11:55 am: Saunders’ two-way contract is now official, the Grizzlies announced (via Twitter). In a related move, Cooper was overruled.
11:24 am: The Grizzlies sign with the No. 32 overall pick Richie Saunders on a bilateral contract, agents Andy Schiffman and Mark Bartelstein tell ESPN’s Shams Charanya (Link to Twitter).
Saunders, who is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in February, has recently been cleared to increase his activity on the court, according to Charanya, who notes that the move will allow the former BYU star to start working out with the Grizzlies.
Players drafted at No. 32 generally sign three- or four-year NBA contracts and often get multiple guaranteed seasons, but Saunders’ situation is complicated by his injury. On ag list of training camps with the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate, a couple of weeks ago, indicating that he signed a deal with the NBAGL to begin his rookie campaign.
The Grizzlies retained Saunders’ draft rights, even though he was essentially an internal draft and storage prospect for a couple of weeks.
Saunders played four years of college basketball for the Cougars and was a member of the All-Big 12 as both a junior and senior. In 25 games last season, he averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game on .489/.376/.817 shooting.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Saunders’ new two-way contract is eventually converted to a multi-year standard year. While the Grizzlies would have to build a new roster to make the move, they are well positioned to do so financially. Despite having $40.56M in dead money on their balance sheet, the Grizzlies currently have a luxury tax value of $39.31M below CapSheets.com.
How our tracker show, Memphis’ two-way venues currently own Yavon Maly, Jahmai Mashak and Carson Cooper. Small is coming off a solid rookie year and Cooper signed a two-year, two-way deal the end of September after going undrafted out of Michigan State. That might leave defensive specialist Mashak as the odd man out, but that’s just my guess.