Tag: Javonte Smart

Javonte Smart discusses Sixers converting him to a two-way deal

Javonte Smart discusses the Philadelphia 76ers converting his Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract.

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers converted Javonte Smart from an Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract after the preseason. In a corresponding move, they waived Ricky Council, who held a two-way slot for the Sixers.

In the preseason, Smart showed his ability to handle the ball, knock down open looks from deep and get guys into position to succeed. He was impressive on the defensive end as well, so it made sense the Sixers decided to convert Smart’s deal to keep him around.

“I’m confident in myself,” said Smart. “I work hard. I’m always in the gym. I also showed that I can help run a team. Help be another point guard, another guy that can help run the team, and just be myself. Play hard, I can score the ball, I can help get other players involved, and continue to do that.”

When considering the nature of the two-way deals, Smart is likely to spend the majority of the 2023-24 season toiling in the G League with the Delaware Blue Coats, but he does have NBA experience under his belt. He was on two-way deals with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat in the past.

That experience has helped him prepare for this next step.

“Just being ready when the opportunity presents itself,” Smart added. “Whenever I get my chance, be ready. I don’t wanna look back and say ‘When I got my chance, I wasn’t ready’ so I just wanna go in and just be ready and keep putting in work and every day, just keep working.”

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Sixers to convert Javonte Smart from Exhibit 10 to a two-way deal

The Philadelphia 76ers will convert Javonte Smart from an Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract.

The Philadelphia 76ers are continuing to shape their final roster for the 2023-24 season, and they had an open two-way slot after waiving Ricky Council IV on Friday after the preseason finale.

To use the two-way slot, the Sixers converted Javonte Smart from an Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract. Smart has NBA experience with both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, and he has proven he can shoot both in the summer league and in the preseason.

Being on a two-way deal, Smart will likely head to the G League with the Delaware Blue Coats, but he has proven himself in NBA circles. That could lead to an eventual spot in Philadelphia.

As for Council, one has to assume that he will likely be joining Smart in Delaware. He may have been waived, but the G League could be in his future.

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Player grades: Tyrese Maxey plays well, Sixers fall to Celtics in preseason

Tyrese Maxey plays well, but the Philadelphia 76ers fall to the Boston Celtics in the preseason opener.

The Philadelphia 76ers began the preseason schedule on Sunday with a visit to where their 2022-23 season ended: the TD Garden. The Sixers took on the Boston Celtics with a lot less on the line as both teams look to prepare for the upcoming season.

The Sixers played without Joel Embiid, James Harden, De’Anthony Melton, and Furkan Korkmaz as coach Nick Nurse wanted to see what he has in other pieces. He knows what he has in Tyrese Maxey as the young guard went to work early and often in this one to the tune of 24 points. The Sixers did drop this one to the Celtics 114-106.

Tobias Harris added 13 points and seven rebounds, Patrick Beverley had 12 points, Jaden Springer added 14 points and five rebounds, and Kelly Oubre Jr. had six and four rebounds.

Here are the player grades following the preseason loss:

5 former LSU basketball players on NBA Summer League rosters

Five former Tigers look to prove themselves in Las Vegas this week as the main Summer League action begins.

Early play in the NBA Summer League began earlier this week in Salt Lake City, but the main event is set to begin in Las Vegas on Friday and will run through July 17.

When this year’s Summer League action gets started, it will feature a total of five former LSU players looking to impress their clubs and ultimately earn roster spots: [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Javonte Smart[/autotag], [autotag]Tari Eason[/autotag], [autotag]Darius Days[/autotag] and [autotag]Duop Reath[/autotag].

Williams and Smart have already seen some action in the Salt Lake City early games.

Here’s a rundown on each of the former Tigers, how their careers have gone and what they stand to gain this week.

2 former LSU players to begin play at NBA Salt Lake City Summer League

Javonte Smart and KJ Williams will be in action this week.

A pair of former LSU basketball players are beginning their runs at the NBA Salt Lake City Summer League.

[autotag]Javonte Smart[/autotag] and [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag] will compete in games on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday before the league moves to Las Vegas next week.

Smart, who went undrafted in 2021, will play for the Philadelphia 76ers. He spent the 2022-23 season with the G League’s Birmingham Squadron. Williams, who went undrafted in this year’s draft after earning All-SEC honors at LSU, is playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The two will face off against each other when the 76ers play the Thunder at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday night. That game will be televised on ESPN2. The games Monday and Wednesday will be on NBA TV.

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Explaining the NBA’s hardship exception and the free agents who signed as replacement players

Explaining what hardship exceptions and replacement players mean as COVID-19 protocols hit the NBA.

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, the NBA has required a large share of “replacement players” to fill in for the players who are in health and safety protocols. And so far, more than 100 players have reportedly entered the league’s health and safety protocols so far this month, per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

But how exactly do the “replacement players” work?

