The Boston Celtics have reportedly signed former Duke big man Amile Jefferson to an exhibit-10 contract. according to The Athletic’s Jay King.
Jefferson was a teammate of All-NBA Celtic wing Jayson Tatum in his sole season with the Blue Devils reports Forbes Sports’ Chris Grenham, which may have had at least a small role in Jefferson getting the camp deal.
For the uninitiated, exhibit-10 deals are yearlong deals at league minimum with a special clause in them that is usually the reason they are granted.
They may be used to sign a player outright for the coming season if it’s deemed expedient, but they also have two other uses.
Jefferson is close with Jayson Tatum – was a senior at Duke during Tatum’s lone season in Durham. https://t.co/psKnoyDEDr
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) December 5, 2020
The first is that the deal can also be converted into a two way deal, and the other option is that it will grant a player a $50,000 bonus if they sign with the team’s G League affiliate and play at least 60 days with the club.
In Jefferson’s case, it is almost certainly for the latter given he went undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, and has averaged just 1.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game with the Orlando Magic over the last two seasons.
Given Tatum was on social media calling for teams to sign his fellow Duke alumnus last week, it could very well be that the front office is simply doing their star player a favor.
But, it’s also possible they like his game well enough they’d prefer to have his affiliate rights through the Maine Red Claws this season with a waived exhibit-10 deal.
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