Skylar Mays Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Role Players, Mays, JTA, Dekker, Breakout Candidates

October 18th, 2024 at 11:02pm CST by Rory Maher

Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell is an example of a solid role player on a reasonable contract who has risen in prominence due to the roster building restrictions of the new CBA, as Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic details. McConnell signed a four-year, $45MM extension this offseason, though only the first two years are fully guaranteed.

“I’ve played the same way, I feel like, since I’ve gotten into the league,” he said. “The people that are best at adapting and changing, especially as role players, are the ones that last. And that’s what I’ve tried to do, play my game, but also adapt and change to what my team needs me to do.”

With stars frequently earning anywhere from 25-35% of the salary cap, and the league’s top spenders dealing with the ramifications of the tax aprons, finding role players who outperform their contracts has become even more important than it was previously, Thompson writes.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Former NBA guard Skylar Mays has officially signed a one-year deal with Turkish EuroLeague club Fenerbahce, Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The move was expected, with reports out of Europe stating Mays was expected to be an injury replacement for veteran guard Scottie Wilbekin, who sustained a torn ACL. Mays, 27, split last season with the Trail Blazers and Lakers. Minnesota released him from his Exhibit 10 deal to give him the opportunity to sign with Fenerbahce.
Free agent forward Juan Toscano-Anderson has re-signed with the NBA G League’s Mexico City Capitanes, the team announced (via Twitter). A five-year veteran, Toscano-Anderson spent a little over a month with the Kings last season, appearing in 11 games for 53 total minutes. He spent the rest of the 2023/24 season with the Capitanes.
In an interesting interview with Marc Stein (Substack link), veteran forward Sam Dekker discussed how he’s reinvented his game playing for the London Lions and why the implementation of a new salary cap system has complicated his situation in the British Basketball League. A former first-round pick (18th overall in 2015), the 30-year-old last played in the NBA in 2021 but he hasn’t given up on making it back — he worked out for the Warriors, Sixers and Bucks in June, though none of those sessions led to a contract offer.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports lists five breakout candidates for the 2024/25 season, including Hornets wing Brandon Miller, who was the No. 2 overall pick of last year’s draft.

Skylar Mays Waived By Timberwolves, Close To Signing With Fenerbahce

October 15th, 2024 at 4:43pm CST by Luke Adams

4:43pm: Mays has been waived by Minnesota, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter). That paves the way for him to sign with Fenerbahce.

8:35am: Timberwolves guard Skylar Mays is close to reaching a deal to join the Turkish club Fenerbahce, according to reports from Eurohoops and Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Arale Weisberg of Walla Sport (Twitter link) first reported that Fenerbahce was in talks with Mays.

Fenerbahce is on the lookout for backcourt help after veteran guard Scottie Wilbekin sustained a torn ACL that is expected to sideline him for the entire 2024/25 season.

Although Mays is technically under contract with the Timberwolves for now, he’s on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, so the expectation is that he’ll be waived before the regular season tips off. The Iowa Wolves – Minnesota’s G League affiliate – acquired Mays’ returning rights last month, signaling that they hoped to have him on the roster this fall, but the 27-year-old will almost certainly earn more with Fenerbahce than he would in the NBAGL.

The 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Mays has appeared in 105 games across four seasons for the Hawks, Trail Blazers, and Lakers. The 6’3″ guard, who played his college ball at LSU, split his time between Portland and L.A. last season, appearing in 38 total NBA games and averaging 4.1 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. He owns a career shooting line of .445/.345/.859.

Mays was rumored to be considering a move overseas earlier in the offseason — an August report indicated that he was drawing some interest from Olimpia Milano in Italy.

Northwest Notes: Gupta, Mays, Singer, Jazz Offseason

September 17th, 2024 at 9:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves executive Sachin Gupta is changing sports. He’s leaving his post as executive vice president of basketball operations to take a prominent position with soccer’s Chelsea FC, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets.

