Blazers Cut Former Lottery Pick Guard A Day After Signing Him

But he'll still stay in the greater Portland ecosystem.

Jan 10, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard James Bouknight (2) gets the ball stripped by Sacramento Kings wing Keon Ellis (23) during the second half at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images / Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images

Just one day after inking an Exhibit 10 training camp contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, former lottery pick veteran guard James Bouknight has been waived by the club, the Trail Blazers announced on their official X account. But he'll still stay in the greater Portland ecosystem.

Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report had already indicated that the Trail Blazers had planned to waive the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from their preseason roster and ink him to an affiliate deal with the club's G League franchise, the Rip City Remix.

In addition to drawing an NBAGL salary, Bouknight will now be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77,500 (thanks to his Exhibit 10 deal) — provided he remains rostered with Rip City for at least 60 days.

With Bouknight now out, Portland's roster has been trimmed to 20 players ahead of the 2024-25 regular season. Bouknight, selected with the No. 11 selection in the 2021 NBA Draft out of the University of Connecticut, failed to fully blossom with the Charlotte Hornets. In just 79 career regular season contests with Charlotte across three seasons, Bouknight averaged a lackluster 4.8 points on .363/.335/.762 shooting splits, and 1.7 boards across 11.4 minutes a night.

Bouknight was arrested twice for driving while impaired during his Hornets tenure. His third and final season with Charlotte was significantly hampered when he had an arthroscopic surgery for a left knee meniscus injury in October 2023. Bouknight appeared in just 14 bouts for a lottery-bound Hornets club last year, averaging 3.6 points on .439/.433/.500 shooting splits and 0.6 rebounds a night.

Following the injury (and the DWI arrests), the Hornets refused to pick up their $6 million rookie scale option on Bouknight for 2024-25, presaging up their eventual decision to cut him from their standard roster in February of 2024. Charlotte needed to carve out roster spots for players acquired in their deals to offload forward P.J. Washington and Gordon Hayward to contenders.

Perhaps the biggest question heading into the regular season (Portland has one preseason game left on its slate, scheduled for Friday night against the lowly Utah Jazz) is how the Trail Blazers intend to handle the partially guaranteed contract of small forward Dalano Banton and the non-guaranteed deal for point guard Devonte' Graham. Both are on the club's standard 15-man roster, though if both were retained without any other moves Portland would have 16 players. Something's got to give.

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