Skylar Mays Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays, Chance Comanche

April 9th, 2023 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have signed a pair of players ahead of Sunday’s regular season finale, announcing that they’ve brought back guard Skylar Mays (Twitter link) and added center Chance Comanche (press release).

The Blazers have a full roster, but they’re dealing with so many injuries that they’ve been granted three hardship exceptions — those exceptions allow the team to sign players to short-term deals without having to adhere to the usual roster limits.

Portland had been carrying Mays, Shaquille Harrison, and Justin Minaya on 10-day hardship contracts. Mays’ and Harrison’s deals expired overnight on Saturday, while Minaya’s runs through Sunday. The team re-signed Mays, but Harrison has joined the Lakers, so the Blazers used their third hardship exception to promote Comanche from the G League.

Mays, a 2020 second-round pick who spent his first two NBA seasons in Atlanta, averaged 14.2 points, 7.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per night during his first five games (all starts) as a Blazer.

Comanche, who will turn 27 on Friday, was a rotation player for the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, this season. The former Arizona Wildcat appeared in 32 regular season games and averaging 13.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in just 22.9 MPG.

Since they’re on hardship contracts, Mays, Comanche, and Minaya will all become free agents after today’s game and the Blazers won’t hold any form of Bird rights on them this summer. Portland is now carrying 20 players, with at least nine of them ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. Golden State due to injuries.

Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays To 10-Day Deal

March 30th, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Rory Maher

MARCH 30: Mays’ 10-day contract with the Blazers is official, the team announced in a press release.

MARCH 29: The Trail Blazers plan to sign Skylar Mays to a 10-day contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Mays, a 6’4″ guard out of 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.

In 61 total games for the Hawks, Mays averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.0 RPG on .469/.338/.882 shooting in 8.0 MPG. He became an unrestricted free agent last summer when Atlanta opted not to extend him a qualifying offer.

The Sixers signed and waived Mays during the preseason to secure his G League rights, and he spent a good chunk of ’22/23 with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate. In 18 games (27.3 MPG) during the fall Showcase Cup, he averaged 13.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.3 APG and 1.1 SPG, but struggled with his shooting, posting a .392/.333/.800 slash line. His numbers declined in 13 regular season games (19.2 MPG) with the Blue Coats, averaging just 7.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 3.8 APG on .364/.174/.923 shooting.

However, the 25-year-old has played well with the Ciudad de Mexico Capitanes, averaging 19.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 6.1 APG on .458/.341/.868 shooting in 16 regular season games (34.4 MPG).

The Blazers have a full 15-man standard roster at the moment, but they have several injured players, so Mays will likely be signed using the hardship exception, which allows teams to exceed the typical roster limit in special circumstances.

Sixers Sign, Waive Skylar Mays

October 12th, 2022 at 5:19pm CST by Luke Adams

5:19pm: Mays has been placed on waivers, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

2:10pm: The Sixers have signed guard Skylar Mays to a training camp contract, according to RealGM’s NBA transaction log.

Mays, 25, 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.

In 61 total games for the Hawks, Mays averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.0 RPG on .469/.338/.882 shooting in 8.0 MPG. He became an unrestricted free agent this summer when Atlanta opted not to extend him a qualifying offer.

The 76ers are likely signing Mays to secure his G League rights. Assuming he received an Exhibit 10 contract, he’d be eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s NBAGL affiliate.

Mays will likely be waived soon, but remains on the Sixers’ roster for the time being, as the team’s official website shows. He’s occupying the 20th and final slot, which was open after Philadelphia signed and waived Patrick McCaw.

Hawks Notes: Offseason Priorities, Draft Workouts, More

May 4th, 2022 at 2:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Hawks president of basketball operations Travis Schlenk said, unprompted, that the front office is committed this offseason to making roster changes in an attempt to improve the team after standing relatively pat a year ago.

“We made the decision last year to kind of run the same group back and we probably should’ve tried to upgrade as opposed to stay status quo,” Schlenk said. “This year, the way the season ended and played out, we’re certainly going to try to upgrade the roster moving forward into next season.”

