The NBA season is only a month away, but recent weeks have featured some significant transactions for onetime Kansas players at the top level of professional basketball.
Many of the former Jayhawks are firmly entrenched on their current NBA teams. Joel Embiid recently signed a multi-year maximum contract extension that will see him rack up nearly $300 million by the end of the 2028-29 season. Christian Braun has a chance to start in Denver this year. And recent draft picks like Gradey Dick, Jalen Wilson, Johnny Furphy and Kevin McCullar Jr. have time to develop and demonstrate value to the teams that selected them.
For several others, though — particularly veterans in the middle or late stages of their pro careers — the summer served as an opportunity for change.
Marcus Garrett could end up back in the NBA G League but did sign a contract with the Charlotte Hornets, while Devonte’ Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk and Marcus Morris all went to new NBA teams.
Miami Heat guard Marcus Garrett (0) is in action during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, in Miami. The Heat won 119-112.
Garrett to the Hornets
Garrett has already spent about a year in the Hornets’ orbit, as he averaged 10.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals for their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, over the course of last season. But this contract with the NBA club, signed on Sept. 11, could potentially provide a chance for his first action in the Association since 12 games with the Miami Heat during the 2021-22 campaign. Granted, multiple outlets have reported Garrett is on an Exhibit 10 deal, which would make it easy for the Hornets to return him to Greensboro this year if they convert it into a two-way contract.
Entering his fourth year in professional basketball (the Heat signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2021), Garrett had a chance to shine in the NBA Summer League in July — in fact, in both the California Classic and the better-known Las Vegas edition of the Summer League — but he missed the entirety of the California competition, later telling reporters he was sick early in camp.
He finished the Vegas league strong with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals in the Hornets’ last game.
San Antonio Spurs guard Devonte’ Graham (4) celebrates a 3-point basket next to New Orleans Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Friday, April 5, 2024.
Graham to the Trail Blazers
Graham had the briefest possible reunion with the team that drafted him, the Hornets, this offseason. Charlotte, which brought Graham into the NBA by taking him in the second round in 2018, acquired him and, as it happened, a second-round pick from San Antonio as a means of providing the Spurs salary cap relief for the upcoming season. The Hornets then cut Graham immediately, making him a free agent.
Graham had played sparingly in his lone season with the young Spurs, but got some significant run in the month of April, taking part in seven games compared to just 16 the rest of the season. That included a 20-point effort against New Orleans, his first time reaching the mark in a year, and two more double-digit scoring efforts, one of which featured a game-winning shot against Denver.
Several weeks passed with Graham in free agency in July before he signed with Portland at the end of the month, reportedly to a one-year deal. The Trail Blazers went just 21-61 last season after drafting guard Scoot Henderson third overall, and Graham could play a pivotal role in supporting the up-and-coming guard.
“Graham could end up being the primary backup point guard to Scoot Henderson should the Blazers trade Anfernee Simons this offseason,” wrote Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “Should the Blazers retain Simons, they could still use a veteran backup point guard on the roster, especially given that Simons could remain the starting shooting guard.”
Boston Celtics’ Svi Mykhailiuk plays against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 18, 2024, in Boston.
Mykhailiuk to the Jazz
The 16th and latest former Jayhawk to win an NBA championship has moved on to a franchise looking to find its way back to the playoffs after finishing below .500 the last two years.
The Jazz, who signed Mykhailiuk in August, will in fact be his eighth team as he enters his seventh NBA season, having previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets and last year’s title-winning Boston Celtics, not to mention a handful of G League affiliates along the way.
A frequent victim of midseason trades, Mykhailiuk managed to spend all of last year in Boston and ended up seeing time in 41 regular-season games with two starts, plus eight playoff contests, after participating in just three playoff games throughout the rest of his career combined.
He has 293 regular-season games under his belt in all and has averaged 6.3 points; his best two stints came when he scored in double digits for the Thunder in 2020-21 and Hornets in 2022-23.
The Athletic’s Tony Jones has reported that while Mykhailiuk is on a four-year deal, only the first season is fully guaranteed at $3.5 million.
“He comes to the Utah Jazz with a chance at earning minutes at both wing spots,” Jones added in a post on X.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Marcus Morris Sr. (24) shoots over Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Boston.
Morris to the Knicks
His brother Markieff — who was on the losing end of Mykhailiuk’s Celtics’ title — recently re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks after hinting that a return was in the works for much of the offseason. However, even though Markieff campaigned on social media for Dallas to sign Marcus as well, after the two had previously played together in Phoenix a decade ago, the twins are headed to separate teams for the upcoming season.
Marcus Morris signed an Exhibit 9 deal with the New York Knicks on Sept. 15, marking the first time he has returned to a team for a second stint in his going-on-14-year career. He previously played for New York in the 2019-20 season, one of the best statistical campaigns of his career as he posted 19.6 points and 5.4 rebounds while starting all 43 games.
Most recently, Morris caught on with the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers for a portion of the 2023-24 season after getting traded and waived in February.
There’s no guarantee he’ll see significant action for New York this year, as the Exhibit 9 contract basically serves as a training-camp invite. Mollie Walker of the New York Post suggested that he will compete for a roster spot with fellow Exhibit 9 signee Landry Shamet, a veteran guard.
“Marcus Morris Sr.’s Exhibit 9 deal is obviously non guaranteed but he’s viewed by NYK as a stretch 4/5 at this point in his career, per league sources,” SNY’s Ian Begley wrote on X, “and has a real chance to make NYK’s regular season roster.”
Other notes
— Udoka Azubuike, who played for the Phoenix Suns last year after three seasons in Utah, went overseas this offseason and will play for Budućnost in Montenegro.
— Devon Dotson played 16 games for the Capital City Go-Go in the G League last season but moved to the Spanish league in the spring, and has signed a deal to stay in Spain for two years with Joventut Badalona.
— Former KU guard Quentin Grimes, who played the majority of his college career at Houston, has been traded twice since the start of the new year, from New York to Detroit and, in July, from Detroit to Dallas, where he will be teammates with Markieff Morris on the Mavericks.
AP Photo/Nell Redmond
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
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AP Photo/Charles Krupa