Gupta, 42, has been in the Timberwolves’ front office since May 2019. He also had stints with the Rockets, Sixers and Pistons. Gupta served as the interim head of basketball operations in Minnesota following the 2021 dismissal of Gersson Rosas before the organization hired Tim Connelly in 2022.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Timberwolves’ NBA G League franchise, the Iowa Wolves, has acquired the returning player rights to guard Skylar Mays from the Westchester Knicks in exchange for the returning player rights to guard Vit Krejci and a 2025 G League first round pick, according to a Wolves press release. The Timberwolves signed Mays to an Exhibit 10 contract on Tuesday. By trading for Mays’ returning player rights, the Wolves can offer him a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with the Iowa Wolves.
A former Nuggets beat writer is joining their organization. Denver is hiring former Denver Post reporter Mike Singer as their director of intelligence and strategy, according to The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. In addition to hiring Singer, the Nuggets are promoting Todd Checovich to the position of scouting director. Drew Nicholas, who held that position for two years, accepted a new job with the Nets this summer.
Many of the Jazz players stayed close to their NBA home during the offseason. Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Kyle Filipowski, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton spent the majority of the summer working out in Utah, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.

Timberwolves Sign Eugene Omoruyi, Skylar Mays

September 17th, 2024 at 8:33am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 17: Both deals are official, per RealGM’s transaction log. Both Omoruyi and Mays signed Exhibit 10 contracts, as expected, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

SEPTEMBER 16: The Timberwolves have agreed to sign free agents Eugene Omoruyi and Skylar Mays, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

While Scotto doesn’t specify the terms of the agreements, Omoruyi and Mays seem likely to sign non-guaranteed contracts that include Exhibit 9 and/or Exhibit 10 language. The Exhibit 9 clause protects teams in the event of a preseason injury, while the Exhibit 10 clause allows for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if the player is waived by his NBA team and then spends at least 60 days with the club’s G League affiliate.

Omoruyi, 27, has played for the Mavericks, Thunder, Pistons, and Wizards since making his NBA debut in the fall of 2021. The 6’7″ forward made a career-high 43 appearances for Washington last season, averaging 4.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.8 APG in 9.1 MPG. His contract with the Wizards covered the 2024/25 season, but his salary was non-guaranteed and Washington opted to waive him in August.

Mays, the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft, has appeared in 105 games across four seasons for the Hawks, Trail Blazers, and Lakers. The 27-year-old guard, who played his college ball at LSU, split his time between Portland and L.A. last season, appearing in 38 total NBA games and averaging 4.1 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. He owns a career shooting line of .445/.345/.859.

Mays was rumored last month to be drawing interest from Italian team Olimpia Milano, but it appears he’ll be remaining stateside at least for the time being. He’s no longer eligible for a two-way contract, whereas Omoruyi – who has three years of NBA service – has one more season of two-way eligibility.

The Wolves currently have 17 players under contract. Once they complete reported deals with Omoruyi, Mays, and Chasson Randle, they’ll be one away from the 21-player preseason limit.

International Notes: Iwundu, Harrell, Mays

August 20th, 2024 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA swingman Wes Iwundu has signed with Promitheas Patras B.C. for the 2024/25 season, the Greek club announced in a press release.

The 33rd overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Iwundu has appeared in 226 total regular season games for Orlando, Dallas, New Orleans, and Atlanta, but hasn’t been in the league in either of the past two seasons since being waived by Sacramento in October 22. He played in the G League in 2022/23 and made the move to Europe for the ’23/24 campaign, spending the year in Germany.

