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The Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly planning to sign Jaylen Adams of the Wisconsin Herd as a substitute player to replace Trevor Ariza, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Adams, who went undrafted in 2018, averaged 21.5 points, 5.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 33 appearances with the Herd. He finished as the runner-up to teammate Frank Mason III for the 2019-20 NBA G League MVP and was named to the All-NBA G League First Team.
Ariza is among the NBA players that have opted against playing in the season restart next month at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. Ariza has been involved in an ongoing custody battle for his 12-year-old son.
NBA teams are permitted to sign players to replace those that wish against participating in the season restart but only those with zero to three years of experience are eligible to be signed.
The Portland Trail Blazers plan to sign guard Jaylen Adams as a substitute player to replace Trevor Ariza, sources tell ESPN. Adams was the G-League's MVP runner-up with Wisconsin. #Bonnies
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2020
Adams will be able to travel with the Trail Blazers to the Wide World of Sports Complex and play with the team in the eight “seeding” games and in the postseason, should they qualify. Currently, the Trail Blazers are in ninth place.
The Trail Blazers begin the season restart July 31 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies.
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