NBA: Undrafted Canadian Darling signs with Hornets
Canadian sharpshooter Nate Darling is signing a two-way deal with the Charlotte Hornets. Darling’s agency One Legacy Sports tweeted congratulations on the signing Thursday.
The 22-year-old from Bedford, N.S., went undrafted Wednesday. Nor were any Canadians selected for the first time since 2009.
Darling declared for the draft after a solid junior season at Delaware. He averaged 21 points per game and shot 39.9 per cent from behind the arc, and for one six-game stretch in January and February scored more points — 182 — than any other player in the NCAA. He set a school record last season with his 107 three-pointers.
The six-foot-five guard played on Canada’s team that won gold at the FIBA under-19 world championship in 2017 in Cairo.
Knicks have revolving door: The New York Knicks waived veterans Elfrid Payton, Taj Gibson and Wayne Ellington and declined their team option on Bobby Portis on Thursday, just a year after signing them in free agency.
The Knicks signed all the veterans as part of a sevenplayer class in the summer of 2019. They enter free agency Friday with only Julius Randle and Reggie Bullock remaining from the group, having traded Marcus Morris to the Clippers during the season.
Former Knicks president Steve Mills insisted at the start of last season that the Knicks got the players they wanted with that group. But successor Leon Rose cut most of them.
The moves have the Knicks well-positioned for free agency. Portis’s option would have paid him $15.8 million (U.S.) in 202021. Gibson was due $9.5 million and Ellington and Payton were each set to earn $8 million.
Hawks deal Dedmon: The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to trade centre Dewayne Dedmon to the Detroit Pistons for guards Tony Snell and Khyri Thomas, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade needs approval from the NBA before becoming official.
The deal allows the Hawks to clear a logjam at centre. They acquired Clint Capela from Houston at the trade deadline and selected Onyeka Okongwu from Southern Cal with the No. 6 pick of the NBA draft.