Here are a few more items from around the international basketball world:

Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Israeli team that reportedly made a contract offer to Bruno Caboclo, continues to explore the free agent market for possible frontcourt upgrades. A report from Sport5 (hat tip to Sportando) identifies Montrezl Harrell as one of the big men receiving interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Veteran guard Skylar Mays, who appeared in 38 games for the Trail Blazers and Lakers last season, is reportedly drawing interest from Italian team Olimpia Milano, as BasketNews.com relays. Alberto Marzagalia of EuroDevotion indicated that the two sides were engaged in negotiations, while Sportando reported that Mays continues to exhaust his NBA options before committing to moving overseas. A second-rounder in 2020, Mays has made 105 NBA appearances for Atlanta, Portland, and the Lakers.
In case you missed it, Aleksej Pokusevski (Partizan), Udoka Azubuike (Buducnost), and Usman Garuba (Real Madrid) are among the former NBA first-rounders who have joined teams in Europe in recent days.

Lakers Add Skylar Mays On Two-Way Contract

January 8th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

8:03pm: The signing has been announced in a team press release, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.

4:38pm: The Lakers are adding Skylar Mays on a two-way deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link).

Mays was waived on Saturday by the Trail Blazers before his contract became fully guaranteed. Mays’ contract was partially guaranteed for just $850K and would have become fully guaranteed for approximately $1.86MM if he hadn’t been waived.

Mays will now draw a two-way salary and provide depth at point guard for the Lakers.

Los Angeles had an open two-way slot after waiving Alex Fudge and D’Moi Hodge over the weekend. Colin Castleton and Dylan Windler, who was signed on Saturday, hold the other two-way spots.

Mays’ two-way deal with Portland was converted to a standard deal in October. The LSU product had some impressive performances in November while Portland’s roster was banged up, averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 assists in 26.3 minutes across nine games from Nov. 3-21. However, he fell out of the rotation when the Blazers got healthier and averaged just 11.1 minutes in eight appearances after that.

Trail Blazers Waive Skylar Mays, Ish Wainright

January 6th, 2024 at 10:22am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Trail Blazers waived guard Skylar Mays and forward Ish Wainright, according to a release from the team.

Neither Mays nor Wainright had full guarantees on their contracts and, facing a Jan. 7 deadline before those contracts became fully guaranteed, Portland decided to cut the pair loose.

As our tracker shows, Mays’ contract was partially guaranteed for just $850K and would have been guaranteed for approximately $1.86MM if not waived before Sunday. Wainright’s contract would have been guaranteed for roughly $1.93MM.

Because Wainright was on the roster for 75 days and will be on waivers for two more, the Blazers will carry a cap charge worth about $853K for his time spent on the team (77 days multiplied by a $11,080 salary per day), assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Mays joined the Blazers on a 10-day contract late into the 2022/23 season, appearing in six games (all starts) and averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 assists from late March through the end of the season. He signed a two-way deal in early October, which was converted to a standard contract in mid-November as Portland dealt with injuries to their ball-handlers.

The LSU product put up some impressive performances in November while Portland’s roster was banged up, averaging 11.1 points and 6.4 assists in 26.3 minutes across nine games from Nov. 3-21. However, he fell out of the rotation when the Blazers got healthier and averaged just 11.1 minutes in eight appearances after that.

Portland claimed Wainright on waivers just before opening night after the Suns cut ties with him after two seasons. The 29-year-old forward was one of the older players on the roster, behind only Malcolm Brogdon and Jerami Grant. However, Wainright only appeared in seven games with the Blazers, averaging 2.9 points in 6.6 minutes per night. His best moments with the team came in his last two appearances, in which he totaled 17 points, including five three-pointers.

Wainright has averaged 3.4 points per game in 112 career appearances with the Suns and the Trail Blazers.

Waiving Mays and Wainright opens up two standard roster spots for the Trail Blazers, bringing them below the threshold of 14 players. Teams are not permitted to carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than two weeks at a time — or more than 28 total days — so expect to see more moves for Portland soon.

While this theoretically opens up roster spots in the event a trade brings in more players than they send out, the trade deadline is still a month away, and the more likely short-term option is the Blazers making moves around the edges of the roster. A 10-day signing (or two) is one possibility.