Asked specifically about how much turnover the Hawks’ roster could experience, Schlenk suggested the club won’t be looking to re-sign all of its free agents.

“We have some guys that are free agents, we have some guys that have contract situations. We’ve got a guy eligible for a contract extension,” Schlenk said. “All that stuff plays into it. Every year, the only thing that’s really consistent in this league is change, so we anticipate that there will be some change, certainly with some of our free agents as we look to upgrade our roster.”

Delon Wright, Lou Williams, Gorgui Dieng, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Kevin Knox, and Skylar Mays will be free agents this offseason, while Danilo Gallinari has a small partial guarantee on his salary for 2022/23 and De’Andre Hunter will be eligible for a rookie scale extension.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

Schlenk said during his appearance on 92.9 The Game that the Hawks’ defense was a “big letdown” in 2021/22 and will be an area the club looks to address in the offseason. Schlenk added that having another reliable secondary ball-handler and shot creator to relieve the pressure on Trae Young will be a priority.
The Hawks announced in a press release that they’ve brought in 12 prospects this week, hosting six for a group workout on Monday and another half-dozen on Wednesday. Justin Bean (Utah State), Darius Days (LSU), Michael Devoe (Georgia Tech), Gaige Prim (Missouri State), Will Richardson (Oregon), and Cole Swider (Syracuse) were in earlier this week, while Keve Aluma (Virginia Tech), Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), Jamal Cain (Oakland), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Allen Flanigan (Auburn), and Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) were part of today’s pre-draft workout.
Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines 10 offseason questions facing the Hawks, including whether team owner Tony Ressler is willing to go into luxury-tax territory, whether the team can attract a second star, and what level of pressure head coach Nate McMillan is under.

Hawks Promote Skylar Mays To Standard Deal

April 7th, 2022 at 12:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks have promoted guard Skylar Mays to a standard contract from a two-way deal, the team announced. Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to break the news (via Twitter).

Mays was the 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft after four seasons at LSU. He has spent the past two seasons on a two-way deal after signing Atlanta’s qualifying offer last summer to stick with the team.

As Chris Kirschner of The Athletic observes (Twitter link), promoting Mays means he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason. The Hawks are locked into a spot in the play-in tournament, but the Nos. 7-10 seeds in the East are still up for grabs.

The 24-year-old has appeared in 60 NBA games over the past two seasons with the Hawks, holding modest averages of 3.4 points and 1.0 rebound in 8.1 minutes per night. Mays made eight starts for the team’s G League affiliate (the College Park Skyhawks) this season, averaging 18.0 points, 4.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 33.6 minutes.

The Hawks now have 15 players on standard contracts and have one two-way spot open after promoting Mays. They currently hold a 42-38 record, the No. 9 seed in the East. Atlanta closes the season with road games against Miami on Friday and Houston on Sunday.

Southeast Notes: Oubre, Carter, Hachimura, Johnson

November 5th, 2021 at 5:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets lost handily to the Warriors in Kelly Oubre‘s first trip back to the Chase Center, 114-92. He says it was strange to be back in the arena on an opposing team, but is happy with how he’s fit in thus far with the Hornets, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

“It’s definitely weird being on the opposite side of the arena,” Oubre told Boone. “But at the end of the day, man, we are in the moment. So I’m really happy to be able to go against these guys and just get the jitters out for myself. It’s always weird when you go get comfortable somewhere and then you’re uprooted to another place where you have to become comfortable as well.”

Oubre signed a two-year, $24.6MM deal with Charlotte in free agency over the summer. The second year is partially guaranteed at $5MM. Oubre says his energetic play is a good match with the young Hornets.

“This is just a young, energetic group and we are just trying to figure this thing out,” Oubre said, per Boone. “We are all trying to become our best selves and we’re all trying to set up a culture with this team. And I’m just more so happy to be a part of the culture forming in this organization rather than being somewhere the culture is already formed, guys are pretty much older so they are relaxed in how they approach the game.

