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The NBA season gets underway today, and with it comes a handful of former Hogs starting their seasons in the league. Here are the current former Razorbacks involved in the Association/G-League this season.
Jaylen Barford - Greensboro Swarm?
Barford signed a preseason Exhibit 10 deal with the Charlotte Hornets to take part in their preseason. After not playing in a game, Barford was unsurprisingly waived to meet the roster requirements.
The Exhibit 10 deal means that Charlotte has him as an affiliate player for their G-League team, the Greensboro Swarm. If he chooses to join that team, he gets a bonus between $5K-$50K, whatever was agreed upon in the contract. His other option would be if he doesn’t want to play for the Swarm is to go overseas. If he does that he’ll forfeit the bonus. That deal is part of the NBA’s new emphasis on trying to grow the G-League, giving players more incentive to go there.
Patrick Beverley - Los Angeles Clippers
PBev only played in 11 games in an injury shortened debut season with the Los Angeles Clippers. This year he’s healthy and should play a much bigger role with Doc Rivers’ team. In preseason he’s averaged 5 points, 4.25 assists, and 2.25 steals per game in about 20 minutes of action.
Dusty Hannahs - Memphis Hustle?
Last year Hannahs spent some time with the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ affiliate and the season went pretty well for him. While G-League rosters haven’t been finalized yet, Hannahs is still betting on himself to get that shot in the league. In a recent interview with Ridiculous Upside, he said he’s weighing his options between playing in the G-League again or going overseas. He’s currently on the Hustle’s roster but that could change. He spent the offseason both working out in Fayetteville and going to Los Angeles to train with Bobby Portis.
Joe Johnson - ???
Iso Joe is a free agent that hasn’t latched onto a team just yet. Retirement could be coming soon but he’s publicly said he wants to go one more season. If some injuries happen somewhere and a team is in need of a veteran presence, he could be an option sometime this year.
Daryl Macon - Dallas Mavericks/Texas Legends
The NBA is in their second year of two-way contracts, and Macon has signed on to one with the Dallas Mavericks. If you’re not familiar with those, players under two-way deals are signed for the team’s G-League affiliate and can play with the NBA team for a maximum of 45 days spread across the season, getting the NBA minimum level of pay instead of the G-League level. This is used for developing players and giving them a chance to gain NBA experience throughout the year. So throughout the year Macon will occasionally pop up in Mavs games.
He had a decent preseason showing, averaging 4.2 points per game in an average of 7 minutes pergame in the team’s four games.
Bobby Portis - Chicago Bulls
The Bulls and Portis were in talks to find a rookie extension deal, but we unable to do so before the deadline, meaning Portis will be a restricted free agent this offseason. That means teams can offer a deal to Portis and he can sign it, but the Bulls will have a time period to match said deal.
But for now that means we get contract year Bobby, and if preseason is any indication, it’s going to be a show. He’s averaging 17 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 54% from the field. His three point shooting and defense needs some improvement, but if he increases his averages for a fourth straight season then Bobby is likely on his way to getting paid.
Michael Qualls - Texas Legends?
Spending a little time with both the Salt Lake City Stars and then the Texas Legends, Qualls is currently listed on the Legends roster, but like Hannahs, that could change. We’ll know a lot more about Qualls and Hannahs on November 1st when the G-League rosters are required to be finalized.
Corliss Williamson - Phoenix Suns (Assistant Coach)
The Big Nasty has been on the assistant coaching circuit in the league for a while now. This year will be his first year with the Phoenix Suns. He is a part of Igor Kokoskov’s new staff there with a young team. Kokoskov and Williamson know each other back from both being a part of the Detroit Pistons’ 2004 NBA Championship team. Kokoskov was an assistant coach on the team while Williamson averaged 10 points per game in the regular season, and played in all 22 of their playoff games.