For what it’s worth, players on two-way contracts see their deals fully guaranteed on Jan. 7 too. The Blazers have Duop Reath, Ibou Badji and Justin Minaya on two-way contracts. Reath, in particular, has earned a prominent role on the Blazers, averaging 8.3 points in 21 games. It’s possible he earns a standard deal now that Portland has two open roster spots.

Scoot Henderson To Miss 2-3 More Weeks With Ankle Injury

November 11th, 2023 at 5:32pm CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 11: The Trail Blazers announced in a press release that Henderson will miss another two or three weeks while the bruising heals.

NOVEMBER 10: Trail Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson, the third overall pick of this year’s draft, is expected to miss a couple more weeks due to a right ankle bone bruise, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

As Charania notes, Henderson sprained his ankle on Nov. 1 against Detroit and has been sidelined ever since, missing the past three games with the injury.

If he returns in exactly two weeks, the 19-year-old will have missed 10 games — the Blazers play seven times over the next 14 days.

It’s normal for rookies — especially teenagers — to have slow starts to their NBA careers, and that certainly has been the case for Henderson.

Through five games (28.8 minutes), he’s averaging 8.8 points and 2.2 rebounds on a .346/.095/.857 shooting line, with nearly as many turnovers per game (4.0) as assists (4.6).

With guards Henderson, Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring strain) and Anfernee Simons (thumb surgery) all sidelined, head coach Chauncey Billups gave Skylar Mays extended run in Wednesday’s overtime loss to Sacramento and he played well, posting 18 points (on 8-of-15 shooting) and 11 assists in 37 minutes.

Mays, a former second-round pick, is on a two-way contract with Portland.

Blazers Convert Skylar Mays To Standard Contract

November 11th, 2023 at 1:25pm CST by Rory Maher

NOVEMBER 12: Mays’ promotion is official, the Blazers confirmed in a press release.

NOVEMBER 11: Trail Blazers guard Skylar Mays is receiving a promotion from his two-way deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Mays will be converted to a standard contract.

Portland’s backcourt has been hit hard by injuries early on in 2023/24, with Scoot Henderson (ankle), Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring strain) and Anfernee Simons (thumb surgery) all missing time. In their stead, head coach Chauncey Billups turned to Mays on Wednesday at Sacramento and he played well, recording 18 points (on 8-of-15 shooting), 11 assists (against three turnovers) and two steals in 37 minutes of action.

As Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report observes (Twitter link), the Blazers have an open standard roster spot, so no corresponding move will be necessary to promote Mays. Converting him will make Mays eligible to appear in every game for Portland — players on two-way deals can only be active for up to 50 games, Highkin notes.

Mays, who played four years of college ball at 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.

The 26-year-old spent most of last season in the G League, but caught on with Portland at the end of ’22/23. He impressed the club in his six games, averaging 15.3 PPG on excellent .500/.462/.923 shooting splits, while also chipping in 8.3 APG, 3.2 RPG and 1.0 SPG. The Blazers signed him to a two-way deal on October 1.

Portland will reportedly use its newly created two-way opening to sign Jamaree Bouyea, as we detailed in a separate story.

Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays To Two-Way Deal

October 1st, 2023 at 5:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:49pm: The move is official, the Blazers announced in a press release.

3:45pm: The Trail Blazers are bringing back free agent combo guard Skylar Mays on a two-way deal, his agent Mark Bartelstein informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report tweets that Mays has been working out at Portland’s practice facility throughout the offseason.

The 6’4″ vet appeared in just six contests with the Trail Blazers in 2022/23 after inking a 10-day deal. He put up big numbers in those games, averaging 15.3 PPG on excellent .500/.462/.923 shooting splits, while also chipping in 8.3 APG, 3.2 RPG and 1.0 SPG.

Mays was drafted with the No. 50 pick by the Hawks in 2020 out of LSU, but failed to carve out a major rotation role during his two seasons in Atlanta. He split most of the 2022/23 season between the Sixers’ NBAGL affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, and the Capitanes de Ciudad de México, before latching on in Portland.