Josh Gray signs with New Orleans Pelicans
Published 6:00 pm Saturday, July 20, 2019
Former Charging Indian turns summer league stint into NBA contract
Former Washington-Marion and LSU guard Josh Gray signed a two-way contract with New Orleans Friday. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
Lake Charles native Josh Gray came back from Las Vegas a winner.
The guard signed a two-way contract with the New Orleans Pelicans yesterday after a strong showing with the Brooklyn Nets in the recently completed NBA Summer League, held in Vegas.
A two-way contract allows a player to spend a maximum of 45 days with an NBA team, spending the rest of the season with that team’s G-League affiliate. On days with the NBA team, the player receives a higher salary — a prorated share of the NBA minimum — than they make with the G-League team.
Gray, who played two years of high school basketball at Washington-Marion and two years of college basketball at LSU, played five regular season games with the Phoenix Suns in the 2017-18 season, scoring 6.4 points and 1.6 steals per game. He spent most of that season with the Suns’ G-League affiliate, Northern Arizona.
The Pelicans will have a G-League affiliate for the first time next season. The team will play in Erie before relocating to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2022.
This summer, Gray averaged 12 points and 3.5 assists per game for the Nets, who went 4-2 in Las Vegas. The Pelicans went 4-2, reaching the semifinals of the league tournament.
Last year Gray played professionally in South Korea with the LG Sakers, averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Two other former LSU players, Naz Reid and Kavell Bigby-Williams, had strong showings in Las Vegas. Reid originally signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves, but received a full-time, four-year contract after helping Minnesota reach the championship game of the tournament. Reid scored 20 points in a semifinal win over Brooklyn and had a team-high 10 rebounds in the champoinship game loss to Memphis.
Bigby-Williams had double-digit points and rebounds in each of the first two games for the Pelicans and is expected to attend training camp with the team on an Exhibit 10 contract, which allows the player to receive a $50,000 bonus if they spend 60 days on the NBA team’s G-League affiliate.
