby Marks takes an in-depth look at how the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will affect salary and cap situations for teams around the league next summer.
Damion Lee, who was one of the Celtics‘ training camp invitees and D-League affiliate players this fall, has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. After going undrafted out of Louisville this year, Lee had been averaging 17.8 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 16 games with the Maine Red Claws.
Speaking of training camp invitees, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who was in camp with the Bulls this fall, has a new home. As Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com details, Smith-Rivera was acquired from the D-League player pool by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers‘ NBADL affiliate.

NBA D-League Affiliate Players For 2016/17

November 3rd, 2016 at 12:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the offseason, and in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season, NBA teams are permitted to carry 20 players, but that total must be cut down to 15 in advance of opening night. However, up to four players waived by teams before the season can be designated as affiliate players and assigned to their D-League squads.

The players have some say in the decision — if they’d prefer to sign with a team overseas, or if they get an opportunity with another NBA club, they’re free to turn down their team’s request to have them play in the D-League. Most NBA and international teams have fairly set rosters by late October though, so having the opportunity to continue playing in the same system is appealing to many of those preseason cuts. Especially since they’ll maintain NBA free agency while they play in the D-League.

There are a few other rules related to D-League affiliate players. A player whose returning rights are held by a D-League team can’t be an affiliate player for another club, which is why undrafted free agents from the current year are commonly signed and assigned. Additionally, an affiliate player must have signed with his team during the current league year, which explains why we often see players signed and quickly waived in the days leading up to the regular season. And, of course, not every NBA team has a D-League affiliate, so clubs like the Hawks, Nuggets, or Clippers have no place to send affiliate players.

With all that in mind, here are the NBA D-League affiliate players to start the 2016/17 season:

Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs)

Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Jonathan Holmes
Eric Moreland

Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia 76ers)

Celtics Waive Three Camp Invitees

October 20th, 2016 at 4:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics have reduced their roster from the maximum 20 players to 17, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve waived Marcus Georges-Hunt, Damion Lee, and Jalen Jones. The team will have to remove at least two more players from its roster by opening night to get down to the regular season limit of 15.

While Boston has some tough roster decisions ahead, Georges-Hunt, Lee, and Jones were always expected to be cut before the regular season. Their contracts weren’t fully guaranteed, with Lee getting a $50K guarantee, while Georges-Hunt and Jones got $25K apiece. All three players are candidates to join the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ D-League affiliate.

With their roster down to 17, the Celtics still appear likely to cut second-round pick Ben Bentil before the season, and either James Young or R.J. Hunter – each of whom has a guaranteed 2016/17 salary – could join him on the waiver wire. GM Danny Ainge is also likely exploring the trade market in an effort to get something of value for one of his back-of-the-roster players, so it will be interesting to see what moves Boston ends up making in the next several days.

Contract Details: Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics, Pistons

September 27th, 2016 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams signing players to training camp deals in the hopes that those players will eventually land with their D-League affiliates often incentivize their offers by including partial guarantees. That appears to be the case with the Warriors — as we noted earlier today, Golden State awarded $50K guarantees to Cameron Jones, Scott Wood, and Elgin Cook, who all seem like good bets to end up with Santa Cruz. Given how modest D-League salaries are, that extra guaranteed money can motivate players to accept D-League assignments rather than seeking more lucrative jobs overseas.

According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), another Warriors camp invitee, Phil Pressey, also received a small guarantee, worth $35K. However, JaVale McGee‘s contract with the team is fully non-guaranteed. Of course, McGee seems more likely to earn a spot on Golden State’s regular-season roster than many of his fellow camp invitees, in which case he’d have an opportunity to earn his full $1.4MM+ salary.

Here are a few more salary details from around the NBA, via Pincus:

According to Pincus’ salary information, the Nuggets signed Robbie Hummel and Jarnell Stokes to two-year, minimum-salary contracts, while Nate Wolters got a three-year, minimum-salary deal. Hummel and Stokes received guarantees worth $150K apiece, while Wolters received $50K in guaranteed money.
The Celtics signed Damion Lee to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features $50K in guaranteed money, while Jalen Jones got a one-year deal with a $25K guarantee, per Pincus (Twitter link).
The one-year, minimum-salary deals Nikola Jovanovic and Trey Freeman inked with the Pistons are both worth about $543K, the rookie minimum. However, Jovanovic got a $30K guarantee from the team, while Freeman’s deal is fully non-guaranteed, Pincus notes.

Celtics Sign Jalen Jones, Damion Lee

September 16th, 2016 at 6:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 16th: The signing is official, according to the RealGM transactions log.

SEPTEMBER 14th: The Celtics have signed undrafted free agents Jalen Jones and Damion Lee, RealGM reports. The exact details of the arrangements are not yet known, but with Boston virtually out of cap room, they are almost assuredly one-year, minimum salary training camp pacts. The duo are far more likely to begin the season as a member of the Maine Red Claws in the D-League than in Boston.

Jones is a 23-year-old shooting guard out of Texas A&M. He appeared in 33 games as a senior, averaging 15.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 27.3 minutes per outing. His slash line on the campaign was .425/.324/.702. Jones participated in the Las Vegas summer league as part of the Raptors’ squad where he averaged 3.2 points on 35.3% shooting.

Lee, who is also 23 and a shooting guard, appeared in 30 games for Louisville in 2015/16, averaging 15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 33.5 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .428/.341/.843. Lee participated in both the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues as a member of Miami’s squad, averaging a combined 7.5 points and 2.0 rebounds on 32.5% shooting.