“And here it’s just more like, ‘Let’s get it. Let’s go. Let’s go to war, let’s have fun while doing this.’ So I’m just super excited and ecstatic to be on this team.”

Here’s more from the Southeast:

The young Magic are 2-7 to start the season. Fourth-year big man Wendell Carter Jr. knows it’s going to take time for the team to improve, writes Matt Murschel of The Orlando Sentinel. “Teams do not become great overnight,” Carter said. “It’s going to take time. It’s going to take a lot of time.”
Wizards forward Rui Hachimura is back with the team, but there’s still uncertainty about when he’ll rejoin the lineup. Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said that he tentatively expects Hachimura back “sooner rather than later,” according to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. “I don’t have a timetable, but I would agree with [‘sooner rather than later’],” Unseld said on Thursday. “He’s been around more, he’s working out, so it’s good to have him in the building and be present.
Hawks rookie forward Jalen Johnson, the 20th overall pick of the 2021 draft, has been assigned to the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s G League affiliate, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Kirschner notes that two-way players Sharife Cooper and Skylar Mays were transferred to the Skyhawks as well.

Hawks’ Skylar Mays Signs Two-Way Qualifying Offer

August 26th, 2021 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Restricted free agent shooting guard Skylar Mays has signed his qualifying offer to return to the Hawks, reports Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (via Twitter). Since Mays spent his rookie season in 2020/21 on a two-way deal, his QO was another two-way contract, with a $50K partial guarantee.

The 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of LSU, Mays appeared in 33 games for the Hawks last season, averaging 3.8 PPG, 1.1 RPG, and 0.9 APG on .449/.350/.880 shooting in 8.2 minutes per contest.

Atlanta signed 2021 second-round pick Sharife Cooper to a two-way contract earlier this month, but the team’s other two-way slot had been open, so Mays will fill it, at least for the time being. Given that his new deal only includes a small guarantee of $50K, the Hawks aren’t necessarily locked into Mays for the coming season, but he has an inside track to a spot on the 17-man regular season roster for now.

The Hawks now have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, two on Exhibit 10 deals, and a pair on two-way pacts, giving them two openings on their 20-man offseason roster.

Javonte Green, Others Receive Qualifying Offers

August 1st, 2021 at 9:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for teams to issue qualifying offers to players eligible for restricted free agency was at 5:00pm ET on Sunday, but news of a handful of under-the-radar QOs continues to trickle in several hours later.

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), one player who received a qualifying offer was Bulls wing Javonte Green, whose offer was worth just shy of $1.9MM.

Green, 28, was sent from Boston to Chicago along with Daniel Theis in a three-team deadline deal and played a limited role for the team down the stretch, averaging 2.6 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 16 games (8.0 MPG). He’ll now start the 2021/22 league year as a restricted free agent.

Here are a few more QO updates:

The Thunder issued a qualifying offer to make forward Josh Hall a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
The Hawks tendered a qualifying offer to former LSU shooting guard Skylar Mays, tweets Smith.
The Mavericks have extended a qualifying offer to 22-year-old shooting guard Nate Hinton, tweets Smith.
The Sixers have issued a qualifying offer to guard Rayjon Tucker to make him a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
Because all four of these players just finished the first season of a two-way contract with their respective teams, their QOs will be the equivalent of another two-way deal with a $50K guarantee.

Hawks Sign Onyeka Okongwu, Announce Two-Way Players

November 24th, 2020 at 2:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks signed first-round pick Onyeka Okongwu and filled both two-way slots, the team announced on its website.

Forward/center Nathan Knight and guard Skylar Mays will both get two-way deals. We shared news of Knight’s expected signing last week, while the contract with Mays is new. They will be limited to 50 NBA games on their two-way contracts and will play in the G League if that season is held.

Knight played four seasons at William & Mary, averaging 20.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a senior. Mays was the starting point guard at LSU for the past four years and was a first-team All-SEC selection after averaging 16.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.2 APG in his senior season.

