Devonté Graham faring well for NBA’s Hornets. Will former KU guard net big raise?
Devonté Graham’s sizzling start to the 2019-20 NBA season with the Charlotte Hornets has led to discussion in the media about his contract.
Graham, a former Kansas point guard who is averaging a team-leading 18.2 points and 7.4 assists a game for Charlotte (8-13), is in the second year of a three-year contract worth $4 million. He’s being paid $1.4 million this season, a bargain for the team considering the 24-year-old second-year pro’s productivity.
The Charlotte Observer points out that under NBA rules, Graham’s contract can’t be extended until at least two years after it was signed (July 6, 2018).
A humble, second-round pick (34th overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft, Graham appeared surprised when asked by the Observer’s Rick Bonnell if he’d be receptive to a contract extension — perhaps similar to the four-year $48 million deal former Hornets standout Kemba Walker accepted in 2014.
“I’d have to have a sit-down with my agent to see what the best option would be for me,” Graham told the Observer. “Obviously, that (next contract) is not what I’m thinking about right now.”
Bonnell writes: “Under the collective bargaining agreement, the most the Hornets could offer Graham for the 2021-22 season in an extension is 120 percent of the estimated average salary, which would be about $11 million. The Hornets could then build a multi-year contract off that number.”
Graham, who recently became just the fourth player in NBA history to record 50 threes and 100 assists in his team’s first 15 games (with James Harden, Steph Curry, Baron Davis). has cashed 41.3% of his threes compared to 28.1% his rookie season. Forbes.com lists him as a leading candidate for “most improved player” in the league.
If his stats remain the same — he had a career-best 15 assists in a recent win over Detroit — there’s a chance he could be an NBA All-Star in this, his second season in the league.
“I feel like (the opportunity) is the biggest thing, if you ask me,” Graham tells Slam Magazine. “Just trying to make the most of it. I put in a lot of hard work this summer. (I) didn’t know what to expect with the team this year with losing Kemba (Walker to Boston) and Tony (Parker to retirement). I knew my role would increase, but not this much. My teammates, like I always say, do a good job of just telling me, ‘Keep shooting the ball. Keep being aggressive.’”
Michael Jordan, the team’s owner, told Graham “to keep going and keep being aggressive,” Graham tells Slam Magazine. “He said that sometimes I pass up some open shots that I should take, but you know, that’s just M.J. being M.J.”
Graham’s college coach, KU’s Bill Self, beams with pride when talking about Graham.
“I’m really happy for him. He’s a perfect example of playing with a free mind,” Self said recently. “There’s been games in the NBA he’s been 1-for-9 or whatever, but he comes back with a free mind, doesn’t let anything bother him.
“Devonté has an unbelievable IQ. He may turn out to be the best pro of them all (guards in Self era),” Self added. “He’s been great since the first game. After one week he was in contention for MVP of the league. He averaged 24 points. He deserves all the good that comes his way. I know our fans agree.”
Hornets assistant coach Nate Mitchell told Slam Magazine he’s not surprised by Graham’s improvement. Graham averaged 4.7 points and 2.6 assists a game last season.
“There’s opportunity here,” said Mitchell, who worked with Graham over the summer. “I also saw this last year — he just didn’t make shots. He struggled a bit, going up and down (between NBA and G League). But if you go back and look at his G League games, some things are transferable, and the way he shot the ball percentage-wise off the bounce in the G League, it’s the same thing he’s doing right now. Obviously there are bigger, longer, more athletic guys at this level, but if you can see the reads it doesn’t matter. With the time that he put in over the summer, it makes sense.”
Svi emerging as rotation player in Detroit?
Graham’s best buddy at Kansas, Svi Mykhailiuk, is starting to emerge as a productive player in his second season with the Detroit Pistons (7-13).
Mykhailiuk, who was drafted in the second round by Los Angeles Lakers and traded to the Pistons last season, has averaged 4.5 points a game for Detroit in 14 games. He’s cashed 46.3% of his threes. On Sunday, Mykhailiuk scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting (2 of 3 threes) in a 132-98 win over San Antonio. He played 23 minutes.
He also knocked down four threes and scored 12 points while being awarded 22 minutes in last Monday’s 103-88 win over Orlando.
Against Orlando, he took a charge from Markelle Fultz, deflected a Terrance Ross pass that led to a steal and grabbed a rebound of a Markieff Morris miss that kept a possession alive and led to a three.
His recent work on defense has impressed Pistons’ forward Blake Griffin.
“Svi is a student of the game. Offensively, he’s very good. But it’s just effort, really, on the defensive end. He does things like that (playing defense), he stays on the floor longer,” Griffin told NBA.com. “That’s what I’ve been preaching to him I think since training camp started. Any time you can buy us extra possessions or come up with a big stop here or there, it just gives you more time on the floor to show your offensive game.”
Mykhailiuk’s minutes have increased because of recent injury to Tony Snell. Could Svi, the 47th overall pick in the 2018 Draft, become a rotation player for the Pistons the rest of the season? He’s in the second year of a three-year $4.6 million contract.
“We know who Svi is offensively, but his major challenge has been the defensive end,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey tells nba.com. “He still made a lot of mistakes last night (vs. Orlando), but he made up for it with hard play, competing, just being into (Terrance) Ross. I’ve always told him, take a foul, bump a guy, a physical foul — we’ll take that. And he did that a couple of times. He was being physical, trying to get into Ross. Two weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been touching him. That’s a big first step for him,” Casey adds.
Mykhailiuk, 22, said his game is still a work in progress.
“I would just say I’m trying hard every time I step on the court,” Svi told NBA.com. “That’s what we preach. If you try hard, good things happen.”
He added to mlive.com: “You always got to be focused and know what you’re doing. When somebody’s out, you got to be more ready because there’s less guys, so you got to be more prepared and pay more attention to the details. I feel a lot more comfortable because when people play basketball and play (more) games, you get more adjusted to the game. When coach trusts you, it kind of relaxes you and gives you more freedom on the court.”
Next up for Kansas Jayhawks
KU (6-1) is in the midst of a little break in the schedule following last week’s 3-0 performance in Maui. The Jayhawks will next meet Colorado at 6 p.m. Saturday, at Allen Fieldhouse. Colorado will take a 6-0 record into Wednesday’s home game versus Loyola Marymount.
