Jefferson is back after agreeing to 1-year deal
The Orlando Magic have reached an agreement on a oneyear contract with free agent Amile Jefferson.
The deal was first reported Friday morning by Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
League sources confirmed the agreement will be for a two-way contract.
Earlier this week, the Magic reached an agreement on a twoway contract with guard Josh Magette.
Once the Jefferson and Magette signings become official, the Magic will have filled their two-way contract slots. League sources indicate Jefferson and Magette won’t officially sign until next week.
The Magic extended Jefferson a qualifying offer in late June, making him a restricted free agent. However, the team rescinded that offer earlier this month and Jefferson became an unrestricted free agent before ultimately re-signing with the Magic.
The Magic have now re-signed five of their players who hit the free-agent market this offseason: Jefferson, Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross, Khem Birch and Michael Carter-Williams.
The 6-foot-9 Jefferson averaged 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the field during the Magic’s five NBA Summer League games earlier this month.
Jefferson played last season with the Magic on a two-way contract but spent most of his time with G-League affiliate Lakeland. He appeared in 12 games with the Magic, including the regular-season finale against the Hornets. With Vucevic out with a stomach virus and Khem Birch in foul trouble, Jefferson delivered a sixpoint, seven-rebound performance as the Magic won 122-114 and clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
With Lakeland, Jefferson averaged 18.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, and was named to the All-NBA G League Third Team.
Jefferson, who went undrafted out of Duke, spent the 2017-18 season with the Iowa Wolves and led the G League in rebounds per game (13.0), according to league data. Jefferson also averaged 17.8 points per game and earned three All-NBA G-League selections that season: the All-NBA G League AllRookie First Team, All-NBA G League All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA G League Second Team.