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UVA Basketball: Jay Huff Earns First Standard NBA Contract With Grizzlies

Matt Newton

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Former UVA basketball star Jay Huff earned his first standard NBA contract on Monday, as the Memphis Grizzlies converted his two-way deal into a four-year contract, as reported by ESPN's Shams Charania. Through the first three games of the 2024-2025 NBA season, Huff has averaged 13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting a blistering 57.1% from three-point range.

The contract conversion comes just two days after Huff posted a career-high 18 points to help the Grizzlies take down the Orlando Magic 124-111 on Saturday.

While Huff is certainly playing the best basketball of his career, this level of performance is not new for the 7'1" center, who routinely dominated the G League over the last three years but still struggled to ever get any real opportunities to prove himself in the NBA. In the three seasons since he went undrafted out of Virginia in 2021, Huff appeared in just 31 total games in the NBA. He played in 20 games for the Denver Nuggets last season, but averaged less than three minutes per game in those appearances.

In the meantime, Huff was putting up mind-boggling numbers in the G League. In the 2022-2023 season, Huff led the G League with 3.1 blocks per game and was voted the G League Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, Huff played in eight G League games and averaged 20.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks per game.

Now, Huff is finally getting a true chance to prove his value and has thus far rewarded the Grizzlies for their confidence. Memphis is returning the favor by locking Huff into a four-year deal. Though the details of that contract have yet to be revealed, it is sure to carry with it a significant pay raise for Huff, who was set to make $578,577, or half the rookie minimum, on his two-way contract this season.

Memphis could have theoretically waited quite a while to convert Huff's two-way deal, as he could have been active for up to 50 games while on a two-way contract. Instead, the Grizzlies were so impressed by Huff's play that they decided to lock him down immediately.

After redshirting his first season at Virginia, Huff went on to enjoy a successful career as a Cavalier, appearing in 101 games and registering 771 career points and 166 career blocks, finishing second on UVA's all-time blocked shots list. He also finished his career ranked first all-time in program history with a 58.5% career field goal percentage. As a senior in the 2020-2021 season, Huff was named to the All-ACC Second Team and All-ACC Defensive Team after averaging 13.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game and shooting 58.5% from the floor and 38.7% from three-point range. Virginia won three ACC regular season titles, one ACC Tournament Championship, and the 2019 NCAA National Champion in Huff's time at UVA.

Jay Huff will play his first game on his new contract on Monday night, when the Memphis Grizzlies visit the Chicago Bulls.

Related:

UVA Basketball Alum Jay Huff Drops Career-High 18 Points vs. Magic

Virginia Basketball: Ty Jerome, Jay Huff Deliver Strong NBA Season Debuts

Nine Former UVA Basketball Players on NBA Opening Night Rosters


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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.