Marquis Nowell with Pelicans and Stephen Thompson with Timberwolves were canceled by their respective teams on Saturday, trans NBA.com Official Transaction Log.
Both players recently signed non-guaranteed training camp contracts and could head to the G League to play for the Laketown Squadron and Iowa Wolves, New Orleans and Minnesota affiliates.
Assuming their contracts contain the Annex 10 language, each player will be eligible for a bonus of up to $91,000 if they spend at least 60 days with their NBAGL team. The bonus will supplement the player’s base salary.
Nowell earned a third-team AP All-America spot as a fifth-year senior at Kansas State in 2022-23. He spent most of ’23/24 — his NBA rookie season — in a two-way deal with Toronto after going undrafted.
The 26-year-old 5’7″ point guard played for Baskonia last season, averaging 5.7 points and 3.0 assists in 28 EuroLeague games with the Spanish club (14.4 minutes per contest).
Thompson, 29, has played in Italy, Israel, Puerto Rico and the G League since going undrafted out of Oregon State in 2019. The 6-foot-4 guard has played for both the Bucks’ G-League affiliate and Vaqueros de Bayamon in Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional each of the past three seasons.
In 45 games for the Herd last season, Thompson averaged 15.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.0 rpg and 1.2 rpg while shooting .463/.414/.713. Iowa will need to purchase Thompson’s rights from Wisconsin in order for him to play for the Wolves this season.