Essentially, the NBA’s hardship exception allows teams to exceed the 15-man roster limit if more than three players on the roster are each going to miss extended time due to illness or injury. Typically, teams weren’t allowed to apply for the hardship exception before Jan. 5.

But starting last season, the league changed the policy to allow earlier exceptions. And as of earlier this week, effective Dec. 19 until Jan. 19, the NBA is allowing teams to sign one replacement player for each player on their roster who tests positive for COVID-19.

While there are some big names (e.g. Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson, CJ Miles) who have signed as replacement players, there are lots of promising young NBA hopefuls who are hoping to use this opportunity as a chance to stick around the league.

Not all of the players below were signed through hardship exceptions and some transactions (e.g. DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Matthews to the Milwaukee Bucks) may have happened anyway during a normal season.

But below, based on the NBA’s transaction log and reporting from the league’s top insiders, you can find a live tracker of all the players who have signed new deals with NBA teams over the course of the past month.

Heat news: Micah Potter, Javonte Smart sign Exhibit 10 contracts

Potter and Smart were among three players signed this week by the Heat to Exhibit 10 contracts.

Former Wisconsin Badgers center Micah Potter, LSU guard Javonte Smart and Missouri guard Dru Smith each signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Miami Heat, the team announced.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald was the first to report the news.

Potter averaged 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots and one assist on 55.9% shooting from the field in six summer league games last month. He registered his best game on Aug. 17 after recording 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

Meanwhile, Smart averaged 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in six games with the Heat. Smith posted eight points, 2.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals on 46.7% shooting from the field.

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The three players will now have the opportunity to participate in training camp with the Heat. They will likely be waived after training camp and funneled to the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Live tracker: Here is where the top undrafted free agents have signed

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

While the following prospects didn’t get to hear their name called by the commissioner or deputy commissioner on Thursday night, they can find solace in the fact that their path to the pros is far from over. It’s not unheard of for an undrafted free agent to carve out a role for themselves in the NBA.

Some notable names, including Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi and G League Ignite’s Daishen Nix, will join the fraternity of undrafted basketball players who hope to still make a name for themselves in the NBA.

Here is where the best remaining prospects have landed so far, according to reports:

A roundup of NBA sleepers draft analysts are higher on than others

Who owns the most real estate on Davion Mitchell Island? Who is buying stock in Sharife Cooper?

Everyone loves Cade Cunningham. It’s not a hot take for an analyst to say that Cunningham is their favorite player in the class. That’s not particularly interesting to read, either.

But what is fascinating, however, is when an analyst deviates from the norm and ranks someone significantly higher than where the prospect falls in other rankings. What does that tell us about their individual scouting process and what they value? Further, what does that tell us about the potential draftee?

Some folks call it “buying stock” in a player. Others, like ESPN’s Zach Lowe or The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, call it owning real estate on a player’s island. I like to refer to it as a “draft crush” when I wind up higher than consensus in my evaluation of a player.

My process is ridiculously tedious but the results can be fairly useful. I’ve tracked the evolution of more than sixty unique mock drafts, big boards and draft models from trusted analysts and popular accounts on Twitter.

Each placement is assigned a value based on Kevin Pelton’s draft pick trade value chart. I do this because, as Pelton notes, the difference in relative value between the No. 5 overall pick and the No. 7 overall is much more stark than, say, that of the No. 45 pick and the No. 47 pick.

After composing an aggregate score based on each ranking, I can see where each analyst strays from the pack.

I’ll leave the conclusions drawn from these results up to the reader. But if nothing else, this can eventually be used as a bragging point if one writer was higher than consensus on a draftee who eventually ends up outperforming his draft position.

Javonte Smart: ‘I’m a worker and nobody can stop me from working’

Rookie Wire recently caught up with Smart to discuss his LSU career, the pre-draft process, what he wants to show teams and much more.

Fresh off of a remarkable season with LSU, guard Javonte Smart is busy trying to make a name for himself with NBA teams ahead of the draft on July 29.

Smart was named to the All-SEC second team after averaging 16 points, four assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 28 games as a junior. He scored in double figures 20 times last season, including eight games with at least 20 points or more.

The 6-foot-4 product finished with 1,211 career points after three seasons with the Tigers to go along with 323 rebounds and 321 assists. He was just the seventh player in program history to register at least 1,200 points, 300 assists and 111 steals over a career.

Smart is now among the draft hopefuls busy working out and interviewing with teams. He has worked out with 10 teams to this point, and recently set a record with the Toronto Raptors for the most makes in a two-minute, full-court star drill with 52.

He has emerged as a strong 3-and-D prospect with his ability to shoot and defend. Last season, he shot 40.2% from 3-point range on 6.2 attempts per game, a huge jump from his 32.6% as a sophomore. His 70 3-pointers last season were the 13th most in program history.

With the draft rapidly approaching, Rookie Wire recently caught up with Smart to discuss his career at LSU, his former Tiger teammates, the pre-draft process, what he wants to show NBA teams and much more.

Please note this interview was minorly edited in its transcript for clarity