Darius McGhee

Pacers Sign, Waive Three Players

OCTOBER 18: Travis, Mangas, and McGhee have been waived by the Pacers, the team announced today in a press release.


OCTOBER 17: The Pacers have officially signed forward Reid Travis and guards Kyle Mangas and Darius McGhee, the team announced today in a press release. All three players received non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).

Travis, a former Kentucky Wildcat, went undrafted in 2019 and has played overseas since then, spending one season in Germany and three in Japan. Mangas is another former undrafted free agent who has played in international leagues since going pro. He played college ball at Indiana Wesleyan from 2017-21, then spent one season in the Czech Republic and one in Lithuania.

McGhee is an undersized guard at 5’9″, but he became one of the most dangerous outside shooters in the NCAA during his five college seasons at Liberty. Over the last three years, he made 4.1 three-pointers per game at a 39.6% clip, averaging 21.3 points per game in 98 contests (32.0 MPG) during that time. He’s a three-time ASUN Player of the Year whose agreement with the Pacers was reported two months ago.

As Agness notes, all three players appear likely to become affiliate players for the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League team. Assuming they spend at least 60 days with the Mad Ants, they’ll receive Exhibit 10 bonuses that can be worth up to $75K.

The Pacers now have a full 21-man roster.

Pacers, Darius McGhee Agree To Exhibit 10 Deal

The Pacers have agreed to sign undrafted rookie free agent Darius McGhee to an Exhibit 10 contract, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).

McGhee is an undersized guard at 5’9″, but he became one of the most dangerous outside shooters in the NCAA during his five college seasons at Liberty. Over the last three years, he made 4.1 three-pointers per game at a 39.6% clip, averaging 21.3 PPG in 98 games (32.0 MPG) during that time.

A three-time ASUN Player of the Year, McGhee caught on with Indiana’s Summer League team last month. Although he logged just 12.8 MPG in a pair of appearances in Las Vegas, the Pacers apparently want to see more from the 24-year-old.

An Exhibit 10 contract can be converted into a two-way deal before the season, but all three of the Pacers’ two-way slots are currently full. That means the likeliest next step for McGhee may be joining the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as a G League affiliate player. His Exhibit 10 contract would put him in line for a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived by Indiana and then spends at least 60 days with the Mad Ants.

Indiana currently has 18 players under contract — 15 on guaranteed standard deal and three on two-way pacts.

Draft Notes: Pacers, Hawks, Kalkbrenner, Harrison, Bates

Ricky Council IV (Arkansas), Nikola Djurisic (Serbia), Tevian Jones (Southern Utah), Darius McGhee (Liberty), Jordan Miller (Miami) and Keisei Tominaga (Nebraska) will work out for the Pacers on Tuesday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Council, ranked No. 56 on ESPN’s Best Available list, and Djurisic (No. 59) are the highest-rated players visiting Indianapolis.

We have more draft-related news:

  • Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe (No. 75) headlines the group of six prospects that the Hawks will evaluate on Tuesday, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Overtime Elite’s Jazian Gortman, North Carolina’s Leaky Black, UAB’s Trey Jemison, TCU’s Emanuel Miller and Texas’ Sir’Jabari Rice will join him.
  • Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner is withdrawing from the draft and returning to school, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tweets. Kalkbrenner was considered a second-round prospect, ranking No. 62 on ESPN’s list.
  • Grand Canyon’s Rayshon Harrison is also returning to school, Rothstein adds in another tweet.
  • Eastern Michigan’s Emoni Bates interviewed well at the combine, which boosted his stock and made a lot of teams take a closer look at him, according to Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. Bates is considered a second-round prospect (No. 57).