Tosan Evbuomwan ’23, former Ivy League player of the year and one of last season’s March Madness stars, signed a 10-day deal with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft, the 22-year-old UK native signed with the Detroit Pistons as a forward, but was shortly waived and signed with the Pistons’ G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. The G-League is NBA’s minor league affiliate. The Cruise are the Pistons’ player development minor league squad.
Evbuomwan averaged 15.6 points per game in 13 regular-season games for the Cruise this season, shooting 56.4 percent from the floor. He has started all 13 games and averages an amazing 8.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft, the 22-year-old UK native signed with the Detroit Pistons as a forward, but was quickly dismissed and signed with the Pistons’ G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. The G League is the NBA’s minor league affiliate. The Cruise are the Pistons’ minor league player development club.
The NBA has two types of 10-day contracts: normal and hardship. Standard 10-day contracts entail signing a player for 10 days or three games, whichever comes first, while there is an unfilled position on the 15-man roster that must be filled. Under conventional 10-day contracts, the team is more likely to sign the player later since they have an available roster space.
Teams with hardship contracts, such as Evbuomwan’s with the Grizzlies, have a complete roster but are unable to deploy a full 15-man squad due to multiple injuries. The NBA allows these clubs to sign three 10-day contracts to replace roster spots while injured players rehabilitate and return to play. The Grizzlies took advantage of this strategy, signing Evbuomwan, center Trey Jemison, and forward Matthew Hurt.
The Grizzlies are unlikely to offer Evbuomwan a long-term agreement after his contract expires, given the expected return of their injured players. Despite this, he will have the opportunity to display his skills in front of the entire league in three NBA games, which is something many G-League players dream about.
Evbuomwan has had a tremendous start to his professional career, and his signing with the Grizzlies is well-deserved praise. He now joins the list of successful Princeton basketball players who have played on the biggest platform, like Bill Bradley ’65 and Geoff Petrie ’70.
Evbuomwan will play his first game with the Grizzlies on Thursday, February 1, against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Memphis. He’ll then face the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics to close out his deal.
