Blazers Signing Former Lottery Pick As Preseason Continues

Portland is still building out its roster.

Oct 20, 2018; Portland, OR, USA; A detailed view of a Portland Trail Blazers jersey with a "PGA" patch honoring the late Paul Allen during the first quarter of the game against the San Antonio Spursat the Moda Center. Allen passed away last week. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-Imagn Images / Steve Dykes-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers may be just a week-and-change away from the start of their 2024-25 regular season, but that doesn't mean head coach Joe Cronin isn't still tinkering around the fringes of his roster.

To wit, Portland announced Tuesday in an official team press release that the club has inked former lottery selection James Bouknight to an Exhibit 10 training camp agreement.

Bouknight, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard/point guard, was selected with the No. 11 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, following an All-Big East run with the University of Connecticut Huskies.

He toggled between Charlotte and its G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, throughout his three-season tenure with the Hornets. Across 79 total NBA games, Bouknight has averaged a middling 4.8 points on .363/.335/.770 shooting splits, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.9 dimes.

In his 31 regular season G League contests with the Greensboro Swam between 2021-23, Bouknight averaged a far more impressive 18.5 points on .453/.418/.784 shooting splits, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.

The Trail Blazers are in a unique roster personnel situation. The team actually has 16 players on its 15-man standard roster. 14 of those players are on fully-guaranteed deals. Veteran point guard Devonte' Graham inked a non-guaranteed minimum deal this summer, while returning small forward Dalano Banton is on a partially-guaranteed agreement. A long-term injury to Shaedon Sharpe has depleted the Trail Blazers' backcourt depth, so it's possible the team finds a way to carve out a spot for Graham temporarily, but Banton was too good last year to simply ignore, so one wonders if team general manager Joe Cronin looks to offload someone else instead.

All three of the Trail Blazers' two-way contracts are currently occupied by Justin Minaya, Bryce McGowens and Taze Moore.

But if Bouknight impresses enough, he could see his deal get converted into a two-way agreement, while Cronin waives one of those three players. What's more likely, however, is Cronin cutting Bouknight prior to the start of the 2024-25 regular season, with Bouknight then inking an affiliate player deal with the Rip City Remix. Should Bouknight stay with Portland's NBAGL affiliate squad for at least 60 days, he'd be eligible to earn a bonus of up to $77,500, thanks to language in his Exhibit 10 deal.

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