Okungwu was the sixth overall selection in last week’s draft after an outstanding freshman year at USC. Terms of the signing weren’t announced, but he is eligible to receive up to 120% of the rookie scale, which would be $5,813,640.

LaMelo Ball Headlines List Of Draft Combine Participants

September 28th, 2020 at 9:11am CST by Luke Adams

Potential No. 1 overall pick LaMelo Ball will be among the prospects participating in the revamped virtual draft combine this week, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Ball is scheduled to take part in team interviews and a media session this week, but may not participate in any other portion, Jeremy Woo of SI.com cautions (via Twitter).

While Ball’s participation might be limited, many of this year’s other top prospects aren’t taking part in the event at all. As Woo points out (via Twitter), Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, Obi Toppin, Onyeka Okongwu, Cole Anthony, Aaron Nesmith, Devin Vassell, and Saddiq Bey are among the players who don’t appear on the list of participants sent out by the NBA.

The list of top prospects besides Ball who will be participating in the event includes Precious Achiuwa, Deni Avdija, Tyrese Haliburton, RJ Hampton, Killian Hayes, Theo Maledon, and Isaac Okoro, among others.

Here’s the full list of combine participants, via Charania:

Precious Achiuwa, F, Memphis
Ty-Shon Alexander, G, Creighton
Deni Avdija, F, Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Udoka Azubuike, C, Kansas
LaMelo Ball, G, Illawarra Hawks (Australia)
Desmond Bane, G, TCU
Tyler Bey, F, Colorado
Vernon Carey Jr., C, Duke
Yoeli Childs, F, BYU
Mamadi Diakite, F, Virginia
Devon Dotson, G, Kansas
Paul Eboua, F, VL Pesaro (Italy)
CJ Elleby, F, Washington State
Malachi Flynn, G, San Diego State
Trent Forrest, G, Florida State
Josh Green, G/F, Arizona
Ashton Hagans, G, Kentucky
Tyrese Haliburton, G, Iowa State
Josh Hall, F, Moravian Prep
RJ Hampton, G, New Zealand Breakers (New Zealand)
Jalen Harris, G, Nevada
Killian Hayes, G, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
Markus Howard, G, Marquette
Elijah Hughes, G/F, Syracuse
Isaiah Joe, G, Arkansas
Mason Jones, G, Arkansas
Tre Jones, G, Duke
Nathan Knight, F/C, William & Mary
Kira Lewis, G, Alabama
Theo Maledon, G, ASVEL (France)
Karim Mane, G, Vanier College (Canada)
Nico Mannion, G, Arizona
Naji Marshall, F, Xavier
Kenyon Martin Jr., F, IMG Academy
Skylar Mays, G, LSU
Jaden McDaniels, F, Washington
Sam Merrill, G, Utah State
Zeke Nnaji, F, Arizona
Jordan Nwora, F, Louisville
Isaac Okoro, F, Auburn
Daniel Oturu, C, Minnesota
Reggie Perry, F, Mississippi State
Myles Powell, G, Seton Hall
Payton Pritchard, G, Oregon
Immanuel Quickley, G, Kentucky
Jahmi’us Ramsey, G, Texas Tech
Paul Reed, F, DePaul
Nick Richards, F/C, Kentucky
Grant Riller, G, Charleston
Jay Scrubb, G, John A. Logan College
Jalen Smith, F, Maryland
Cassius Stanley, G, Duke
Lamar Stevens, F, Penn State
Isaiah Stewart, F/C, Washington
Tyrell Terry, G, Stanford
Xavier Tillman, F/C, Michigan State
Kaleb Wesson, F/C, Ohio State
Kahlil Whitney, F, Kentucky
Cassius Winston, G, Michigan State
Robert Woodard II, F, Mississippi State

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA is unable to hold its typical in-person draft combine this year, but the league has put together an alternative combine that will feature interviews through videoconferencing as well as the making of “pro day” videos, which will include strength and agility testing, anthropometric measurements, and shooting drills. Participants will also undergo medical testing and exams.

For more details on this year’s combine, be sure to check out our full story on the changes.